Poor credit but no idea why?

realmaverick

Hey guys, I'm a 35 year old guy, employed full-time and have a very good salary.

My partner and I are about to apply for a mortgage and so in preparation, I ran an equifax credit report, which I was expecting to be flawless and it was, though my credit score was 365 "poor".

I have no current or past CCJ's, I have never missed a payment for anything, ever. I can understand that I might be turned down for a credit card for this reason, but poor credit rating?

I have one credit card, that I applied for and started using 2 months ago. I only bother to use it as I'd read it will improve my credit rating.

I have one mobile phone contract that I've had since I was 16, no payments have ever been missed.

On my equifax file, all of the flags were green. The only yellow flag on my credit file, was due to me only living at my current address for 6 months. I am on the electoral roll.

I'm not sure what to do next. As everything appears to be fine. If I had red flags, I could a) understand my poor credit score and b) know what to do about it.

Any advice would be much appreciated. I am in a panic that I'll be turned down for a mortgage.

edit: I've just checked the electoral roll again and it shows previous address (n/a). But then right under that, linked addresses, which shows that I was on the electoral roll at that address.

Could the (n/a) be a concern?

[Deleted User]

Experian don't lend money so you can safely ignore their evaluation.

It does sound though as if you have a limited credit history, which only time will improve. It may be a little early to apply for a mortgage, but use a broker if you do.

bsms1147

Ignore the number, noone sees it but you.

If the data is correct, there's nothing for you to do in that respect. Continue using the credit card and paying off in full each month and you'll keep getting your monthly green ticks. There's not much you can do about the time at your present address; obviously this will lengthen with time, and its impact will lessen.

Mortgages are as much about deposits and affordability to, so make sure you're sorted from that respect too.

realmaverick

Thanks guys, that's good to know.

I did previously have a £10k loan in 2012 for "home improvements" with my bank, that was paid off in 2015. Which will hopefully be counted towards my credit history.

Hopefully because there are no flags against my file, this score won't impact our chances of getting a mortgage. Perhaps we should stay here another 6 months before applying for a mortgage. Major pain the butt, as the sale of my partners house that he'd been renting out is about to finalise on Friday and we wanted to apply right away.

Thanks again.

CalumHeath

realmaverick wrote: »

Hopefully because there are no flags against my file, this score won't impact our chances of getting a mortgage.

Experian's randomly-generated number will definitely have zero effect on lenders' decision making processes.

Only your HISTORY is considered.

Good luck.

MataNui

Banks rarely update the CRAs for loans. The credit score isnt as some suggest simply made up but they are correct in that it wont be used by a lender. It simply gives you a numerical value to the information they hold in the file and is pretty pointless really. Experian used to sell access to your credit score as an addon. Its just another way they can make money out of people.

A mortgage will be based on lots of things, your individual credit report will be a very small part of it and what they will be looking for is a history of bad credit so you should be OK.