Tanked my credit rating trying to stooze

TheNewGuy_2

I have over time built up a stooze pot of around £5000 whilst my credit rating stayed steady; however clearscore and exqualifx have shown a huge drop recently. My report going from above average to poor/very poor in a month. My only assumption is this is because I maxed my out credit cards.

How can I fix this? Should I pay off some or all of my credit card debt? Would it also be worth asking banks in which I have large savings to increase my credit limit? They should know that I am not in trouble financially and the increase could look good.

Thanks

HappyMJ

Depends what you want to do. There's no need to have a perfect score at all times. Stoozing will always affect your credit in the short term but the affect wears off after a year. I really wouldn't worry about it. My credit shows as poor on Noddle and Clearscore but I still get decent rates of interest on credit cards and loans.

guesswho2000

Ignore the score, it's meaningless - as long as your payments are up to date, your credit cards aren't maxed out and your total credit limits aren't something ridiculous like 3x salary, you'll be fine.

TheNewGuy_2

I expected it to go down but not this much. I know I won't need a great score until I am getting ready to get a mortgage, but if I can't get anymore credit with this score is it even worth trying to stooze?

TheNewGuy_2

Thanks for the advice

I'll pay off half and see how it goes.

HappyMJ

TheNewGuy wrote: »

Thanks for the advice

I'll pay off half and see how it goes.

What's the point in that? You're making money. I always max out a brand new card to make the most money from putting the money into savings accounts.

You've really got to ignore the score it really is meaningless.

Make your payments on time every month, pay the account in full on the last day of the introductory offer, keep it open for 6 months then close it down if unused or no further offers come through.

TheNewGuy_2

I will do thank you!

No_6

Same as the others ,ignore the score, just keep minimum payments,
don't miss any !!!!!
Have the money to pay them off and close. if you don't get any new cards for balance transfers.
Try 0% purchase cards too.
With good repayment history, nothing ends, currently have a mixture of cards with £16K earning interest in different current accounts.

Clearscore is a waste, just seems like a site full of adverts.

Now retired, nearly 2 years and still get good limits.

MABLE

TheNewGuy wrote: »

I have over time built up a stooze pot of around £5000 whilst my credit rating stayed steady; however clearscore and exqualifx have shown a huge drop recently. My report going from above average to poor/very poor in a month. My only assumption is this is because I maxed my out credit cards.

How can I fix this? Should I pay off some or all of my credit card debt? Would it also be worth asking banks in which I have large savings to increase my credit limit? They should know that I am not in trouble financially and the increase could look good.

Thanks

I took advantage of an offer recently on my Avios cc and squirrelled away over £8000. On checking my Clearscore report the up to date balance on this particular card was reported and my credit score had increased.

redpete

TheNewGuy wrote: »

I expected it to go down but not this much. I know I won't need a great score until I am getting ready to get a mortgage, but if I can't get anymore credit with this score is it even worth trying to stooze?

You're worried that stoozing might prevent you doing more stoozing, so you suggest cutting down stoozing just in case?

Strummer22

redpete wrote: »

You're worried that stoozing might prevent you doing more stoozing, so you suggest cutting down stoozing just in case?

Nope, the mortgage is the credit the OP is worried about getting.

My advice would be: stop stoozing several months before you apply for a mortgage. Any unsecured debt will reduce the amount you'll be able to borrow.