HBOS/Halifax "current" account

naughtymonkey

Not sure if this is the right place to put this but here goes...

At the end of 2008 I split from my fiancee and moved out. At this point I had a lot of debt which was unmanageable so I sent up a repayment plan to all my creditors through Payplan. All of the debt has now been settled, with all accounts closed satisfactorily.

As part of this I closed my accounts with RBS and started to use an old account I have with HBOS, and over the last almost 8 years this has been my main current account with all my wages and D/D passing through. A change of job meaning almost doubling my salary happened around 2 1/2 years ago which has been an immense help. I'm now married and moving on with things on that side.

So I assumed this would be helping my credit score to come back to a normal level and to show I've been working hard to keep things under control. I have no credit outstanding apart from an HPI agreement on our car which is due to finish up in November.

It now appears that the account I'm using (which is branded as as current account on all correspondence, bank cards etc) isn't a scored product and as such has been leaving no footprint on my credit file. So in essence I may as well have been using a basic account for the all this time.

I had 2 phonecalls from HBOS when they used to do the Reward account (£5/month back for paying in £1k+ I think) asking me if I wanted to upgrade the account, which I agreed to. At no point did anyone said "oh sorry Sir, you'll need to open a new account as this is just a basic one at present". Incidentally the account was never upgraded.

I understand that obviously the bank has been scoring me internally, but it's not much use if I don't want any of their products?? Which after this will be highly unlikely. I was going to be looking for a mortgage next year at some point, but I can forget about that it would seem. With the amount we've paid out in rent it seems a better idea to actually pay it towards something that is ours.

Is there anything I can do to help the situation? I'm thinking the best bet would be to open another current account with HBOS (but a proper, truthfully described one instead) and start the credit file rebuilding all over again.

Bit disheartening to have discovered this when I thought things were going well to get back on track but it's yet another kick in the teeth.

Vortigern

I don't think current accounts have much effect on your credit file unless you make use of overdrafts.

To improve your credit worthiness you need to use and manage some debt. You could get a credit builder credit card, use it for your grocery spending, and pay it off, in full, after the statement date and before the due date.

Halifax still offer the Reward account paying £5 a month if you pay in £750 each month and pay out 2 direct debits. You may be able to upgrade your existing account through online banking.

Halifax also pay an incentive if you switch in from another current account. Do you have another account that you could switch in? If not, you could open a current account with another bank and then switch that to Halifax. Read the incentive terms and conditions if you choose to do this.

Vortigern

For more info on credit files, ratings, agencies try the link below.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=257

Westie983

You can upgrade your card cash account to a reward account, or current account online.

Could be worth opening a credit account and using that to improve your credit file, this could be a phone contract or a credit builder credit card.

You will have an internal relationship with Halifax so it not all negative, but if you are still wanting a mortgage, as long as you don't have any defaults on your file you may still be able to continue with your plans, either via a broker or via the Halifax.

naughtymonkey

Westie983 wrote: »

You can upgrade your card cash account to a reward account, or current account online.

Could be worth opening a credit account and using that to improve your credit file, this could be a phone contract or a credit builder credit card.

You will have an internal relationship with Halifax so it not all negative, but if you are still wanting a mortgage, as long as you don't have any defaults on your file you may still be able to continue with your plans, either via a broker or via the Halifax.

I did try to upgrade the existing account online but it won't let me do it, it says I don't have a current account at present so it'll need to be a new current account application instead. But I do have a debit card for the account at present which, to me, didn't make sense if this is apparently not a current account

Already have a phone contract with Virgin so I suppose it could be worse, although this doesn't seem to show on the credit file?

I'll maybe just need to bite the bullet and do the new account thing with them.

Vortigern

Re: Virgin mobile contract not on credit file.

There are 3 credit reference agencies. Have you checked them all?

System

Not having a current account on your credit file isn't that unusual. A mortgage company would still ask for the same information such as bank statements and score it the same.

If its working for you, I'd be inclinded to leave it or simply upgrade it