Credit Rating: Advice

cerees

Hi,

Am planning on buying in 2017. Signed up to Noodle yesterday to get my credit report. Any advice on the following:

1) will having Noodle send me a monthly 'free' credit check affect my credit rating?!

2) I realised i have a dormant bank account still open (open for 10 years). No overdraft facility. Should i close/ leave it open to improve my rating?

3) In my current account, I have access to a small overdraft, never use it as am always in credit, should i close access to this overdraft facility?


Appreciate any advice - thanks :j

baz8790

I had 6 x current accounts open when I applied for my mortgage one had an overdraft of £1000 which i never used and they didn't make any difference.


I would close the dormant account if you don't intend to use it.

The searches that noodle do only show as soft searches and don't make a difference. you should also look at your report on clear score (equifax) and I would use the free Experian trial just before you want to apply for a mortgage.

Don't pay any attention to the scores just make sure all the information is correct and you don't have any missed payments etc

the only advice I could give is not to apply for any credit before applying for the mortgage.

dunstonh

1) will having Noodle send me a monthly 'free' credit check affect my credit rating?!

No.

2) I realised i have a dormant bank account still open (open for 10 years). No overdraft facility. Should i close/ leave it open to improve my rating?

If it is dormant then that means the account is closed. Dormant has a specific meaning with bank accounts. Did you really mean dormant?

3) In my current account, I have access to a small overdraft, never use it as am always in credit, should i close access to this overdraft facility?

No. Indeed, it could make it worse. Although that assumes the bank report it to that particular credit agency. Not all banks do.

Remember that any credit score given by these parties is just a made up score using their own interpretations and assumptions. You do not have a score. The info is useful but not the actual score itself. By all means use noddle. My mortgage advisers ask their clients to get a noddle report to show them. The data it shows is useful. Even if the score itself isnt.

cerees

thanks both for your replies.
@baz8790 - I had the Experian trial at beginning of year and score was 999.

@dunstonh - i didn't mean dormant in that case. Just an open account that i forgot I had.

Thrugelmir

Closure of old accounts only results in a temporary drop in what consumers see on their credit reports in terms of a score. This is simply down to the fact that it's a material change. At the time this is first visible there's no knowing whether this is positive or negative when looking from the outside. Closing them now won't impact you a few months down the line.

Always worth doing some housekeeping if nothing else just to keep your record tidy.