How quickly can you improve you credit score?

mike4581

I'm looking to buy a house with my girlfriend in the next few months and have only just realised she doesn't have a great credit card score. it's not super-bad (poor on the cusp of fair) but not ideal.

as far as i can see she has two problems.

• she lives between our rented flat and her parents house and so she's on the electoral role at one and has her banks registered at the other
• she never uses credit cards and therefore has no repayment history

Is it worth her consolidating her address so everything comes to the rented flat, and getting a credit card to start building a credit history, or is it just too late for any of this to make a difference when we want to look at applying for a mortgage within the next 4-12 weeks?

any help much appreciated. i see so much contradictory advice online i just end up confused

thanks

Arleen

Score is meaningless, what exactly is on her file?

Andybez38

Perhaps not a question of How quickly can you improve your credit score, but more of her making sure the information on her credit files are right. It would be a good idea to obtain a credit card. But i doubt 4-12 weeks would make much of a difference.

Dobbibill

ask her to check the data on her file.....not the score.

any current accounts should be reporting to the CRAs, also any mobile phone contract, utility bills and any other financial commitment she has had in the last 6 yrs.

check all 3 CRAs, not just 1.

Get a good broker for your mortgage.

mike4581

The things is the data on her file is correct as she does have the credit cards, accounts etc.. registered at her parents address and is on the electoral roll at our rented flat but is it worth changing this so it's all registered at the same place?

Apart from this the only problem seems to be her repayment record and I guess this is because she doesn't have one due to not using credit cards and never having taken out a loan?

thanks

YorkshireBoy

Of course it makes sense to have everything registered to the one address.

When did she go on the Electoral Roll at the rented place? Do the credit reports confirm this?

Fireflyaway

If it helps at all, my score with clear score in Jan was 94 and by the end of the year its now 346 after trying to be good! I'm no expert but I don't think any major changes would happen in just 12 weeks. Also applying for a credit clard close to a mortgage application isn't a great idea.
As the others suggested use a broker as your partners score might be low due to not having had credit, not because of bad behaviour like mine.

robber2

Fireflyaway wrote: »

If it helps at all, my score with clear score in Jan was 94 and by the end of the year its now 346 after trying to be good! I'm no expert but I don't think any major changes would happen in just 12 weeks. Also applying for a credit clard close to a mortgage application isn't a great idea.
As the others suggested use a broker as your partners score might be low due to not having had credit, not because of bad behaviour like mine.

Very nice for you I'm sure but a bit meaningless as the only people who will ever see your improved 'score' will be you and clearscore.

Rob

mike4581

the credit report show's her on the electoral at the rental address. i'm not sure if it looks bad that her banks are registered to a different address, or if it'll look worse if we start moving everything about when we're looking to apply for a mortgage in the next few months

thanks