Any help appreciated

Stupidn00b

Not 100% sure if this is in correct location and apologise if it is. Been lurking in the shadows and reading but never posted until today.

Bit of background information first up. Like some perusing MSE i messed up my credit rating very badly many years ago. I went from practically been able to get any credit to not even able to get a £10 overdraft in my current acount Basically they (the banks ect) kept throwing money at me faster than i could spend it and eventually it imploded in upon itself (around 2009) at the time leaving me homeless (well i moved back in with my parents for a while) and financially destitute (as said couldn`t even get a £10 overdraft lol)

A quick rundown was £3`900 in council tax, £2`000 of utilities £3`000 in secured debts (car finance, which was the only green on a credit report at the time) and £48`000 in unsecured loans, CC`s ect ect ect all the while Child Support Agency chasing me for cash i didn`t have! What a bloody mess. I tried a IVA in late 2009 (which even then i couldn`t afford and managed 2 payments (roof over head and food for my at the time 3 year old child at weekends) and even considered bankruptcy which was a no go as i was that skint i couldn`t afford to go bankrupt and none of my "lenders" seemed to want to make me bankrupt.

Fast forward 7 years and life is much better. My council tax is uptodate, my Utilities are uptodate i have no dealing with the CSA (mutual agreement payments between me and the ex) i paid off the car loan. The only bad part is the unsecured loans which are statute barred (No contact or payments from/to any of the lenders since Nov 2009) and don`t show on a credit search anymore.

Now to the reason I`m posting. I was under the impression my credit rating was doing "ok" but got knocked back on car finance today (even with £2500 trade in and £2500 cash as a deposit (car was £14500 so £9`500 of finance)). Just wondering what i can do to boost or raise my rating now, whats are the best steps to take.

My financial situation is good, I`m not rich but not short anymore and earn a good stable income (as a household we have spare £1500-2500 a month after all bills paid). I`ve had no breaks in employment for 8 years but did change jobs in august . I`ve been on electoral roll at my current address since 2009. My Credit report is very sparse which i think is the problem. I have just 3 accounts which are all green for 2+ years, my Mobile phone contract, my water rates contract and my current bank account. I have a CapitolOne CC (for credit building purposes only) other than the hard search by capitol one i only have insurance soft searchs. i have no other loans ect ect. there are 4 payday loans from 2014 which where fully paid the week after taking them (times where hard at the time)

My CC i have a spend around 150-300 a month and pay all but £100 of the balance (sure i read completely clear balance every month doesn`t help your rating somewhere)

Any advice appreciated as would like within the next 5 years to get a mortgage longterm.

Thanks in advance

Wayne

Stupidn00b

as an afterthought, COuld the statute barred unpaid debts be the problem?

CakeCrusader

Have you tried checking your credit file with Experian etc? There's free ones (Noodle, Clear Score and one for Experian). You'd need to take a look at these to see what comes up. Do you have any outstanding County Court Judgements (CCJ's)??

Superscrooge

Stupidn00b wrote: »

as an afterthought, COuld the statute barred unpaid debts be the problem?

If the unpaid debts are more than 6 years old and no longer appear on your credit file they are unlikely to be the problem.

It is more likely to be the four payday loans. This would be a red flag to many lenders and make you appear high risk.

Also having a permanent £100 debt on your credit card isn't going to help, unless you have a promotional deal? It just makes it look as though you can't afford to pay it off each month.

Rather than plunging yourself into almost £10K of debt to buy a £14K car. Would it not be worth either looking for a cheaper car, or seeing as you suggest you can save £2K per month, delay the purchase for 5 months and you wouldn't need a loan?

Stupidn00b

CakeCrusader wrote: »

Have you tried checking your credit file with Experian etc? There's free ones (Noodle, Clear Score and one for Experian). You'd need to take a look at these to see what comes up. Do you have any outstanding County Court Judgements (CCJ's)??

I use Noddle (its free) as a rough guide only. there is one satisfied CCJ from april 2012. NO others and the few accounts i do have are fully up to date.

Superscrooge wrote: »

If the unpaid debts are more than 6 years old and no longer appear on your credit file they are unlikely to be the problem.

It is more likely to be the four payday loans. This would be a red flag to many lenders and make you appear high risk.

Also having a permanent £100 debt on your credit card isn't going to help, unless you have a promotional deal? It just makes it look as though you can't afford to pay it off each month.

Rather than plunging yourself into almost £10K of debt to buy a £14K car. Would it not be worth either looking for a cheaper car, or seeing as you suggest you can save £2K per month, delay the purchase for 5 months and you wouldn't need a loan?

thats what i thought on the unpaid loans, was just checking for clarification.

It could possibly be the short term loans.

If thats the case with the card i can clear it every month. was lead to believe showing good payments (well above minimum) but leaving a small amount, helped to build rating.

The main reason as stated is to build up to get a mortgage in a few years. ATM my total outstanding balances are £97 for water rates and £231 on my CapitolOne card.

[Deleted User]

Always clear in full unless you cannot afford it. In which case, spend less, until you can.

DCFC79

Dont need to spend 14k on a car, spend less and you still get a decent car.

[Deleted User]

DCFC79 wrote: »

Dont need to spend 14k on a car, spend less and you still get a decent car.

Agree. With 2k spare a month, save for a month or two and pay cash.

Dobbibill

If you have 1.5k - 2k spare each month then where are your savings? You shouldn't need car finance if this is an ongoing amount of spare income each month.

If this is the first month you have been able to save, then as suggested save for a little longer and pay cash for a car and/or opt for a cheaper car.

Your CCJ & PDLs for the last few years won't make you a low risk for potential lenders but that can be resolved by the time you are looking for a mortgage.

Keep using the CC each month but pay off in full each month, this will demonstrate you are a low risk.....and may lead to a credit limit increase in time too. (you don't need a higher credit limit but this will show you are becoming a customer rated as a lesser risk...so a good indication things are improving)

Check Experian via a free trial and also Clearscore to see your Equifax report free. It's always best to check all 3 CRAs.

Westminster

Definitely don't rely on Noddle as call credit is the least used of the CRAs so you need to see what Equifax and Experian are reporting about you.

CakeCrusader

Stupidn00b wrote: »

I use Noddle (its free) as a rough guide only. there is one satisfied CCJ from april 2012. NO others and the few accounts i do have are fully up to date.

The CCJ won't help. Even if it's satisfied, it will still be on your file. They hang around for 6 years, just like a default. I think they don't affect your credit rating if you pay them off within a very short timeframe (a month, I think). I don't just use one free credit report as the others will often contain things which one of them has missed.