Strike while the Credit Score 'Iron' is hot?

Bird.Heart.Mouse

Hi all,

I have been pondering about how to utilise my Credit Score this month (MSE Credit Club shows as 969 currently), but have become a little stuck.

This year I had my light bulb moment and am tackling a number of expensive Credit Card debts (£4,274 @ 25.9% APR, and £11,858 @ 18.6% APR) which I have started to shift onto a 0% Balance Transfer card

Applications:
1) Applied this month for an MBNA BT credit card:
Accepted; £4,274 is now 0%

2) In the excitement of starting to deal with my debts I also applied this month for a second MBNA BT credit card (rather naively now I look back at it):
Declined;

Question to the Forum:
- Do I try for another BT Credit Card now while my Credit Rating is good and I have a 90% chance of getting another card (based on MSE Credit Club)?
- Or do I wait? The February update will mean my Credit Score drops

Sorry for all the questions (I’m really keen to move the remaining £11,858 to 0%!)

Any help would be really welcome

Bird x

[Deleted User]

Unfortunately, you can't 'utilise your credit score' as it doesn't actually exist. It's just a little secret between you and the CRA that doesn't mean anything.

You could try another application, but the recent searches and additional credit may count against you. If declined, leave it three months or so before trying again.

dieselv2

I've never done this but checking out Stoozing forum (think it's the one before this).

rtho782

While your MSE credit club data only updates once a month, your credit file is "live" and another lender will see the search from MBNA no matter if you apply now, tomorrow, in a month, whatever.

So, in this case as you don't really have anything to lose and as your £11k debt is currently costing you £183 a month in interest, it's probably worth a try.

Candyapple

The £4,274 debt that you transferred to MBNA - did you close that card account or is it still open?

Do you have any other credit cards / loans / car finance / overdrafts etc?

You may find yourself failing on affordability. What is your annual salary?

Bird.Heart.Mouse

Deleted_User wrote: »

Unfortunately, you can't 'utilise your credit score' as it doesn't actually exist. It's just a little secret between you and the CRA that doesn't mean anything.

You could try another application, but the recent searches and additional credit may count against you. If declined, leave it three months or so before trying again.

Hi zx81 - Many thanks for the info, alas I am still learning

Bird x

Bird.Heart.Mouse

rtho782 wrote: »

While your MSE credit club data only updates once a month, your credit file is "live" and another lender will see the search from MBNA no matter if you apply now, tomorrow, in a month, whatever.

So, in this case as you don't really have anything to lose and as your £11k debt is currently costing you £183 a month in interest, it's probably worth a try.

Hi rtho782,

Great point about the 'live' credit file - thank you i'll keep this in mind. I am considering another application as like you say it's expensive costly debt, although I have overdrafts to also attend to (thank god for my LBM this year!) so considering all options

Bird x

Bird.Heart.Mouse

Candyapple wrote: »

The £4,274 debt that you transferred to MBNA - did you close that card account or is it still open?

Do you have any other credit cards / loans / car finance / overdrafts etc?

You may find yourself failing on affordability. What is your annual salary?

Hey Candyapple - thanks for getting in touch

Did you close that card account or is it still open?
- It is still open for the moment

Do you have any other credit cards / loans / car finance / overdrafts etc?
- The list of debts...
Credit Card 1: £4,274 (0% APR)
Credit Card 2: £11,858 (18.3% APR)
Overdraft 1: £2,100 (19.94% APR)
Overdraft 2: £900 (19.94% APR)
Overdraft 3: £1,000 (19.89%APR)
Overdraft 4: £550 (19.89%APR)
Loan: £1,049 (18.3% APR)

You may find yourself failing on affordability. What is your annual salary?
- £46,000 (pre tax)

Bird x

Anthorn

Bird.Heart.Mouse wrote: »

Hi all,

I have been pondering about how to utilise my Credit Score this month (MSE Credit Club shows as 969 currently), but have become a little stuck.

This year I had my light bulb moment and am tackling a number of expensive Credit Card debts (£4,274 @ 25.9% APR, and £11,858 @ 18.6% APR) which I have started to shift onto a 0% Balance Transfer card

Applications:
1) Applied this month for an MBNA BT credit card:
Accepted; £4,274 is now 0%

2) In the excitement of starting to deal with my debts I also applied this month for a second MBNA BT credit card (rather naively now I look back at it):
Declined;

Question to the Forum:
- Do I try for another BT Credit Card now while my Credit Rating is good and I have a 90% chance of getting another card (based on MSE Credit Club)?
- Or do I wait? The February update will mean my Credit Score drops

Sorry for all the questions (I’m really keen to move the remaining £11,858 to 0%!)

Any help would be really welcome

Bird x

ROFL this takes me back a few years.

A better idea might be to apply for both at much the same time and hope that both lenders are not immediately sharing information about applicants. For now the credit search is likely to be already on your credit report. Depends on how many recent searches you've had. It used to be searches in the past 6 months that are counted but now it's a year according to both Experian and Clearscore. i.e. 4 searches in the last year, forget it. If below 4 go for it.

How long are searches kept on my credit report?
We keep a record of all searches for 12 months. This allows lenders to take account of previous credit searches when you apply for credit. Whether or not an application was successful is not recorded and all lenders know this. Keeping searches also means that we can tell companies who have searched a report in the past six months if we make any changes to it.

http://www.experian.co.uk/consumer/faq/S1.html

On Clearscore a negative related to credit searches is defined as "More than a few searches in the last year".

Candyapple

Thanks for the info Bird. It looks like affordability may be where you are falling down in terms of securing new credit. Whilst your current debt may be £21,731, your debt to credit ratio is done based on your credit limits.

Don't forget that you've also got the new card you have just taken out to add to that list.

What would be the credit limits for the below and the overall total loan amount?

Credit Card 1: £4,274 (0% APR)
Credit Card 2: £11,858 (18.3% APR)
New MBNA card you took out:
Loan: £1,049 (18.3% APR)

The card that had the £4,274 debt @ 25.9% APR, you should close that once you have transferred the balance onto the new MBNA one and wait a couple of months until this has reflected on your credit files as being closed. Then try and apply again for a balance transfer card. That along with paying down as much of your other debts as you can will stand you in good stead.

Bird.Heart.Mouse

Candyapple wrote: »

Thanks for the info Bird. It looks like affordability may be where you are falling down in terms of securing new credit. Whilst your current debt may be £21,731, your debt to credit ratio is done based on your credit limits.

Don't forget that you've also got the new card you have just taken out to add to that list.

What would be the credit limits for the below and the overall total loan amount?

Credit Card 1: £4,274 (0% APR)
Credit Card 2: £11,858 (18.3% APR)
New MBNA card you took out:
Loan: £1,049 (18.3% APR)

The card that had the £4,274 debt @ 25.9% APR, you should close that once you have transferred the balance onto the new MBNA one and wait a couple of months until this has reflected on your credit files as being closed. Then try and apply again for a balance transfer card. That along with paying down as much of your other debts as you can will stand you in good stead.

Thanks for the advice Candyapple, appreciated! Here are the credit limits / total loan amount:

Credit Card 1:
- Balance £4,274 (0% APR)
- Limit £4,600.00
- This is the new MBNA Credit Card

Credit Card 2:
- Balance £11,858 (18.3% APR)
- Limit £12,300

Credit Card 3:
- Balance £0 (25.9% APR)
- Limit £5,000
- The balance was BT to MBNA 0% (needs to be closed)

Loan:
- Balance £960.07 (18.3% APR)
- Original amount £4,900
- Worth calling out this is my OH's loan

Bird x