Student Overdraft - credit rating

FrankR

Hiya - I opened a student bank account in 2015 with a £1000 interest free planned overdraft. For the past 2 years, I've been dipping in and out of this, say £200 here and there, but didn't really pay it back to £0 every month. For the past 6 months or so, I haven't used this overdraft - most of the time it's £0. Now, I have just signed up to the moneysaving Credit Club to see my xperian credit report. My credit. Score is showing as 942/1000, which is apparently good. However, despite this, my eligibility for a credit card is very weak. Now my report is clean - no other lines of credit except the student overdraft. I wonder why my eligibility for credit card is so low given my high credit score and fact that I have had a balance £0 on my student overdraft for many months?

The only thing I can think of that might be dragging down my eligibility, is fact that when I opened this student account, I remember declaring how much would be paid into the account every month. Now, I barely pay anything into the account as it's at £0 most of time - I don't need to .... but I wonder, as I'm not paying in that figure I declared when I applied for the account, there might be a constantl deficit in actually money payed in (as my acutely paid in might be lower than what I out on my application and what's on the banks system)?

Could this be why my score seems lower than it should be?

Should I close this account as I no longer use it and don't need it .. it's literally just lying here unused . How would this affect my credit rating as I'll have no lines of credit then ... will it improve or get worse?

Btw, little background, I'm still a student, no mortgage, no loans, no credit cards, no phone contract, nothing except that student bank account and a basic lloyds everyday bank account that doesn't have an overdraft.

I just feel like there's something dragging down my score that I can't see... it's really annoying !

Finally, my parents moved house last month - after living at a house for over 17years since 2001. If I put their new address on my profile, will this lower my rating? Also, I'm still registered on the electoral roll at their old address - is this a problem?

Sorry for the long post - just need few things sorting out!

Help apprecisted. Thanks !

Dobbibill

Your score is not used to determine whether you can/cannot have credit.
Each bank and credit card provider have their own scoring system and will not use Experian's score - neither will they use the score from Equifax or Call Credit. They search and use the information - check all 3 and make sure all the information held is accurate.

When you apply for credit they look for a number of things - your income will be one - are you working?

They also look for stability - do you live at home?
If you've moved have you updated your address with the bank?
Update your ER info too.

CRAs do not have information on your income.

If you close the account, you are right in saying you won't have any lines of credit so why not use the student account as a bills account and live day to day out of your basic account.

[Deleted User]

FrankR wrote: »

I just feel like there's something dragging down my score that I can't see... it's really annoying !

It may be unicorns.

They can be tricky creatures.

amfan

FrankR wrote: »

I just feel like there's something dragging down my score that I can't see... it's really annoying !

Finally, my parents moved house last month - after living at a house for over 17years since 2001. If I put their new address on my profile, will this lower my rating? Also, I'm still registered on the electoral roll at their old address - is this a problem?

What's dragging your "score" or rather your eligibility down is the fact that you have very little history to go on, and the only history you do have is one of living in an overdraft. Don't close down your account, just manage it better. Stop being in the overdraft, prove you can go 6 months or so without touching the overdraft.

Yes, being on the electoral role at a different address is a problem, as you will no doubt apply for any future line of credit at the address you currently live at, not at the address your parents used to live at. Get yourself registered at your current address, and remember it takes a month or so for that to show on your file.

solentsusie

If you require a credit card and are still a student I would definitely suggest trying your student bank account providers in the first instance as they usually offer credit cards to their student customers. This would be much better than getting one from a credit building credit card provider, such as Capital One or Aqua etc. as you will usually have a lower interest rate. Where is your 'income', part-time job, any student loans etc. being paid into if it isn't your student account? Might be worth paying into here if you want a credit card as it will show you have a regular source income.

Don't close the student account, while you have only had it a couple of years you only have one other account on your files. Not having long standing accounts, which shows stability, can 'decrease' your eligibility for credit as you will have even less of a history to show. Dipping in and out of your overdraft occasionally shouldn't be a problem, as you are a student that would be expected really, it is staying in it up to the maximum you can and never repaying anything that could flag this as a problem.

Not having a credit history is probably the crux of things. If you only have a couple of bank accounts, your student account of 2 years (how long have you had the Lloyds one?) and no history of repaying credit, whether it be a credit card, loan, utility bill, or mobile phone contract, then financial institutions will have little inforamtion to assess your ability to repay debt from. If you close the student account there will be even less information for a lender to assess you on.

You definitely need to register on the electoral roll at your parents new address if this is still classified as your main 'home'. A recent move will only hamper you for a short period of time, particularly if you have really only ever lived at one other main address. This will take a month or two to show up on the credit reference agency files so be patient on that one. Not changing your details ASAP could hamper you as when you do apply for anything you will not show as being registered at your new address. Also remember to change your addresses with your banks if your parents home address is the one that they are registered at. It is essential that you keep all of your details up to date.

Building up a good credit history takes time. Not having informaton on your credit file means that you have no history, good or bad, and as you know the credit 'score' given by the agencies is meaningless.

Good luck