credit rating help please

qyzge88

I am not sure if this is the best place to post my thread, but I need some advice regarding credit rating and how to improve it. This is actually for my partner who is living with me.

She was recently rejected by 3 mobile for a contract phone due to failing their credit check. She was advised to check her credit report with a credit agency to resolve the problem.

My partner is a foreign national and has been in the UK for 5 years. Previously she lived on university campus accomodation before moving in to my flat.

She has never had a credit card neither has she had any form of direct debit set up. She has always used a pay as you go mobile. Paid all her previous bills via cheque or cash.

I am the owner of my flat and only my name is on all the bills and the mortgage. Would having my partners name on the bills with mine improve her credit rating? Does anyone have any ideas on what the problem could be? We have tried to get access to her credit report by signing up to the credit agencies offering a 30 day free trial, but they have e-mailed back asking for my partner to call to answer further questions they have. She will do this today as it just seems so stupid for her to get rejected for a £15 per month contract mobile phone!

lisyloo

She has never had a credit card neither has she had any form of direct debit set up. She has always used a pay as you go mobile. Paid all her previous bills via cheque or cash.

The problem is that she had NO credit history.

Being on the bills won't help as most bills don't show up on your credit record as they aren't credit accounts.

Is she on the electoral role?

Does she have a bank account?

The normal advice is to apply to her own bank for a credit card, it doesn't matter if the limit is small. They will have history on her managing her account so they may well lend one.
Then once she has a credit card then that will show up to other lenders on the credit report and provided the history is good then that will persuade them to lend.

Be aware that her recent applications will show up as credit checks.
Lots of credit checks in a short space of time looks bad.
They won't see the fact that she's been rejected but the abscence of any credit accounts means lenders might conclude rejection and lots of rejection is bad.
She will need to wait a while for some of her credit checks to come off the credit report if there are lots. Credit checks stay on for 12 months so they will dissapper.

I would ask the bank for a credit card and then wait a while to gain a history before applying for anything else.

Also make sure she's on the electoral role (don't go on the edited register if you don't want junk mail).

qyzge88

ok so putting her name on the phone bill or gas&electricity bill even though the direct debit is set up in my name and taken from my account will not make any difference to her credit rating is this correct?

She has a bank account and is registered to my address for last 2 years. Will this not be proof that she lives at the address? She spoke to experian and they have asked for her to send two documents with her name and address on it as they are having trouble tracing her. So it probably is due to her lack of credit history.

Moggles_2

Originally Posted by edi454
So putting her name on the phone bill or gas & electricity bill, even though the direct debit is set up in my name and taken from my account, will not make any difference to her credit rating. Is this correct?

That's right.

There are no short-cuts to building a credit history, but there are steps you can take meanwhile to improve her credit rating. Have a look at the *Credit Rating* articles on the main site. In particular, Martin's *Check and Improve your Credit Score* article.