Gf - poor clear score

axel132132

Hi,

My gf is using clear score to see her credit rating and experian it started of at 17.. not its at 450 on experian and started at about 2 and now 250 on clear score

Part of hers on clear score as a negative says not applied for much credit in the last year and also her max credit limit is low (her credit card limit is 200)

Anyway i thought taking out credit is bad, or not so much bad but lowers score because otherwise we could get her a credit card with a 1200 limit and go from there.

We are looking at getting a mortgage in a couple of months once her credit score gets better as i dont think we will get s good deal atm

My score is 899 on experian and 490 on clear score

System

The score is meaningless drivel, ignore it. No lender uses a credit reference agency score. You most certainly do not want to be borrowing money just for the purpose of increasing a mickey mouse score.

What matters is the contents of her record. By the sounds of it its only low because she doesn't actually borrow much, if anything at all. Continuing to spend on her current card every month and repay the balance in full will increase the makey uppey number if you're that concerned.

Ebe_Scrooge

Your credit score is totally meaningless, and is seen by no-one apart from you and the CRA. Your fictitious score will go down as the result of any change in your credit circumstances, good or bad. Lenders will use the factual data contained in your credit history to base their decisions on.


The simplest way to improve your credit history is to use a credit card for everyday spending and pay it off in full every month, on time, without fail. A Direct Debit is the simplest and safest way of doing this. It doesn't matter what APR the card charges - as you'll be paying in full every month, you won't pay any interest.

axel132132

Thanks alot appreciate it

[Deleted User]

axel132132 wrote: »

Hi,

Anyway i thought taking out credit is bad, or not so much bad but lowers score because otherwise we could get her a credit card with a 1200 limit and go from there.

How are you planning on getting a card with that limit? If the most she gets offered is £200, then you have pretty much no chance of getting £1200 - you can't ask for the limit you want, it gets given to you

axel132132

!!! wrote: »

How are you planning on getting a card with that limit? If the most she gets offered is £200, then you have pretty much no chance of getting £1200 - you can't ask for the limit you want, it gets given to you

Because when she got the card at 200 quid it was told to her it is 200 limit as she had credit score of 12.. now she has a credit score of 450 she has been told 1200

Richey_

axel132132 wrote: »

Because when she got the card at 200 quid it was told to her it is 200 limit as she had credit score of 12.. now she has a credit score of 450 she has been told 1200

Or she has been with the credit card provider for a period of time now, built up a relationship with them, they know how she manages the account and they are now happy to increase the limit.

To reiterate your score is a made up number, the credit card company do not even see it. They create their own “score” internally from looking at the credit history on the files. Stop chasing phoney numbers, ALL THAT MATTERS IS THE ACCOUNT HISTORY ON YOURS / HER FILES.

Fireflyaway

I know many in here like to say scores are meaningless but they do if only in part reflect some of your financial behaviour. A person with late payments and defaults or ccj' s will most probably have a lower score than someone who doesn't have those things. Lenders might not see the actual number but they will get a picture of your behaviour from the credit reference agencies, just as you get an indication from seeing your score. Why else would there be as guide on this site given you tips on how to improve your credit file?
I agree not to get too focused on the numbers but they are not simply pulled from thin air, they do have some basis. Someone with no score for example will find it hard to get credit because the have little info for lenders to make as decision on.
Just use the card sensibly.
Good luck with your mortgage.

axel132132

Thanks again yeah makes sense

[Deleted User]

Fireflyaway wrote: »

Why else would there be as guide on this site given you tips on how to improve your credit file?

Because a credit file is not a credit score.

[Deleted User]

axel132132 wrote: »

Because when she got the card at 200 quid it was told to her it is 200 limit as she had credit score of 12.. now she has a credit score of 450 she has been told 1200

Who said the score was 12 - the lenders don't see nor care about the score.

Also they might not just check Equifax (Clearscore) - there's also Experian and Call Credit as well where she will have a credit FILE that they will check.