Credit score stressing!

angiekaren

I'm after abit of advice from an expert about credit scores on the following issues.
1) I have just graduated and over the last few years i have moved house once a year on average - i've heard that this can have a negative effect on my credit score?
2) due to debts in 2000/2001 my credit score used to be bad - however I'm have been debt free since 2001 and i now have a contract telephone and a natwest student credit card which I assume means my score rose. I have had the phone contract for well over a year and only missed one bill payment due to an oversight which was then paid within a few days. My credit card only has a £250 limit so the min-monthly repayments are only £5.. i have never missed one of these however my credit card has been charged over limit fees a few times - will this affect my rating?
3) While at university I was the person in charge of the telewest tv/phone/broadband bill - this often ended up getting paid late as my housemates were so bad at giving me the money for this, we were often cut off. When i ended the contract when we moved out i did not receive the final bill in good time (due to address mix ups) and when i did get my post that had been redirected to my parents virgin had sent me a letter mentioning defaults about the final amount - i paid this immeadiatly, within 3 weeks or so of the date of this letter i'd estimate. So there is no money outstanding on this account at all - the final bill was a september bill and i cleared the full balance in october - Will this have a long term negative effect on my rating even though my other two credit accounts (phone and credit card) are always paid in time and in full?
I have no other outstanding debts what so ever. i tried to get a credit report but because i'm not register to vote down here in london yet as i've not moved into what will be my permanent home i my details are not producing a report - also at the moment i've left my mobile bill address as my parents but changed my banks to the house i'm staying in as i needed a new bank card sent to me!

Basically - Am I screwed for the next few years, and if so what can i do to make things better... or will things be ok onve i get a permanat address sorted, register to vote and keep paying my bills on time?!

Donedoingdebt

1/ Yes
2/These events won't do you the world of good, but shouldn't hinder you too much.
3/If Virgin have registered a default then this will be on your file for 6 years from that date. Otherwise your file should show the last 36 months of account activity, so the late payments will show for this amount of time.
Things will improve when you've a permanent address & register on the electoral roll.
There is no such thing as a "one covers all credit score." Each company will score you differently according to their own lending criteria.

Fortheloveofmoney

Bump!

I agree with what you've said. It's really important to get on the Electoral Register as this is the first thing creditors use to verify you. Get keep paying the bills and don't apply for any more credit for a while.

angiekaren

Thanks for the advice with this!

I'm not sure how i can find out if Virgin registered the default until I can get a credit report done. I hope they didnt as i paid it pretty much straight away (god i wish i had been responsible for the gas bill instead lol!)

Yeh it will be the first thing I do when i move into my new place - get on the elctrol role, get all my accounts registered to my address and keep paying my bills on time!

Not planning on applying for any more credit until I want a mortage in 2 years time or so - debt and the repayments involved scares me too much!! I feel quite lucky to only Have £150 on my credit card in the way of debt, and over a grand in savings! (does having savings and a well managed current account look good on a credit report? I've been with the same bank since 1999 and there have been no disputes except for the debt i got into in 2000 when i was 18!)

carpetbelly

Fortheloveofmoney wrote: »

Bump!

I agree with what you've said. It's really important to get on the Electoral Register as this is the first thing creditors use to verify you. Get keep paying the bills and don't apply for any more credit for a while.

Electoral role isn't such an issue now adays actually. A lot of people are apathetic towards voting and choose to ignore being on the voters roll. As such a lot of companies will generally only use it in money laundering regulations and an extra check for you being at your address. And if you're not on the register you'll normally just get a letter asking for you to prove your address with a utility bill or something similar.

**edit**

savings won't matter one little bit on a credit report... only credit accounts are on these reports and as a savings account isn't technically a credit account you will not see it on there.

You could always phone virgin and ask them tbh. But from what you've said I doubt they've registered a default if they were chasing you for a final amount. Was more likely than not just down as some missed payments.

The best way to get your credit rating up, is to just make sure all bills are registered to your current address (for ease more than anything) and pay them on time. Doesn't matter how much whether it's the minimum or more. On time payment of accounts is what people want to see. Prefereably accounts that revolve a little.

Again, being with the same bank for so long doesn't effect your credit report, but if you apply for credit from a company they'll probably take that into account individually themselves and apply a score onto how long you've been with your bank. This shows you've been with them a long time and have no issues with them.

And any debt you got into in 2000 would probably be off your record by now depending on what's happened with it.

angiekaren

Thanks everyone - i've been readign up everything i can find on credit files online and on this site but sometimes it just really helps to hear it from a person.

I think i should be fine as long as i keep on top of my credit card and phone bill! Might try tranfering to a different credit card in a year or so revolve my file.

cheers!

carpetbelly

By revolving, I mean revolving balances... Some spend, some payback. No need to switch cards unless you can find yourself a better rate somewhere else.

fistfullofdollars

fyi: Your savings wont show on any CRA report. They will count towards the banks internal credit scoring, but wont show on the one from experian etc.