Declined for EE sim contract - what next?

DesignDweeb

Ben8282 wrote: »

You say you have never had a credit card so how can you pay one off each month?
If you cant get a SIM only contract why do you imagine you would be able to get a credit card to help build up your credit to the point where you can get a SIM only contract?


You appear to have already been checking your credit info through MSE credit club so at least you will have seen what data Experian have on you. Start off from there. Is everything correct? Is the ER entry correct?

Honestly I'm not going to lie, this is all new to me as I have always had it in my head that I should only buy what I can afford.. now I have started looking further into things and I have realised it's just not that easy,

I have heard a lot about credit cards targeted at people with bad credit so I guessed I would have to use something like that to build my non existing credit up or atleast get some proof that I can pay back on time and in full,

I have checked the credit club a few times in the past few months (all of which seemed pretty good) but now I have checked again and everything has dropped, I'm having trouble leaving opening the a tubal report but foing off the credit club summary page, the worst thing that is highlighted is the 'account stability'.. I don't know if this is due to my recent rejection for a contract or if it's down to the fact that I have never had a credit card, I'm hoping to open the full report soon and look through the list that Gary has listed above to figure out where I can start

DCFC79

DesignDweeb wrote: »

Honestly I'm not going to lie, this is all new to me as I have always had it in my head that I should only buy what I can afford.. now I have started looking further into things and I have realised it's just not that easy,

I have heard a lot about credit cards targeted at people with bad credit so I guessed I would have to use something like that to build my non existing credit up or atleast get some proof that I can pay back on time and in full,

I have checked the credit club a few times in the past few months (all of which seemed pretty good) but now I have checked again and everything has dropped, I'm having trouble leaving opening the a tubal report but foing off the credit club summary page, the worst thing that is highlighted is the 'account stability'.. I don't know if this is due to my recent rejection for a contract or if it's down to the fact that I have never had a credit card, I'm hoping to open the full report soon and look through the list that Gary has listed above to figure out where I can start

For a newbie I'm impressed, only spend what you can afford.


Check all 3 reports, when you find any mention of an EE search then you know that's the file they searched.


Account stability to me is your moving from 1 account to another eg using the switching service.
Check account stability mentioned on another report.



I reckon its related to the change of name.

[Deleted User]

What do you mean by 'everything has dropped'? Do you mean accounts are missing? Were they previously there or do they report elsewhere?

Ben8282

You appear to be avoiding answering the question about the ER.
Rejection for a SIM only contract is unlikely to be caused by lack of credit card or account stability.

PixelPound

DesignDweeb wrote: »

Honestly I'm not going to lie, this is all new to me as I have always had it in my head that I should only buy what I can afford.. now I have started looking further into things and I have realised it's just not that easy,

I have heard a lot about credit cards targeted at people with bad credit so I guessed I would have to use something like that to build my non existing credit up or atleast get some proof that I can pay back on time and in full,

Reading the thread, do you have little or no credit, often what's called a thin file, or bad credit i.e. some defaults or worse

When are you going to apply for a mortgage, you may want to consult with a broker. Getting a credit builder card won't always show wonderful proof to make you credit file great, depends what else is in there or not - think of putting a ticking plaster on a gaping wound.

DesignDweeb

DCFC79 wrote: »

For a newbie I'm impressed, only spend what you can afford.


Check all 3 reports, when you find any mention of an EE search then you know that's the file they searched.


Account stability to me is your moving from 1 account to another eg using the switching service.
Check account stability mentioned on another report.

I reckon its related to the change of name.

I hope this is due to the name change as its the most recent big change, I have had to wait until this morning to get online as my phone was playing up last night and I wasn't able to log into my credit club account, I will be checking the 3 reports later on today and hopefully work out how to fix this for future.

Ben8282 wrote: »

You appear to be avoiding answering the question about the ER.
Rejection for a SIM only contract is unlikely to be caused by lack of credit card or account stability.

Sorry, I didnt mean to look like I was avoiding questions, my phone has been playing up a little... I dont remember actively updating ER but presumed that would be updated when all my other documents were updated, I even re-enrolled to vote just in case it reset, is there another way other than through the credit reports to find out as im having issues getting onto my Credit club account

nic_c wrote: »

Reading the thread, do you have little or no credit, often what's called a thin file, or bad credit i.e. some defaults or worse

When are you going to apply for a mortgage, you may want to consult with a broker. Getting a credit builder card won't always show wonderful proof to make you credit file great, depends what else is in there or not - think of putting a ticking plaster on a gaping wound.

Yeah this is what i'm assuming as I have never had any credit cards, phone contracts or loans (Other than student loans) so I think the combination of that and a surname change has maybe made me into a bit of an anomaly.. I want to get this sorted asap though as I dont want to be refused more things in future..

If I cant get a SIM contract, what are the chances im going to be approved for a mortgage?

As my credit club account is not working, I will have to go and get the reports directly, so I will hopefully have more answers later today

Candyapple

The free versions to check your credit files are below:
Experian: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/creditclub
Equifax: https://www.clearscore.com
TransUnion (formerly Call Credit): https://www.creditkarma.co.uk

What you need to be doing is checking that your bank account(s) are showing on all 3 files.

Are you on the electoral roll (does it show on all 3 files?)

If you are getting a mortgage in the next year or 2 you have plenty of time to build your history.

Get yourself a credit card. See if you are eligible for any of the below.

MSE Credit Card Eligibility Checker for 0% Purchase Cards:
https://creditcards.moneysavingexpert.com//purchases

If not, try your own bank.

Once you have the card, just make your monthly spends on it and set up a direct debit to clear the full balance each month (assuming it's not a 0% purchase card). This way you will rack up the green zeroes every month on your credit file which shows you can handle credit.

When you've held the card for 1 year, apply for another one and also try for a new SIM only account. So that way you should have 2 credit cards, 1 bank account and 1 phone account reporting back your data to the credit reference agencies each month and should be plenty for your mortgage application to sail through. Just make sure that 6 months prior to your mortgage application you don't make any hard searches for credit.

DesignDweeb

Thank you so much for this reply Candyapple! this is exactly what I needed to help me understand, its close to what I had in mind anyway but its great to see somebody else with the same ideas..

I would probably put my petrol each month on the credit card.. can I spend too much on a credit card each month, say i put £200 a month, would that reflect badly on me as it looks like I need to lend so much cash every single month or should i stick to spending around £50/100 a month instead?

[Deleted User]

DesignDweeb wrote: »

Thank you so much for this reply Candyapple! this is exactly what I needed to help me understand, its close to what I had in mind anyway but its great to see somebody else with the same ideas..

I would probably put my petrol each month on the credit card.. can I spend too much on a credit card each month, say i put £200 a month, would that reflect badly on me as it looks like I need to lend so much cash every single month or should i stick to spending around £50/100 a month instead?

It doesn't matter how much you spend as you'll be paying it off in full each month following the statement.

DesignDweeb

Hi again all, after spending some time doing some snooping, I had to create a new credit club account with my new name.. after opening up the report in the credit club, there is nothing out of place but under the 'alias' section my old name is not in there... could this be the problem? --- other than that, the rest of the credit club looks good and I cant see a problem with anything, however, the declined SIM contract has not shown up anywhere, should there be a record of it?