Trying to improve my rating and failing

flamemc

Hi Everyone

So, when i was in my 20s i abused my credit completely, and ended up in a bad way, i ended up with 6 defaults on my profile

Now in my early 30s i wanted to do something about it, around a year ago i went through every debt i had and paid it in full, as i was fortunate to inherit a reasonable sum

I paid everything i could remember, and everything on my profile, so i was debt free essentially, i paid the defaults in full, they show as paid on my profile, but i assume they will stick there for 6 years.

So around 3 months after doing this, i got accepted for my first credit card in 5 years, a bad lender, but it was credit none the less.

So i currently make sure i pay the credit card off in full every month, have all my bills, mobile phones etc on direct debit and they are also paid on time every month.

But, currently my Experian credit profile is currently worse than when i started and my credit karma profile (previously noddle) is sat 100 points above when i first started.

Where am i going wrong, what should i be doing to help my profile improve, as everything im doing seems to make it worse.

I currently have a fluid card (limit £1500) a 118 money card (limit £250) and i have 3 insurance policies on my credit profile as they are being paid monthly.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, as i feel it will be 10 years + at this rate before i have an acceptable rating.

[Deleted User]

Because you’re trying to improve a fictitious number.

Your score and rating from the CRA’s are not seen or used by lenders.

Lenders will look at your accounts and the raw data in your files.

Carry on what you’re doing to improve your credit history - which is the only thing lenders care about.

flamemc

Would you suggest i pay all my insurance accounts in full so they are not showing as monthly payments on my file ? would this help at all

DCFC79

flamemc wrote: »

Would you suggest i pay all my insurance accounts in full so they are not showing as monthly payments on my file ? would this help at all

Whats the insurance policies ?


Do you have a mobile phone contract or a sim only plan ?

Are you on the Electoral roll ?

flamemc

So my current credit/debt is below

2x Car Insurance Policies, both are on monthly payment plans with creation finance
1x house insurance with privilege thats on monthly payments
1x mobile phone contract
2x credit cards both with +£0 balance on them
I am also on the electoral roll

[Deleted User]

No they’re fine being paid monthly.

Just stop fixating on a made up number and rating.

flamemc

I think the problem i have is, i really want to hopefully get accepted for normal streams of lending in the future, but want to make sure im doing everything correctly, as you stated i assumed the credit rating was the easiest way for me to track if what i was doing was making a difference.

Thanks again for clarifying this, i currently pay experian £15 a month i think for the service, do you think i should cancel this ?

[Deleted User]

Cancel any credit reports you’re paying for.

You can get your Experian, Equifax and TransUnion reports for free from the MSE Credit Club, Clearscore and CreditKarma (UK) respectively.

Ignore the scores and ratings these will also give you.

Carry on with what you’re doing paying things monthly like insurances etc and keep paying your credit cards back in full each month.

Are you paying the monthly fee for the 118118 card as well?

Personally I would close that account as well.

cymruchris

If you're paying the monthly 118 fee - I would certainly cancel that account as Gary mentions above - in your case you are not actually needing the credit at this time, so it's a waste of money paying a monthly fee for no benefit. Have you tried the eligibility checkers for the other sub-prime cards?

- Vanquis
- Capital One
- Aqua

I wouldn't suggest making FULL applications for all three in one go, but if the eligibility checkers come as as positive - then I'd certainly try one of them, and then another in a few months.

For me - Vanquis gave me £400 - and after a few months of paying off in full every statement - increased my limit to £2k. Aqua were similar, giving me a limit of £400, and then upping it to £1700 after a short while.

You're definitely on the right path.

flamemc

Thank you Gary & Chris, I have taken your advice and cancelled the experian subscription, i have also signed up to the MSE credit club, i will keep my credit karma account as its free, i dont pay for that.

I was thinking about cancelling the 118 credit card, as i do pay a fee every month, and never use it, i just assumed having credit available to you that you dont use helped in some way.

I feel 10 years of mis management of money, will take the same to rectify, but like you said i hope im on the correct path.

The only other thing i have done, is i read there is a possibility or removing some of the paid defaults with an explanation of why i got into the debt in the first place, if not a notice of correction explanation was also going to be added.

I just wanted to make sure i was doing things right, so as not to hurt my credit profile even further.

Appreciate the advice

cymruchris

You're right it really does take time for credit institutions to build back trust in us when we're the ones that let them down in the first place (Although they were making good money out of us previously) The important thing is to keep an eye on all of your files to ensure nothing new and unexpected pops up, and to ensure that all the information they hold is accurate.I dropped you a PM as you're on a similar path to me - take a look when you can. Don't expect miracles in minutes - but with patience, and time, and behaving responsibly you'll build your profile up to a reasonable level once more. (and as many say - don't pay attention to ficticious scores)