impact of phone contract on a loan and are credit requests updated in real time

markmh

hi 
i would like peoples advice on the below questions.
im planning on getting a loan to buy a car in the next few weeks. Annoyingly my interest free period on my credit card ends this month and i will need to get a balance transfer credit card shortly. My mobile phone contract ends this month as well. 
So my questions are  
what if any impact will a new mobile phone contract on my credit worthiness, its likely to be £35 - £40 per month, the same as my current contract.
and
if i apply for a credit card and then a loan immediately after will the systems that determine acceptance know ive just applied for a credit card or do they take some time to be updated. 
what im concerned about is the impact of multiple applications at the same time impacting my ability to get credit.
my credit history is good, ive not missed any payments and 4 credit report websites all rate me as excellent.
thanks for advice
mark

foxy-stoat

You only have a few weeks until the interest period ends and you haven't got yourself another card to balance transfer yet?  I would put buying a new car on hold until you have got your balance back on 0% interest or you may risk having to pay high interest on your credit card balance.
Can you not just roll your phone contract on until you have your new car?

The answer is any new credit application will have an effect on your credit file, just how much is anyone's guess.

markmh

i think i will roll the phone until i get the new card. ive not done the credit card application for fear of being turned down for the car loan, as im car-less at the moment thats my main priority. 

MinuteNoodles

markmh said:

hi 
i would like peoples advice on the below questions.
im planning on getting a loan to buy a car in the next few weeks. Annoyingly my interest free period on my credit card ends this month and i will need to get a balance transfer credit card shortly.

You can't afford a loan for the car. If you could then you'd have cleared the 0% card by the end of the deal. Buy a cheap runaround with whatever money you have. You can find something with a long MOT on and run it for the thick end of a year and scrap it when the MOT runs out for £500 or less, less than a couple of month's car loan repayments. Ignore the age, the mileage and the engine size. The larger the engine, the higher the mileage the more car you'll get for your money and even if the fuel economy is half the MPG of what you were intending to buy it'll only cost you a few hundred quid a year more in fuel over a year doing average mileage.

Get a SIM only contract. You can get 30GB with unlimited texts/calls for £10 a month or unlimited data, texts and calls for £18 a month from Smarty.

https://smarty.co.uk/

jjames1985

Credit searches are recorded in real time.  It would make no sense if they were not.

markmh

MinuteNoodles said:

markmh said:

hi 
i would like peoples advice on the below questions.
im planning on getting a loan to buy a car in the next few weeks. Annoyingly my interest free period on my credit card ends this month and i will need to get a balance transfer credit card shortly.

You can't afford a loan for the car. If you could then you'd have cleared the 0% card by the end of the deal. Buy a cheap runaround with whatever money you have. You can find something with a long MOT on and run it for the thick end of a year and scrap it when the MOT runs out for £500 or less, less than a couple of month's car loan repayments. Ignore the age, the mileage and the engine size. The larger the engine, the higher the mileage the more car you'll get for your money and even if the fuel economy is half the MPG of what you were intending to buy it'll only cost you a few hundred quid a year more in fuel over a year doing average mileage.

Get a SIM only contract. You can get 30GB with unlimited texts/calls for £10 a month or unlimited data, texts and calls for £18 a month from Smarty.

https://smarty.co.uk/

i can afford to clear it but that would leave me with little to no savings, at the moment with the virus around i would rather have cash in the bank. as the credit card debt is not costing anything other than the minimum payment which up to now has been around £50 per month ive preferred to pay it off on the 0%. ive looked at sim only however im giving the phone to the wife so wont have a phone for the contract. 

maxximus75

Personally, I would prioritise your needs and would hold off applying for anything until you have secured your loan.

Then apply for a BT card.

If you really need a new phone? Then do this last. 

Sncjw

Could you get car on say pcp

PRAISETHESUN

markmh said:

MinuteNoodles said:

markmh said:

hi 
i would like peoples advice on the below questions.
im planning on getting a loan to buy a car in the next few weeks. Annoyingly my interest free period on my credit card ends this month and i will need to get a balance transfer credit card shortly.

You can't afford a loan for the car. If you could then you'd have cleared the 0% card by the end of the deal. Buy a cheap runaround with whatever money you have. You can find something with a long MOT on and run it for the thick end of a year and scrap it when the MOT runs out for £500 or less, less than a couple of month's car loan repayments. Ignore the age, the mileage and the engine size. The larger the engine, the higher the mileage the more car you'll get for your money and even if the fuel economy is half the MPG of what you were intending to buy it'll only cost you a few hundred quid a year more in fuel over a year doing average mileage.

Get a SIM only contract. You can get 30GB with unlimited texts/calls for £10 a month or unlimited data, texts and calls for £18 a month from Smarty.

https://smarty.co.uk/

i can afford to clear it but that would leave me with little to no savings, at the moment with the virus around i would rather have cash in the bank. as the credit card debt is not costing anything other than the minimum payment which up to now has been around £50 per month ive preferred to pay it off on the 0%. ive looked at sim only however im giving the phone to the wife so wont have a phone for the contract. 

If you don't get a new 0% offer then my suggestion would be to pay off the debt with your savings - no point paying 20+% interest when you don't have to! The money you are currently throwing at your debt can then be set aside to re-build your emergency fund. In an emergency you can re-draw on your cards and you'll still be in a better overall position. See here: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/pay-off-debts/

As for the loan, ignore the scores provided by the 3 CRAs - these are meaningless as lenders do not use these in their decision making. Instead focus on your credit history. Making multiple applications in rapid succession can make you seem desperate to lenders and may scare them off - yes they report searches in real time. The CC debt will also be factored into any application, so again more reason to pay off the debt in my view.