Credit Score & Dormant Credit Card

hdr

HI,
My credit score has dropped by 74 points today. (I am in the Very Poor category) I checked this via the MoneySavingExpert Credit Club tool.
The only thing I can think of is that one credit card has been listed as Dormant.
I have 3 credit cards, all of which are at £0 and I don't use. I've left them open for now to increase my credit utilisation as I have one high interest loan that I am working on paying off. I will then close my credit card accounts. 

Would this be the cause of the huge drop? A credit card being set as 'Dormant'?

yksi

Maybe. What else has changed in your credit history? Also, why does it matter - are you looking to borrow in the near future? Make sure you read the sticky at the top of this section, because the score is a made-up number which isn't important. Your history is, which is about how well you use & repay credit. Accounts sitting at zero (while help to keep your overall utilisation down) are not incredibly helpful because they don't show responsible use. Using them for buying milk & bread, and paying off in full each month, might avoid them being cancelled or made domant by your issuer.

hdr

yksi said:

Maybe. What else has changed in your credit history? Also, why does it matter - are you looking to borrow in the near future? Make sure you read the sticky at the top of this section, because the score is a made-up number which isn't important. Your history is, which is about how well you use & repay credit. Accounts sitting at zero (while help to keep your overall utilisation down) are not incredibly helpful because they don't show responsible use. Using them for buying milk & bread, and paying off in full each month, might avoid them being cancelled or made dormant by your issuer.

Paid off a debt last month. All other debts have decreased because I am paying them off. So this is the only other thing I can think of. 
Well I missed out on a great first home (I'm 36 with a family!) in January because I don't have any savings or any chance of getting a mortgage. So good credit would've come in handy then.

D3xt3r5L4b

hdr said:

yksi said:

Maybe. What else has changed in your credit history? Also, why does it matter - are you looking to borrow in the near future? Make sure you read the sticky at the top of this section, because the score is a made-up number which isn't important. Your history is, which is about how well you use & repay credit. Accounts sitting at zero (while help to keep your overall utilisation down) are not incredibly helpful because they don't show responsible use. Using them for buying milk & bread, and paying off in full each month, might avoid them being cancelled or made dormant by your issuer.

Paid off a debt last month. All other debts have decreased because I am paying them off. So this is the only other thing I can think of. 
Well I missed out on a great first home (I'm 36 with a family!) in January because I don't have any savings or any chance of getting a mortgage. So good credit would've come in handy then.

It’s probably dropped due to the balance changes etc. then.
As already advised it’s not used by lenders so don’t pay any attention to it. 

DCFC79

I shouldn't worry about the score.
Have you checked your credit history with other the other agencies ?
They will report you differently and you will see how the score isn't to worry about.
All that matters is your information is correct.

hdr

DCFC79 said:

I shouldn't worry about the score.
Have you checked your credit history with other the other agencies ?
They will report you differently and you will see how the score isn't to worry about.
All that matters is your information is correct.

Yeah, I use a few different ones. 
You say don't worry about the score but I cannot get a loan at the moment because it's so low. And I couldn't get a mortgage earlier this year to buy a house. So they must use the score to check my eligibility?

hdr

D3xt3r5L4b said:

It’s probably dropped due to the balance changes etc. then.
As already advised it’s not used by lenders so don’t pay any attention to it. 

Why would it drop so much, by me reducing what I owe out?
And why do you say lenders don't pay attention to it when I have been refused loan/mortgage in the past?
Thanks

D3xt3r5L4b

hdr said:

D3xt3r5L4b said:

It’s probably dropped due to the balance changes etc. then.
As already advised it’s not used by lenders so don’t pay any attention to it. 

Why would it drop so much, by me reducing what I owe out?
And why do you say lenders don't pay attention to it when I have been refused loan/mortgage in the past?
Thanks

Because the cra scores react negatively to good and bad changes.

Lenders look at the data and accounts on your files not the scores - they never see them. 

That and they have their own lending criteria, risk scoring etc etc that they use when making a decision on give someone a credit account of some description or not. 

D3xt3r5L4b

hdr said:

DCFC79 said:

I shouldn't worry about the score.
Have you checked your credit history with other the other agencies ?
They will report you differently and you will see how the score isn't to worry about.
All that matters is your information is correct.

Yeah, I use a few different ones. 
You say don't worry about the score but I cannot get a loan at the moment because it's so low. And I couldn't get a mortgage earlier this year to buy a house. So they must use the score to check my eligibility?

No. Answered above. 

yksi

You're in the "very poor" category you said, and while this rating isn't what matters, it's a broad indicator that something(s) in your credit history make you a very poor candidate for most lenders. What is in your credit history which is causing both your rejections and this "very poor"? Lots of home moves, lack of mobile phone contract, lack of electoral roll, lack of any other successfully repaid agreements or debts? Missed repayments, defaults, CCJs? Nothing will fix the last three except time and good behaviour, but the first lot demonstrate stability to a lender.

You have no savings, so if I were you I would stop thinking that you "missed out" on a home earlier this year - you were in no way ready to buy it. You mentioned having paid off some debts which is great, so now it's time to save your pennies, keep on top of all your bills, and time will do the rest.

hdr

yksi said:

You're in the "very poor" category you said, and while this rating isn't what matters, it's a broad indicator that something(s) in your credit history make you a very poor candidate for most lenders. What is in your credit history which is causing both your rejections and this "very poor"? Lots of home moves, lack of mobile phone contract, lack of electoral roll, lack of any other successfully repaid agreements or debts? Missed repayments, defaults, CCJs? Nothing will fix the last three except time and good behaviour, but the first lot demonstrate stability to a lender.

You have no savings, so if I were you I would stop thinking that you "missed out" on a home earlier this year - you were in no way ready to buy it. You mentioned having paid off some debts which is great, so now it's time to save your pennies, keep on top of all your bills, and time will do the rest.

I am on electoral roll, haven't moved in over 5 years, I have 4 mobile phone contracts(never missed a payment), one missed payment from 2019, no CCJs but I have a default from a few years ago that I am still repaying each month.

Thanks for the advice. I have now contacted the credit card company about my dormant card to get a new card and will start using it for small payments each month and pay it off each time in full. Hopefully that should help with my score and what the lenders see (that I am responsible with money)?!

Thanks for the advice