Will getting another credit card boost my rating?

jammy_c

Hi everyone! i'm new here, 
I just wanted to ask a quick question to those in the know: I'm sure this has probably been asked a million times before so apologies, but I am hoping to get car finance in about 6 months and want to give my credit rating a boost. It's just risen from "very poor" to "poor" and I'm wondering if getting another one or two credit cards now will benefit my credit score long-term?
I already have a capital one card that I'm managing a small balance on (under £200) no problems and have a £1000 credit limit, but no other finance. Is it beneficial for me to get more cards and just use them now and again for small purchases and pay off in full each month? will my rating improve faster?

TIA. 
James.

jammy_c

also....would applying for two separate cards in the space of an hour of so be good or bad? I've been approved already on thier eligibility soft searches.

Nebulous2

Have you dealt with any other issues affecting you? Are you on the electoral roll, in stable employment, paying all other bills on time? 

Carrying a small balance, may just be how you are describing it, but if you aren't paying it off every month, then you will be needlessly paying interest and it will appear to a lender that you cannot afford to pay off a relatively small sum. 

Applying for two cards very quickly is fine, but it will give two hard searches and you would then be better with a gap before applying for anything else. Six months would probably be a safe minimum. 

jammy_c

Nebulous2 said:

Have you dealt with any other issues affecting you? Are you on the electoral roll, in stable employment, paying all other bills on time? 

Carrying a small balance, may just be how you are describing it, but if you aren't paying it off every month, then you will be needlessly paying interest and it will appear to a lender that you cannot afford to pay off a relatively small sum. 

Applying for two cards very quickly is fine, but it will give two hard searches and you would then be better with a gap before applying for anything else. Six months would probably be a safe minimum. 

Thanks. I over-borrowed on credit cards and loans a few years ago after buying a new home and car and ran into difficulties repaying debts with high APRs, so ended up entering a DMP with stepchange to sort out the spiralling debt, hence the a bunch a defaults and massive hit on my credit file which has been (very slowly) recovering.
I'm on the electoral roll and full-time employed for the past 15 years (the past 8 with the same employer). all bills have been paid on time in the past 18 months (since starting the DMP).
I spend about £200-£250 on fuel for work so i put this on a creditcard and pay off, in full at the end of each month.
I don't really anticipate applying for any more credit in the next 6 months, but was wondering if the cc's mentioned would boost my credit file and if 2 would be better than one by increasing my current-borrowing/available-credit ratio?

[Deleted User]

Adding extra credit would be pointless at this stage if you intend to apply in 6 months as it will affect the lender's decision based on your available credit and past credit history. What "rating" the CRAs give you is meaningless, you don't get credit because Experian say you're "poor" or "average", lenders NEVER see that rating/score, they use the data on the file. If you have an active history (as in, last 6 years) of defaults / debt management which you say you do - you entered it 18 months ago then to be honest, I'd be looking at getting another card and paying in full every month with the intention of looking at car finance in maybe 3-4 years time. No prime lender is going to give you finance at any sort of reasonable rate with such a recent DMP and defaults. Run your current car for longer or buy a cheap banger to run for a while instead of rushing back into debt

jammy_c

Deleted_User said:

Adding extra credit would be pointless at this stage if you intend to apply in 6 months as it will affect the lender's decision based on your available credit and past credit history. What "rating" the CRAs give you is meaningless, you don't get credit because Experian say you're "poor" or "average", lenders NEVER see that rating/score, they use the data on the file. If you have an active history (as in, last 6 years) of defaults / debt management which you say you do - you entered it 18 months ago then to be honest, I'd be looking at getting another card and paying in full every month with the intention of looking at car finance in maybe 3-4 years time. No prime lender is going to give you finance at any sort of reasonable rate with such a recent DMP and defaults. Run your current car for longer or buy a cheap banger to run for a while instead of rushing back into debt

Thankyou. that's some food for thought. But getting another card or two now would be beneficial long-term, do you think? (obviously mananged properly and balance cleared every month).

MalMonroe

jammy_c said:

Deleted_User said:

Adding extra credit would be pointless at this stage if you intend to apply in 6 months as it will affect the lender's decision based on your available credit and past credit history. What "rating" the CRAs give you is meaningless, you don't get credit because Experian say you're "poor" or "average", lenders NEVER see that rating/score, they use the data on the file. If you have an active history (as in, last 6 years) of defaults / debt management which you say you do - you entered it 18 months ago then to be honest, I'd be looking at getting another card and paying in full every month with the intention of looking at car finance in maybe 3-4 years time. No prime lender is going to give you finance at any sort of reasonable rate with such a recent DMP and defaults. Run your current car for longer or buy a cheap banger to run for a while instead of rushing back into debt

Thankyou. that's some food for thought. But getting another card or two now would be beneficial long-term, do you think? (obviously mananged properly and balance cleared every month).

As someone who has been in such financial difficulty in the past that they had to have a Debt Relief Order, I would say a firm and definite NO. Getting any more cards now will not be beneficial, whether in the short or long term. I learned the very hard way that lenders don't like to see credit reports that reflect people who are 'credit hungry' - that is, applying for too much credit within a short space of time.

From past experience I know that even if you have been given the green light by a credit card company's soft search, it does not mean that they will supply you with a credit card if/when you apply for one. So if you apply for two within a short period of time, you could end up with no credit card at all but two hard searches on your credit report. 

You could do much worse than heed all of the advice given to you by Farfetch. It is excellent advice. 

jammy_c

MalMonroe said:

jammy_c said:

Deleted_User said:

Adding extra credit would be pointless at this stage if you intend to apply in 6 months as it will affect the lender's decision based on your available credit and past credit history. What "rating" the CRAs give you is meaningless, you don't get credit because Experian say you're "poor" or "average", lenders NEVER see that rating/score, they use the data on the file. If you have an active history (as in, last 6 years) of defaults / debt management which you say you do - you entered it 18 months ago then to be honest, I'd be looking at getting another card and paying in full every month with the intention of looking at car finance in maybe 3-4 years time. No prime lender is going to give you finance at any sort of reasonable rate with such a recent DMP and defaults. Run your current car for longer or buy a cheap banger to run for a while instead of rushing back into debt

Thankyou. that's some food for thought. But getting another card or two now would be beneficial long-term, do you think? (obviously mananged properly and balance cleared every month).

As someone who has been in such financial difficulty in the past that they had to have a Debt Relief Order, I would say a firm and definite NO. Getting any more cards now will not be beneficial, whether in the short or long term. I learned the very hard way that lenders don't like to see credit reports that reflect people who are 'credit hungry' - that is, applying for too much credit within a short space of time.

From past experience I know that even if you have been given the green light by a credit card company's soft search, it does not mean that they will supply you with a credit card if/when you apply for one. So if you apply for two within a short period of time, you could end up with no credit card at all but two hard searches on your credit report. 

You could do much worse than heed all of the advice given to you by Farfetch. It is excellent advice. 

Thanks for your response. that's also good advice.
So the best thing to do would be.... to do nothing at all, and just wait for time to pass? Is there anything else I can do to help improve my credit worthiness at all in the meantime? I was always under the impression another "credit builder" style credit card would help, naively, but I guess it's probably not. 

[Deleted User]

jammy_c said:

MalMonroe said:

jammy_c said:

Deleted_User said:

Adding extra credit would be pointless at this stage if you intend to apply in 6 months as it will affect the lender's decision based on your available credit and past credit history. What "rating" the CRAs give you is meaningless, you don't get credit because Experian say you're "poor" or "average", lenders NEVER see that rating/score, they use the data on the file. If you have an active history (as in, last 6 years) of defaults / debt management which you say you do - you entered it 18 months ago then to be honest, I'd be looking at getting another card and paying in full every month with the intention of looking at car finance in maybe 3-4 years time. No prime lender is going to give you finance at any sort of reasonable rate with such a recent DMP and defaults. Run your current car for longer or buy a cheap banger to run for a while instead of rushing back into debt

Thankyou. that's some food for thought. But getting another card or two now would be beneficial long-term, do you think? (obviously mananged properly and balance cleared every month).

As someone who has been in such financial difficulty in the past that they had to have a Debt Relief Order, I would say a firm and definite NO. Getting any more cards now will not be beneficial, whether in the short or long term. I learned the very hard way that lenders don't like to see credit reports that reflect people who are 'credit hungry' - that is, applying for too much credit within a short space of time.

From past experience I know that even if you have been given the green light by a credit card company's soft search, it does not mean that they will supply you with a credit card if/when you apply for one. So if you apply for two within a short period of time, you could end up with no credit card at all but two hard searches on your credit report. 

You could do much worse than heed all of the advice given to you by Farfetch. It is excellent advice. 

Thanks for your response. that's also good advice.
So the best thing to do would be.... to do nothing at all, and just wait for time to pass? Is there anything else I can do to help improve my credit worthiness at all in the meantime? I was always under the impression another "credit builder" style credit card would help, naively, but I guess it's probably not. 

Having a couple of cards is no bad thing, provided they are used and paid in full every month e.g. just spending what you'd normally spend. Ideally get a Visa and Mastercard just in case one system goes down. Credit utilisation is part of how lenders rate you so a couple of cards without balances (i.e. cleared in full monthly) will make you look like a responsible borrower and help rebuild your file. Otherwise, a basic SIM only phone contract again paid monthly and then just allow time to heal - the longer ago defaults are, the better.

[Deleted User]

I applied for Marbles and 118118 Money cards on the same day last summer and got them both. Then I applied for Zopa and Tesco in December and got them both too.