How to make it better

PCorbett

Recently me and my partner have tried to get a mortgage but because of my really really bad credit history of missing some payments and account in defaults no will touch us according to Mortgage Advice Bureau which was very disheartening to hear they gave us no options at all. Anyway, cut story short we went to get some more advice through the people we got a Mortgage In Principle and they were very helpful and found us a lender who asked for very specific things like a higher deposit which was a min of 15% so they would only lend us 85% of the property of the value and a high-interest min 6.1% and high of 6.14% .

Anyway, my question is how can I improve my credit history? Do I get another credit card for bad credits and defaults or just wait for the years to go by?

Any help would be appreciated.

TadleyBaggie

Things like defaults and missed payments will only count against you whilst they are on your credit file, so after 6 years they should be gone. If the reporting is accurate there is nothing you can do but allow time to heal. That said, a default 5 years ago will have less impact then one 5 months ago.

[Deleted User]

You can improve credit rating through the usual steps - credit card, spend, pay off in full after the statement every month by direct debit; mobile phone contract even if SIM only, that sort of thing. Establish a history of responsible borrowing for the next 12-18 months while saving for your deposit

Ebe_Scrooge

Yes, missed payments, defaults and the like are there, there's nothing you can do about them (assuming they're a true reflection of the facts, of course!).  Their impact will reduce as time goes on, and will be gone in 6 years.

Aside from that, you need to start building some positive history - i.e. showing that you can repay what you owe.  Any form of credit will do this (though don't ever pay purely to improve your history.  A loan, for instance, where you always pay every instalment on time, will improve your history, but it would be madness to take out a loan and pay interest for no other reason than to build your history).

A credit card is usually the simplest method.  Use it for everyday spending and always always always repay the full amount every month, on time, without fail.  Doing this will cost you nothing (there's no interest charged if you pay the full statement balance in full), and over time it will gradually build up a positive history.