Rebuilding File - Credit Cards

tomxlisa

Just wondering if I’m doing something wrong been rebuilding my credit file for around 2 years now with the usual suspects that gets offered to you when your file isn’t that great, capital one etc, anyways 2 years later after checking my eligibility on here I’m still only being offered those same cards yet 2 years of flawless payments etc, should I be concerned regarding this or is that length of time just not that much when your rebuilding credit and it takes much longer than 2 years, just be great when the time comes I’m checking eligibility and getting offers from the likes of MBNA, Lloyds, M&S etc, instead of the usual credit builder cards that I keep seeing. 

Gandalf644

tomxlisa said:

Just wondering if I’m doing something wrong been rebuilding my credit file for around 2 years now with the usual suspects that gets offered to you when your file isn’t that great, capital one etc, anyways 2 years later after checking my eligibility on here I’m still only being offered those same cards yet 2 years of flawless payments etc, should I be concerned regarding this or is that length of time just not that much when your rebuilding credit and it takes much longer than 2 years, just be great when the time comes I’m checking eligibility and getting offers from the likes of MBNA, Lloyds, M&S etc, instead of the usual credit builder cards that I keep seeing. 

Your financial information (credit record history) stays 'live' for a rolling six years before anything adverse drops off.

Therefore, with only two years 'clean history' you may have some way to go, as I take it from your initial post you are currently rebuilding your credit history. Is this after such as defaults or arrangements to pay etc?

The important thing is to maintain positive behaviours - such as spending and then fully clearing any credit cards you currently hold each and every month.

Eventually, displaying such positive behaviours will give more weight to your credit history than previous 'black marks' and eventually offers should start to improve.

born_again

Don't focus on score & what you are being offered here.

If you want to see if you will get other cards, then check direct.

But remember that you have 4 years previous history that will cloud the last 2.

CliveOfIndia

tomxlisa said:

2 years of flawless payments etc,

When you say "flawless payments" - do you mean you always pay the statement in full every month, without fail?  That's what you should be aiming to do, especially if you're trying to build up a positive history.  Carrying a balance from one month the the next will be viewed a lot less favourably than always paying in full.

As others have said, if you already have any negative marks on your record, these will count against you - though their impact will dimish over time.

Finally, remember that there are many, many factors that are taken into account when a lender assesses your credit-worthiness.  Yes, credit history is certainly a major factor - but another big one is your income to debt ratio.  If you are already carrying debt in whatever form (not just credit cards, it could be personal loans, car finance arrangements, whatever), this will be factored in as well.

tomxlisa

Gandalf644 said:

tomxlisa said:

Just wondering if I’m doing something wrong been rebuilding my credit file for around 2 years now with the usual suspects that gets offered to you when your file isn’t that great, capital one etc, anyways 2 years later after checking my eligibility on here I’m still only being offered those same cards yet 2 years of flawless payments etc, should I be concerned regarding this or is that length of time just not that much when your rebuilding credit and it takes much longer than 2 years, just be great when the time comes I’m checking eligibility and getting offers from the likes of MBNA, Lloyds, M&S etc, instead of the usual credit builder cards that I keep seeing. 

Your financial information (credit record history) stays 'live' for a rolling six years before anything adverse drops off.

Therefore, with only two years 'clean history' you may have some way to go, as I take it from your initial post you are currently rebuilding your credit history. Is this after such as defaults or arrangements to pay etc?

The important thing is to maintain positive behaviours - such as spending and then fully clearing any credit cards you currently hold each and every month.

Eventually, displaying such positive behaviours will give more weight to your credit history than previous 'black marks' and eventually offers should start to improve.

Yeah I do still have a CCJ on there but it’s around 4 years old now and also got one default remaining which drops off in a year I think, apart from that everything is good, I’m guessing the CCJ and the default are still playing there part in damaging my report which is maybe why I’m not being offered some of the other cards I mention, even though I thought with time these don’t harm your report as much anymore but maybe that’s not the case but then again it could be as I do have cards currently so could just be a case for these to completely drop off for me to be offered the other cards I mention. 

tomxlisa

CliveOfIndia said:

tomxlisa said:

2 years of flawless payments etc,

When you say "flawless payments" - do you mean you always pay the statement in full every month, without fail?  That's what you should be aiming to do, especially if you're trying to build up a positive history.  Carrying a balance from one month the the next will be viewed a lot less favourably than always paying in full.

As others have said, if you already have any negative marks on your record, these will count against you - though their impact will dimish over time.

Finally, remember that there are many, many factors that are taken into account when a lender assesses your credit-worthiness.  Yes, credit history is certainly a major factor - but another big one is your income to debt ratio.  If you are already carrying debt in whatever form (not just credit cards, it could be personal loans, car finance arrangements, whatever), this will be factored in as well.

I don’t always clear my balances sometimes I will leave a balance if I’ve just got something which is too much to clear in one go so I’ll pay a little interest at times but I’ll always make sure I pay more than the minimum payment due, I’m guessing clearing the balances in full looks better for you as you don’t have a thing called persistent debt, definitely will start to try and do that going forward as I have just cleared down all my credit cards so I’m back to zero balance on them all for the first time in months, I also agree that there’s so many other factors that come into it too when trying to get a credit card, like hard searches too, I’ve got too many of them on my report at the moment which I’m trying to clear down, I guess it’s just gonna take much longer for me to get where I want to be and being offered the other cards, but I think I’m on the right path to building better credit. 

BrotherUuurgh

Same boat as you. I've three years of glowing history but it's being clouded by the previous three. Defaults in 2021. It's still not made it difficult to obtain nearly £15k in credit, not a good thing, but the rates are terrible, all above 30% and from the usual suspects . I take comfort knowing I'm playing the long game. Debts, searches, debt payments, are going down, and once in a while Clearscore offers just a little encouragement - a hard search will be removed, a default will be removed etc.

In the same train of thought, I certainly won't be pining for the 'big name' cards, I believe I've learned my lesson there. However, maybe, just maybe I might be able to try for a house before it's too late, before I'm 40. 

tomxlisa

BrotherUuurgh said:

Same boat as you. I've three years of glowing history but it's being clouded by the previous three. Defaults in 2021. It's still not made it difficult to obtain nearly £15k in credit, not a good thing, but the rates are terrible, all above 30% and from the usual suspects . I take comfort knowing I'm playing the long game. Debts, searches, debt payments, are going down, and once in a while Clearscore offers just a little encouragement - a hard search will be removed, a default will be removed etc.

In the same train of thought, I certainly won't be pining for the 'big name' cards, I believe I've learned my lesson there. However, maybe, just maybe I might be able to try for a house before it's too late, before I'm 40. 

I think like you it’s not really the big name cards that I want to achieve it’s the lower APR and the 0% spending offers etc, I know if your clearing in full every month the APR doesn’t matter but I can’t always do that specially if I’ve made a nih purchase so knowing I’ve got one of the best rate cards on the market and not something 30+ APR would be great, but yeah I guess it’s a long game, keep paying the payments on time, keep watching the hard searches and defaults drop off and eventually maybe just maybe one day will get one of the better APR cards for the person with a more superior credit history, what cards have you got are they the usual ones capital one etc?. 

BrotherUuurgh

tomxlisa said:

BrotherUuurgh said:

Same boat as you. I've three years of glowing history but it's being clouded by the previous three. Defaults in 2021. It's still not made it difficult to obtain nearly £15k in credit, not a good thing, but the rates are terrible, all above 30% and from the usual suspects . I take comfort knowing I'm playing the long game. Debts, searches, debt payments, are going down, and once in a while Clearscore offers just a little encouragement - a hard search will be removed, a default will be removed etc.

In the same train of thought, I certainly won't be pining for the 'big name' cards, I believe I've learned my lesson there. However, maybe, just maybe I might be able to try for a house before it's too late, before I'm 40. 

I think like you it’s not really the big name cards that I want to achieve it’s the lower APR and the 0% spending offers etc, I know if your clearing in full every month the APR doesn’t matter but I can’t always do that specially if I’ve made a nih purchase so knowing I’ve got one of the best rate cards on the market and not something 30+ APR would be great, but yeah I guess it’s a long game, keep paying the payments on time, keep watching the hard searches and defaults drop off and eventually maybe just maybe one day will get one of the better APR cards for the person with a more superior credit history, what cards have you got are they the usual ones capital one etc?. 

Mine are Vanquis and Zopa. I also had a Post Office (Cap One) 3 month 0% BT card a short while ago, and managed to clear nearly £500 interest free (though was a 3% fee). Quite a high limits considering the interest - I'll be looking to reduce them as the balance comes down, at least on one of them. As expensive a card they are, one will be useful for the travels, for the hold deposits and things, perhaps until, like your aim, 'better' cards become available. 

tomxlisa

BrotherUuurgh said:

tomxlisa said:

BrotherUuurgh said:

Same boat as you. I've three years of glowing history but it's being clouded by the previous three. Defaults in 2021. It's still not made it difficult to obtain nearly £15k in credit, not a good thing, but the rates are terrible, all above 30% and from the usual suspects . I take comfort knowing I'm playing the long game. Debts, searches, debt payments, are going down, and once in a while Clearscore offers just a little encouragement - a hard search will be removed, a default will be removed etc.

In the same train of thought, I certainly won't be pining for the 'big name' cards, I believe I've learned my lesson there. However, maybe, just maybe I might be able to try for a house before it's too late, before I'm 40. 

I think like you it’s not really the big name cards that I want to achieve it’s the lower APR and the 0% spending offers etc, I know if your clearing in full every month the APR doesn’t matter but I can’t always do that specially if I’ve made a nih purchase so knowing I’ve got one of the best rate cards on the market and not something 30+ APR would be great, but yeah I guess it’s a long game, keep paying the payments on time, keep watching the hard searches and defaults drop off and eventually maybe just maybe one day will get one of the better APR cards for the person with a more superior credit history, what cards have you got are they the usual ones capital one etc?. 

Mine are Vanquis and Zopa. I also had a Post Office (Cap One) 3 month 0% BT card a short while ago, and managed to clear nearly £500 interest free (though was a 3% fee). Quite a high limits considering the interest - I'll be looking to reduce them as the balance comes down, at least on one of them. As expensive a card they are, one will be useful for the travels, for the hold deposits and things, perhaps until, like your aim, 'better' cards become available. 

Thankfully I’ve managed to clear most of my cards now and I’ve decided to close them down, I had about 6/7 of the high APR cards but don’t want them anymore so kept a couple and just gonna maintain and use them now and wait until I get offered better cards, if I get offered anything with crappy APRs i just refuse them now, hopefully we both start to filter in better APR cards soon, that’s the trouble though once you destroy your credit file it takes a whole lot longer to rebuild than it does to ruin.

eskbanker

tomxlisa said:

Yeah I do still have a CCJ on there but it’s around 4 years old now and also got one default remaining which drops off in a year I think, apart from that everything is good

tomxlisa said:
I don’t always clear my balances sometimes I will leave a balance if I’ve just got something which is too much to clear in one go

[...]

I also agree that there’s so many other factors that come into it too when trying to get a credit card, like hard searches too, I’ve got too many of them on my report at the moment which I’m trying to clear down, I guess it’s just gonna take much longer for me to get where I want to be and being offered the other cards, but I think I’m on the right path to building better credit. 

You may well be on the right path but it does seem that you've answered your own question about quickly you're progressing along it!  A CCJ, a default, not always paying off in full, and too many hard searches collectively paint a less than healthy picture, so you're going to need to focus on sorting out the ones you can control (the latter two) while simultaneously waiting for the effect of the former two to weaken, and you should get there eventually.