building my credit rating, how long do I have to wait?

kirmin

Hi all, new to this forum so bear with me!!

Back in November 2004 I had trouble getting a credit card. I applied with my bank (smile - Ive had a good relationship with them for 5 years) and egg (I have £10,000 savings with them) but I got rejected by both. I had no other debt (other than authorised overdraft) and have never owned a credit card so I did a bit of reading up and bit the bullet; got myself a Cap 1 card with a miserly £500 limit. I've been using this for 7 months now: paying off the whole balance each month.

This month I got all 3 of my £2 credit reports and corrected a few address related issues. Other than that I have no other problems. The only creditors were Cap 1 (7 x 0's) and Orange + Vodaphone (lots of 0's). However, Capital one still refuse to increase my limit.

I would like to move to another credit card which offers decent balance xfers (I want to xfer my £1200 overdraft and £500 capital one balance). I've been thinking of the Virgin card for this.

However, as I am building my credit score and don’t want to have a rejection on it, is there a set time that I should wait before applying? Has anyone else had experience with building their credit score up and how long it takes before card companies with decent terms start to accept you?

Thanks all

Kirsten

PS: I am Male, 31 and working full time (at the same company 5 years)

grumbler

kirmin wrote:

However, as I am building my credit score and don’t want to have a rejection on it, is there a set time that I should wait before applying? Has anyone else had experience with building their credit score up and how long it takes before card companies with decent terms start to accept you?

It is believed that it is worth waiting about 6 month after a few unseccessful applications. *I think* you can try now again.

Reaper

I think you should try an application. The occasional application does no harm to your credit rating and any you applied for more than a year ago will have been scrubbed from your record by now.

Try Virgin. If that doesn't work try again with either your bank or Egg. If that doesn't work then give up and wait a few months more.

Alfie_E

kirmin wrote:

This month I got all 3 of my £2 credit reports and corrected a few address related issues. Other than that I have no other problems.

That in itself may have been your previous problem. The initial decision is a highly automated process, and something like that can result in a no. Addresses in the UK can be a problem. Royal Mail has one of the most complicated postal address systems in the world. Also, there's no single definitive address list - see From pillar to post. (I'm always having to correct my credit files, due to a previous address. I get the files corrected. When I apply for something new, I give my "correct" previous address. The lender then messes up the address, and it appears on my file as a new and uniquely different address.)

Reaper wrote:

I think you should try an application. The occasional application does no harm to your credit rating and any you applied for more than a year ago will have been scrubbed from your record by now.

Callcredit holds searches for two years. But, does any lender use Callcredit for searches?

Kirmin, if you get knocked back again, appeal. A human being will give your application a more considered opinion. In the case of Egg or your bank, if that still doesn't get you any joy, make a personal appeal to someone like the company's MD, highlighting your previous good relationship with their company.

kirmin

Thanks for the help everyone. None of my previous rejections are recorded on my credit report/s - i think this is something to do with the fact that I applied to places that I already hold an account with and they don’t report these to the agencies (?). I'm going to give Virgin a go... And be back with more sorry tales no doubt!

Kirsten

Chewbacca_3

I don't know if this is any use for those wanting to build up their credit rating, but a friend in financial services told me that if you have credit cards (1 or more) with a positive balance (they owe you money), then this helps your credit rating. Even if it's just a few pounds on card(s) that maybe you no longer use, it is the credit that actually aids your rating.

klondyke

Chewbacca wrote:

I don't know if this is any use for those wanting to build up their credit rating, but a friend in financial services told me that if you have credit cards (1 or more) with a positive balance (they owe you money), then this helps your credit rating. Even if it's just a few pounds on card(s) that maybe you no longer use, it is the credit that actually aids your rating.

That's interesting - I have a couple of squid cashback on an ancient Halifax which I have never got round to collecting and was thinking about calling them to see if I can swap to a shiny new card with a good deal on it (!). I had rather assumed that leaving small amounts lying around would seem like carelessness and detract from credit rating if anything.

Fedz

I'm astounded Smile and EGG refused you with all that history and or savings!
I think if you appeal the decline you would be pleasantly surprised.

I've noticed Cap1 rarely budge despite being a #1 customer - very bewildering they are!

Barclaycard appear more accepting and even if you apply for the Initial 25.?% card they have promotions for BT's, eg: now it's 6.9% for life of BT.

Given my experience to-date I highly recommend Barclaycard over Cap1 by a long chalk.

Good luck!