How will I know when my credit rating is back to normal???

Jason_in_debt

Hello,

I have a burning :mad: question that I haven't found the answer to by trawling through the vast amount of nonetheless useful information on this great website.

How will I know when my credit rating is back to normal so that I can successfully apply for a loan in order to finally pay off my credit cards? I understand that each time I apply for a loan my credit rating is hit hard so please if anyone has an answer...

PS my credit rating according to creditexpert is at present: 'moderate'. Yes I know I can keep checking this from time to time but I also understand that different banks etc use different techniques for assessing an individual.

Jason.

Cleosmum

Dont get a consolidation loan, attack the card debts head on. Sorry I know thats not what you are asking, but you will clear it quicker if you snowball than if you take on more debt. http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx

tigerchick

I'm in the same situation as Jason, just been turned down for a 0% interest card.
I dont know when my credit rating will get back to an acceptable state, i havent applied for any new cards, loans etc for almost 2 years and haven't missed any payments in that time.
I'm about to request my info from experian but not sure how that will help.

Jason_in_debt

Cleosmum wrote: »

Dont get a consolidation loan, attack the card debts head on. Sorry I know thats not what you are asking, but you will clear it quicker if you snowball than if you take on more debt. http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx

Hi thanks for the advice. I checked out the snowball calculator. It says I will pay £8,500 pounds in interest if I continue to pay minimum payments (which is all I can currently afford). I still think getting a consolidation loan is a better option !!?

Jason_in_debt

tigerchick wrote: »

I'm in the same situation as Jason, just been turned down for a 0% interest card.
I dont know when my credit rating will get back to an acceptable state, i havent applied for any new cards, loans etc for almost 2 years and haven't missed any payments in that time.
I'm about to request my info from experian but not sure how that will help.

I didn't find the experian info much use at all. My fundamental question still stands: How will we know when we will be eligible for a loan? Perhaps nobody knows. I'm planning on going down to my bank and having a chat with someone, however I know they will be biased. So I am also going to take a trip to the CAB. Wish me luck!

MrsTinks

I think in fairness if all you can afford is the minimum payments then maybe we could help you more if you posted a full SOA? Let's see if we can't help you save some money on things you've never even thought of!
I've done the consolidation thing as have many others on here... IT'S BAD!
It's too easy to run up debts again no matter how well intentioned you are.
As for your credit rating then get your credit report from Experian and/or Equifax. They will show you if there are anything on there that that is causing you to eb turned down. Like late or missed payments, possibly incorrect data on your report, and are you on the electoral register? This will make a HUGE difference to your attractiveness to lenders!
Make sure that if you have had several searches in the last few months you leave it at least 3 months before trying again...

bathgatebuyer

It has taken me about a year for my score to go from 435 (Very Poor) to 540 (Poor) on Credit Expert. Being honest, there are some late payments during that time, but the decrease in my level of debt has been the main driver in improving that score. It should take another year or so to reach 'fair' but even at that, I may still struggle to be accepted for credit.

What is important is to check your score and 'clean' any wrong or misleading information on it such as unauthorised searches which may impact upon on your creditworthiness. I had an unathorised search by Welcome Finance and a few cards which had not been updated for a few months so the info on them was not as good as it should have been.

poorandindenial

Tigerchick - if you have lots of available credit then you might get turned down. I have been turned down for credit with no searches for two years and 5 years 9 months perfect payment history on my quite large debt.

Jason

Have you put all the figures for the consolidation into the snowball too?? if you post all your current amounts, limits, APRs and minimum monthly payments then we can give better advice. Some debt might be cheaper in consolidation, other might not but if you are struggling to get a loan then when and if you do get one you might get a rubbish rate.

The reason why consolidation loans are a bad move isn't just the amount of interest that you will pay, but because generally people rack credit cards up again afterwards which means that in two years you are in twice as bad a position as you are now (this is basically the cause of my rather large debt).

Post a bit more info about your situation and we can give some better advice but the golden rule is consolidation = bad unless you have huge amounts of willpower.

MrsTinks

Jason_in_debt wrote: »

I didn't find the experian info much use at all. My fundamental question still stands: How will we know when we will be eligible for a loan? Perhaps nobody knows. I'm planning on going down to my bank and having a chat with someone, however I know they will be biased. So I am also going to take a trip to the CAB. Wish me luck!

No no-one really knows as this is a decision made by the lenders based on a lot of info... It's not the "you score 950 out of 1000" that matters - it's if you have ever missed payments, if you are on the electoral register, any financial associations that might be detrimental, how much "available" credit you have - so old credit cards that you don't use that haven't been closed down properly might show you as having like £20k+ available credit even though you're only using £8500 of it... And... your income. Lenders are getting stricter (well the sensible ones are...) so if you have a sub £20k income between you then they might feel a little concerned at lending you money.

Ultimately there is no 100% on how or when they will lend you money - When I bought my Mini I applied to Egg who I had a loan with that was nearly repaid but they turned me down because of the amount I wanted. I appealed and spent over an hour on the phone to their advisor person who warned me they very rarely overturned decisions. In my case they DID overturn it but they put me through my paces

Jason_in_debt

poorandindenial wrote: »

Tigerchick - if you have lots of available credit then you might get turned down. I have been turned down for credit with no searches for two years and 5 years 9 months perfect payment history on my quite large debt.

Jason

Have you put all the figures for the consolidation into the snowball too?? if you post all your current amounts, limits, APRs and minimum monthly payments then we can give better advice. Some debt might be cheaper in consolidation, other might not but if you are struggling to get a loan then when and if you do get one you might get a rubbish rate.

The reason why consolidation loans are a bad move isn't just the amount of interest that you will pay, but because generally people rack credit cards up again afterwards which means that in two years you are in twice as bad a position as you are now (this is basically the cause of my rather large debt).

Post a bit more info about your situation and we can give some better advice but the golden rule is consolidation = bad unless you have huge amounts of willpower.

This is all good advice. Some people want to see my full debt situation. Well here it is. I owe £11,000 on four maxed-out separate credit cards all with the same APR of around 20%. I earn around £25,000 (it varies) which is fully absorbed by living costs and other debt. By other debt I mean normal low interest loans. I've already done everything I can to cut back on everyday spending. I've read all the tips on this website etc etc. All I want to know is how to get out of the situation I find my self locked in. And I do have the will power required to not to spend anything else. I'm resolute about this. It's not critical debt (not able to meet payments), but I don't want to spend the rest of my life lining the pockets of rich bankers through making interest only payments. There must be a way!!!

Milly1974

Hi Jason,

You won't find an answer because there is no answer. Everyone's record is different, and credit is given on individual merit, with each credit company having their own individual criteria.

I know you feel you have done everything you can, but why not see if the brilliant people on this forum can help you trim things you hadn't even noticed? It isn't an easy route, but it is by far the fastest and most effective, which seems to be your end goal.

Good luck in taking that next step.
M