Credit score question...
Discussion
Afternoon all,
I'm after some advice on improving my credit score which after a long period of being perfectly healthy kind of went to the wall when distracted by a separation from my wife and all the fun and games that goes along with that....basically took my eye well off the ball with one standard household bill and a parking fine and I earned myself a couple of CCJs so my score plummeted. Now with my eye back on the ball I signed up to Noodle and checked out Experian, realised where I'd gone wrong so paid what was owed and both infringements now show on my reports as satisfied.
This was cleared a few months ago but my score has hardly moved, is there anything that I can do or is it just a case of wait it out and over a period of time it will slowly creep back up?
Any advice appreciated.
Many thanks.
I'm after some advice on improving my credit score which after a long period of being perfectly healthy kind of went to the wall when distracted by a separation from my wife and all the fun and games that goes along with that....basically took my eye well off the ball with one standard household bill and a parking fine and I earned myself a couple of CCJs so my score plummeted. Now with my eye back on the ball I signed up to Noodle and checked out Experian, realised where I'd gone wrong so paid what was owed and both infringements now show on my reports as satisfied.
This was cleared a few months ago but my score has hardly moved, is there anything that I can do or is it just a case of wait it out and over a period of time it will slowly creep back up?
Any advice appreciated.
Many thanks.
Sarnie said:
Your score will improve slightly as the CCJ's become more historic.......until they come off your record after six years.......
So would you think that means for the next 6 years while I may make a little positive progress I’m essentially screwed and destined for a really low score until they are removed from my file?When speaking to Northampton court I seem to recall they mentioned if applying for finance or a mortgage etc I would be able to provide a certificate of satisfaction.
dean350z said:
So would you think that means for the next 6 years while I may make a little positive progress I’m essentially screwed and destined for a really low score until they are removed from my file?
Unfortunately yes, the presence of them on your file will always hold your score down, until they are removed...Ignore any score the CRAs give you - it's completely meaningless.
You see people with CCJs with 999 and people with low "scores" getting accepted for low interest finance. I'm a good example of that - one of my "scores" is in the "poor" section yet I recently got a loan from my bank at 3% APR.
Focus on what your credit reports actually say. The way you get better credit offers is pay your credit agreements on time, be on the electoral role, don't apply for too many things at close together and don't over extend yourself. It takes time, but judgements, defaults etc disappear after 6 years and become less important as each month rolls by.
Some lenders will never lend to you if you have defaults or CCJs, but some will.
You see people with CCJs with 999 and people with low "scores" getting accepted for low interest finance. I'm a good example of that - one of my "scores" is in the "poor" section yet I recently got a loan from my bank at 3% APR.
Focus on what your credit reports actually say. The way you get better credit offers is pay your credit agreements on time, be on the electoral role, don't apply for too many things at close together and don't over extend yourself. It takes time, but judgements, defaults etc disappear after 6 years and become less important as each month rolls by.
Some lenders will never lend to you if you have defaults or CCJs, but some will.
Camelot1971 said:
Ignore any score the CRAs give you - it's completely meaningless.
You see people with CCJs with 999 and people with low "scores" getting accepted for low interest finance. I'm a good example of that - one of my "scores" is in the "poor" section yet I recently got a loan from my bank at 3% APR.
Focus on what your credit reports actually say. The way you get better credit offers is pay your credit agreements on time, be on the electoral role, don't apply for too many things at close together and don't over extend yourself. It takes time, but judgements, defaults etc disappear after 6 years and become less important as each month rolls by.
Some lenders will never lend to you if you have defaults or CCJs, but some will.
Well in terms of my general credit report I don't have anything on finance at all currently but when I have had loans they have all been paid on time and I don't miss any mortgage payments, I haven't applied for credit of any kind be that a loan or a credit card, I'm on the electoral role and I don't over extend myself, it's just a massive balls up with a water bill which is paid and satisfied and a poxy parking eye fine at a holiday inn I knew nothing about.....I guess it's just going to be a waiting game and hope as every month passes my score gets a little better each time.You see people with CCJs with 999 and people with low "scores" getting accepted for low interest finance. I'm a good example of that - one of my "scores" is in the "poor" section yet I recently got a loan from my bank at 3% APR.
Focus on what your credit reports actually say. The way you get better credit offers is pay your credit agreements on time, be on the electoral role, don't apply for too many things at close together and don't over extend yourself. It takes time, but judgements, defaults etc disappear after 6 years and become less important as each month rolls by.
Some lenders will never lend to you if you have defaults or CCJs, but some will.
Camelot1971 said:
Ignore any score the CRAs give you - it's completely meaningless.
Agree with this, I stupidly signed up to Clearscore and I got a rating of 377 out of 700. I have never missed a payment on anything in my life, earn a relatively high salary and have zero loans. I have one credit card with a large limit but never have more than £200 on it and always pay it off in full.No idea what you have to do to get a decent score.
Apparently with a score of 377 I am just in the Poor band!
10 Things you're doing well
You don’t have any court judgements, bankruptcies or Individual Voluntary Arrangements
You have no accounts in default or repossession
You’ve been on the electoral roll at your current address for a long time
You’ve made very few applications for credit in the past year
You have held at least one of your accounts for several years
Very few/none of your accounts have overdue payments
Your largest credit card limit is relatively high
You have stayed within your credit card limit in the past year
You’re using a small amount of your total credit card limit (below 50%)
Your current Telecoms balance is relatively low
Things to improve
No factors available
Edited by anonymous-user on Friday 22 June 08:54
Joey Deacon said:
Agree with this, I stupidly signed up to Clearscore and I got a rating of 377 out of 700. I have never missed a payment on anything in my life, earn a relatively high salary and have zero loans. I have one credit card with a large limit but never have more than £200 on it and always pay it off in full.
No idea what you have to do to get a decent score.
You may be an unknown quantity. Take on more debt or spend more whilst continuing your sensible repayment approach. Use a cash back card in doing so. No idea what you have to do to get a decent score.
Jockman said:
Joey Deacon said:
Agree with this, I stupidly signed up to Clearscore and I got a rating of 377 out of 700. I have never missed a payment on anything in my life, earn a relatively high salary and have zero loans. I have one credit card with a large limit but never have more than £200 on it and always pay it off in full.
No idea what you have to do to get a decent score.
You may be an unknown quantity. Take on more debt or spend more whilst continuing your sensible repayment approach. Use a cash back card in doing so. No idea what you have to do to get a decent score.
I think the irony is that you don't have a record of borrowing money and paying it back.
You may have £10M in the bank but that doesn't mean you're honest or going to pay back a debt.
I think the system would be much happier with someone who has lots of loans/debts all the time but repaid them.
You may have £10M in the bank but that doesn't mean you're honest or going to pay back a debt.
I think the system would be much happier with someone who has lots of loans/debts all the time but repaid them.
Jockman said:
Joey Deacon said:
Agree with this, I stupidly signed up to Clearscore and I got a rating of 377 out of 700. I have never missed a payment on anything in my life, earn a relatively high salary and have zero loans. I have one credit card with a large limit but never have more than £200 on it and always pay it off in full.
No idea what you have to do to get a decent score.
You may be an unknown quantity. Take on more debt or spend more whilst continuing your sensible repayment approach. Use a cash back card in doing so. No idea what you have to do to get a decent score.
Zippee said:
Jockman said:
Joey Deacon said:
Agree with this, I stupidly signed up to Clearscore and I got a rating of 377 out of 700. I have never missed a payment on anything in my life, earn a relatively high salary and have zero loans. I have one credit card with a large limit but never have more than £200 on it and always pay it off in full.
No idea what you have to do to get a decent score.
You may be an unknown quantity. Take on more debt or spend more whilst continuing your sensible repayment approach. Use a cash back card in doing so. No idea what you have to do to get a decent score.
dean350z said:
Well in terms of my general credit report I don't have anything on finance at all currently but when I have had loans they have all been paid on time and I don't miss any mortgage payments, I haven't applied for credit of any kind be that a loan or a credit card, I'm on the electoral role and I don't over extend myself, it's just a massive balls up with a water bill which is paid and satisfied and a poxy parking eye fine at a holiday inn I knew nothing about.....I guess it's just going to be a waiting game and hope as every month passes my score gets a little better each time.
It would be interesting if those types of CCJ are treated differently by lenders than if you had a CCJ for not paying a loan or credit card. The parking one seems particularly unfair in that regard.You should try and get a credit card from your bank, spend a little on it and pay it off in full every month. Even if you didn't have any CCJs, the fact you have no history for a bank to judge your record of repayment is a big problem.
Joey Deacon said:
I don't want to borrow any money so it isn't really an issue, it just surprised me that it was so low when in my mind it was going to be almost perfect. I have not had a loan since 2002 so I can only assume that has something to do with it. My credit card limit has gone up to five figures over the years due to being automatically increased, but I rarely have more than a couple of hundred pounds on it.
To have a strong "credit" score you need to have a strong "credit" history of taking out and maintaining debts.........from a lenders point of view, no credit history is one rung up from adverse credit history..........Young first time buyers can often have trouble securing mortgages as their score is not sufficient to pass the credit score.....not because they have adverse credit history but because they often have next to no credit history at all........meaning the lender has no idea how they will behave once they do have debt to manage. They also usually move out into rented property and then leave all accounts and electoral role registration at their parents address, which does them zero favours too.........
I think it's fair to assume that the credit scores shown on websites, above a certain threshold, are largely meaningless twaddle however are encouraged by the companies that create them as it's a brilliant way of getting you to continue to use their service, giving you something real to view and track.
Obviously a very, very low credit score probably isn't good however I'd imagine anything above 50% of the maximum score is reasonably okay, with the actual figure then largely irrelevant.
As has already been suggested, I'd be certain that what your credit history is like is significantly more important.
Obviously a very, very low credit score probably isn't good however I'd imagine anything above 50% of the maximum score is reasonably okay, with the actual figure then largely irrelevant.
As has already been suggested, I'd be certain that what your credit history is like is significantly more important.
cuprabob said:
My Experian score dropped from 999 to 988 when I paid my mortgage off and my Clearscore dropped from 528 to 526.
Similar happened to me, increased borrowing on one mortgage early this year and my score went up on Clearscore and Noddle. Paid off 2 mortgages after that and my score went down!Sarnie said:
Joey Deacon said:
I don't want to borrow any money so it isn't really an issue, it just surprised me that it was so low when in my mind it was going to be almost perfect. I have not had a loan since 2002 so I can only assume that has something to do with it. My credit card limit has gone up to five figures over the years due to being automatically increased, but I rarely have more than a couple of hundred pounds on it.
To have a strong "credit" score you need to have a strong "credit" history of taking out and maintaining debts.........from a lenders point of view, no credit history is one rung up from adverse credit history..........Young first time buyers can often have trouble securing mortgages as their score is not sufficient to pass the credit score.....not because they have adverse credit history but because they often have next to no credit history at all........meaning the lender has no idea how they will behave once they do have debt to manage. They also usually move out into rented property and then leave all accounts and electoral role registration at their parents address, which does them zero favours too.........
I think people confuse credit rating with ‘cash in the bank’
Joey Deacon said:
Camelot1971 said:
Ignore any score the CRAs give you - it's completely meaningless.
Agree with this, I stupidly signed up to Clearscore and I got a rating of 377 out of 700. I have never missed a payment on anything in my life, earn a relatively high salary and have zero loans. I have one credit card with a large limit but never have more than £200 on it and always pay it off in full.No idea what you have to do to get a decent score.
Apparently with a score of 377 I am just in the Poor band!
10 Things you're doing well
You don’t have any court judgements, bankruptcies or Individual Voluntary Arrangements
You have no accounts in default or repossession
You’ve been on the electoral roll at your current address for a long time
You’ve made very few applications for credit in the past year
You have held at least one of your accounts for several years
Very few/none of your accounts have overdue payments
Your largest credit card limit is relatively high
You have stayed within your credit card limit in the past year
You’re using a small amount of your total credit card limit (below 50%)
Your current Telecoms balance is relatively low
Things to improve
No factors available
Edited by Joey Deacon on Friday 22 June 08:54
Will being on the electoral roll for only a few months count for much in terms of a credit check?
For some reason I've not been registered properly at my current address, found out last night when I downloaded Clearscore to check. I completed the application but as I understand it the records won't update until 1st September, and it'll be another month after that before credit reference agencies pick up on it.
Thing is, I've been at my current address for nearly 6 years. Is there any way to backdate an electoral roll application, or would I be shooting myself in the foot even mentioning it given that it's a legal requirement? I can provide plenty of evidence of being at the address since late 2013.
For some reason I've not been registered properly at my current address, found out last night when I downloaded Clearscore to check. I completed the application but as I understand it the records won't update until 1st September, and it'll be another month after that before credit reference agencies pick up on it.
Thing is, I've been at my current address for nearly 6 years. Is there any way to backdate an electoral roll application, or would I be shooting myself in the foot even mentioning it given that it's a legal requirement? I can provide plenty of evidence of being at the address since late 2013.
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