Ways to improve credit rating?

HarryPainful · 16 Mar 2009 at 19:58

Hedge said:
To be honest I think Id be scared to look at that. I missed/late payed loads of my cards at the time. Wasnt too bad but I lost my job etc at the time then it all went **** up.

Even on my low starting wage in RAF i think I best pull my finger out and try to pay about 250pm off my debts.

Too scared..?!

Then you will never get out of the mess if you dont know what you are in.

Burnsy2023 · 16 Mar 2009 at 19:59

I thought it was better that if you get a credit card not to pay off the balance each month. By only leaving a small amount on the card you are showing the CC company that you are a profitable customer.

People that pay Credit cards off every month don't earn CC companies any money and so aren't so valued.

OllyM · 16 Mar 2009 at 19:59

Your accounts will be marked as arrangement to pay, which will pretty much kill any chance of you getting mainstream credit for a long time until they're sorted and drop off your credit file.

Gilly · 16 Mar 2009 at 20:02

andy@moFo said:
Can I ask why your getting a mobile phone contract? Why not go PAYG and use the money you were planning to spend on your contract, on repaying the money that got you in this mess?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe a mobile phone contract, if the bill gets paid on time, would be a plus on the credit report...

Cobertizo · 16 Mar 2009 at 20:10

Gilly said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe a mobile phone contract, if the bill gets paid on time, would be a plus on the credit report...

Yes, but I'd have thought that the first priority should be to clear all the outstanding debts. Once the OP is there, they can worry about how to rebuild the score - in the meantime they are hampered by the outstanding arrangements.

Burnsy2023 said:
I thought it was better that if you get a credit card not to pay off the balance each month. By only leaving a small amount on the card you are showing the CC company that you are a profitable customer.

People that pay Credit cards off every month don't earn CC companies any money and so aren't so valued.

When I've checked my credit report, it hasn't shown whether I pay off all or part of the balance each month - just whether I've paid up. While it may affect your credit score within an institution if you pay the minimum balance each month, I don't believe it affects what is visible to the wider lending community.

Conrad11 · 16 Mar 2009 at 20:44

Is it true that every time you have a credit check it brings your credit score down?

If so, wouldn't regularly getting a credit history report from experian (as some people suggested in this thread) bring your credit score down?

Ironic Namesake · 16 Mar 2009 at 20:47

Conrad11 said:
Is it true that every time you have a credit check it brings your credit score down?

If so, wouldn't regularly getting a credit history report from experian (as some people suggested in this thread) bring your credit score down?

Checking on Experian etc. doesn't go on your credit file - only enquiries from CC companies/finance companies etc.

paradigm · 16 Mar 2009 at 20:54

Conrad11 said:
Is it true that every time you have a credit check it brings your credit score down?

If so, wouldn't regularly getting a credit history report from experian (as some people suggested in this thread) bring your credit score down?

It doesn't bring your score down, although a lot of credit searches can sometimes be seen by lenders as a bad thing. Lots of searches could be thought to relate to either lots of upcoming debt, or lots of declined applications.

Secondly a personal search on your own file with experian doesn't leave a full footprint.