A guarantor on a loan or on a mortgage acts as a default for a borrower, or as a backstop.  This means that if they are unable to repay their creditor for whatever reason, the creditor will then appeal to you for the money owed.  It is important that, if you do sign up as a guarantor in any respect, you make sure that your credit report can offer enough confidence to lenders.  Otherwise, you too may feel the repercussions of being unable to make payments on time.

YourCreditReport helps to support guarantors and borrowers alike in finding out more about their credit file and what may be expected from them when they take out loans and financing options.  Compare and contrast credit referencing from a wide range of trusted sources through our online guide and system.

If you are looking to be a guarantor then you need to carry out a credit check of your personal finances.

Follow this link for the best credit report companies in the UK.

What is a Guarantor on a Loan?

A guarantor on a loan is someone who a borrower will ask to pay for debt on their behalf if they are unable to.  When formally set up and agreed by a lender or creditor, the guarantor will be approached directly for repayments if a borrower fails to make them on time.  Effectively, this person acts as a safety net for both borrowers and lenders, in the sense that the original credit agreement can be kept in place.

A guarantor may also be required in some circumstances where poor financial history comes into play.  For example, if a lender is not satisfied that the credit history of an applicant satisfies their arrangement terms, they can request that the details of a guarantor be supplied as additional confidence.

Not only does this mean that the borrower has funding to fall back on if they fail to make repayments, it also means that the creditor’s demands are guaranteed to be satisfied.

Who can be a Guarantor for a Loan?

Anyone who is over the age of 18 and under the age of 75 can be the guarantor for a loan in the UK.  Providing they are not married to the borrower, an applicant can work in any profession providing they have a solid credit history and can therefore offer confidence to a lender.

This is why it is often so important to have your credit score in check and in good health before agreeing to be the guarantor for any party.

Best Guarantor Loans

The best guarantor loans available to borrowers will be those which offer maximum flexibility and reassurances for all parties.  As a potential guarantor, you have the full right to request what will be expected of you and your information.

Furthermore, you are also entitled to know more about what will happen with regard to your financial profile, too.  However, credit score experts, professionals and agencies will be able to help you understand what to expect from guarantor processing.

Can I Be a Guarantor with Bad Credit?

In some cases, you can be a guarantor with variable credit history.  However, in most cases, you will need to prove to a lender that you will be able to pay back any money that the borrower cannot.  As the lender will be looking for double assurance that their debts can be paid, it is doubly important that you only ever apply for this role if you know that your credit score will reflect your ability to repay.

While you can be a guarantor with a mixed credit history, it is recommended that you ensure your score is up to scratch before you make any applications known. There are many ways of improving your credit score and a lot of them are pretty easy to do.

Guarantor Mortgages for Bad Credit

There are many guarantor mortgages for bad credit available for borrowers throughout the UK – though all will be reliant upon the credit history of the chosen person to some extent.  If a borrower is suffering from poor credit, someone else be required or brought in to satisfy certain arrangement demands.

If you have poor credit, you may or may not be eligible to apply for this role – however, this will vary from lender to lender.  In any case, it is good practice to undertake a thorough guarantor credit check or analysis before you start any applications, on your behalf or on the behalf of anyone else.  It makes sense!

Does Being a Guarantor Affect my Borrowing Capacity?

It is worth bearing mind that the repayment profile of the borrower will directly affect your own credit score.  Therefore, it is in the borrower’s best interests to keep up with repayments as best they can – otherwise, your own credit score as guarantor will be affected as a result.

This, too, will naturally have an effect upon your own ability to borrow money in the future.  Therefore, consider any guarantor applications you file with care in future. You may want to consider a credit file clean up to make sure your finances are in order beforehand.

It is also a good idea to cross-reference your credit score with agencies and experts before you apply – compare with a number of the best UK agencies through YourCreditReport.

Does Being a Guarantor Affect Your Credit Rating?

As advised – your rating may be impacted positively or negatively depending upon your borrower’s ability to repay.  In any case, your credit file may advise that you have had to act as guarantor, and if payments have been defaulted upon, this may affect you negatively – so do take careful consideration when making any applications known!

Compare Online

You can now compare credit rating experts online with us with ease – all you need to do is click here to get started!  Alternatively, if you need any additional support and guidance, get in contact with us today and get more information on your credit.

YourCreditReport is here to offer you wider access to guidance for guarantor credit check needs and more besides.

The post Guarantor Credit Check appeared first on Your Credit Report.

Having a mobile phone is now something of a necessity; we can’t image our lives without them. If, like the vast majority of people, you would like an up-to-date handset but can’t afford the £500 to £1,000 that they cost upfront, then a monthly contract is the solution.

A monthly contract involves having a financial background check which is where some people come unstuck. It’s possible to still get a monthly contract even if you have a bad credit rating, you just won’t have access to the best deals available. You may want to look at how to get a better credit score before trying to get one of these packages.

You might be offered an earlier version of the handset you wanted or a more basic handset instead because these represent less of a risk to the network provider should you run into difficulties when paying for your monthly contract.

Can you get a phone contract with bad credit?

With mobile phones being integral to everyday life, people are genuinely concerned about whether their financial history will let them down when it comes to applying for a contract. So if you have a less than impressive financial history, can you get a phone contract with bad credit?

Obviously the better your history is the higher your chances of passing the credit check are. If you want the very latest phone package with a lot of texts, minutes and internet usage included each month then you will have to pass the phone credit check. You could try looking at your history yourself first by using one of the many online services. See our UK Credit Ratings review for information on this particular site.

If your assessment comes back to say that you do not qualify for the package that you want, they provider may still be able to offer you something. For example, if you don’t qualify for the iPhone X you wanted, you might be offered the iPhone 8 instead. It may not be exactly what you wanted but it is still a very good phone.

Minimum Credit Score for Mobile Phone contract

With all the talk surrounding passing background checks to get the very best mobile phone contracts, what is the minimum credit score for a mobile phone contract? This isn’t a straightforward answer.

The problem lies in the fact that there isn’t one universal scoring system. Lenders will consult a reporting agency to get an idea of your history, but each agency has its own unique scoring system and scale. The three agencies that most lenders consult are Equifax, Experian and CallCredit and their scales vary greatly. See our Equifax report review here to learn more about this brand. For example;

A score of 700 with Equifax is considered a good credit score, but a score of 700 with Experian is considered poor on their scale.  

To complicate things further, each lender has its own ideas about what is deemed to be a risk or not. What one provider thinks is risky another provider will be perfectly fine with. So, there isn’t just one golden number to aim for when it comes to a mobile contract, there are actually three.

1. A good score with Equifax is between 700 and 749
2. A good score with Experian is between 881 and 960
3. A good score with CallCredit is 3 and above

How to Check Credit Rating for Mobile Phone

Knowing how to check your credit rating for a mobile phone contract is relatively straightforward and will cost either very little or nothing at all. The easiest way is to sign up to the services that the reporting agencies offer.

They all have some variation of being able to check your credit score for free, but if you want to look at your report which is a lot more in depth, then you may have to pay a monthly fee for this after your free trial has expired. It can help you with many things such as checking for CCJs online which may be affecting your score.

It’s worth finding out your score for each agency as there is no pattern as to which agency your chosen provider will use. Each agency is required to let you have one full report every twelve months for free, so take full advantage of this and request one from each agency.

Once you have your reports you should check them thoroughly for any discrepancies as even simple errors can have a dramatic negative effect on your credit score.

How long does it take to do a credit check for Vodafone?

Waiting for a phone credit check in the UK to come back with its results can be a nerve-racking experience, especially if it takes longer than it should. The different networks all use different combinations of credit reference agencies for their information, so there’s no one true timeline either.

As an example, how long does it take to do a credit check for Vodafone? It can be as little as a few minutes or as long as a few days. Vodafone have a reputation for being one of the more strict networks so if the credit check takes a little longer than you were anticipating, don’t panic!

O2 Phone Credit Check

An O2 phone credit check can vary in the amount of time that it takes to be processed. It may take just a few seconds or it may take a few days. If the checks are being performed over the weekend then this can also slow the process down, so as difficult as it is wondering what the outcome is, you may have to play the waiting game for a little bit longer.

You could always try finding out yourself by using an online service. An example of one of these would be the My Credit Monitor site which you can learn more about through our detailed review.

Does TalkTalk Mobile do Credit Checks?

As the relative new kid on the block with an advertising campaign that prides itself on being cost-effective, does TalkTalk mobile do credit checks? Much like all the other mobile phone network providers, TalkTalk perform a file check before agreeing to allow someone to sign up to a monthly contract.

The results of this assessment can be almost instantaneous or it can take a few days depending upon when the check is made. Checks can take longer to be approved over the weekend as this is traditionally a busier time.

Virgin Mobile Credit Check how long?

Virgin Mobile is another provider that perform financial background checks before giving the ok for a contract to be authorised. How long the credit check takes varies considerably. Even if you’ve got a perfect rating it can still take up to a couple of days for a contract to be authorised.

This can be due to requests taking longer over the weekend or even computer systems problems that slow the process down.

Another reason people might want to look at their financial history online is to check if they meet the minimum credit rating to rent. This may be if they are thinking about renting a flat or house.

Do T-Mobile do Credit Checks?

Do T-Mobile do credit checks? The simple answer to this is Yes. T-Mobile and Orange were absorbed into the EE umbrella in 2012, so it will be EE that does the check on you.

Confirmation or rejection times can vary anywhere between straight away to three or four days. This is pretty standard within the mobile phone industry so you shouldn’t worry too much if the check takes a couple of days to come back.

Credit Score Needed for Apple Upgrade Program

The credit score that is needed for the Apple upgrade program will depend completely upon the package that you want. An Apple upgrade does not necessarily mean you want the top of the range newest iPhone.

The iPhone you do want may now be classed as an older model and as a result, the package will be cheaper and the check should be easier to pass. The iPhones come in a variety of options that will have an effect on how the package is priced. Some of the factors that will influence the monthly cost include;

• What model iPhone you want
• What storage capacity you want
• What size phone you want
• The amount of minutes you want
• The amount of texts you want
• The amount of browsing data you want
• If you want any free gifts as part of the package

The more expensive the package, the better your score will need to be because it poses a greater risk to the mobile network provider.

Apple iPhone Upgrade Credit Score Eligibility Check

An Apple iPhone upgrade will require a credit score eligibility check before it is approved. This will take the form of a background check to see whether your previous payment history was acceptable to the network provider.

If you’ve been a good payer and are staying with the same network then this generally gives you a small advantage. However, other negative factors such as missed payments, bankruptcy, CCJs and IVAs will affect your overall score too, so it’s a good idea to check your report before applying for new credit.

A different reason that people may want to know more about their financial background is applying for a new jump. Sometimes employers will complete a credit check for a new job to see if an applicant has a good or bad rating before employing them.

How to get approved for a cell phone with bad credit

Knowing how to get approved for a cell phone with bad credit takes a certain amount of plate-spinning. As a general rule of thumb, the more expensive the monthly package is the more of a potential risk it is to the provider. If you’ve got a bad history then save yourself the embarrassment of being turned down for one of the top packages and set the bar a little lower.

What do you actually need from your phone? If you want a good smartphone capable of sending emails, picture messages and has a good camera on it then you don’t need to go for the very latest £1,000 model.

A smartphone from the same manufacturer that was considered the top model the year before will now be much cheaper than the newest model and therefore less of a risk to a network provider. You still get a great phone and you are far more likely to pass the check for it. So, compromise a little and you’ll still be able to get a great device without being turned down by the networks.

Failed Credit Check Carphone Warehouse

A failed credit check at Carphone Warehouse will probably mean you will fail the check for a similar package at another mobile phone retailer. It’s a bit of an Old Wives Tale that one retailer is more lenient than the other and this is because they all use the same reporting agencies to get their data about your financial history.

If you have failed a phone credit check in the UK then see what else the network might be able to offer you. Be prepared to lower your expectations a little and you can still come away with a very attractive phone package.

Failed Credit Check for Mobile Phone

If you have failed a credit check for a mobile phone then there are few options left open to you;

Put a deposit down

Some mobile phone providers advertise their phone packages with a free phone. If you fail the assessment then they can sometimes be overruled if you have the means to be able to put a deposit down for the phone. This is entirely at the provider’s discretion and there are no guarantees that they will offer you this alternate method.

Choose a less expensive package

It sounds obvious, but going for a less expensive phone package can help considerably. Do you really need the very latest all-singing-all-dancing phone with the highest internal capacity and unlimited everything? The lower the risk to the phone provider, the better your chances of being accepted for a package.

PAYG

If all else fails there are always the Pay As You Go packages. These tend to work well for people with very bad credit history but you have to pay upfront for a new phone. PAYG packages are great if you can get an old phone from someone else who has just upgraded.

This way you get a decent phone and you don’t have to worry about a regular bill each month, you just top up as and when you want to.

There are plenty of great online services where you can learn more about getting a phone credit check or looking at your own score beforehand.

The post Phone Credit Check appeared first on Your Credit Report.

A CCJ check online usually involves paying a small fee, and this is somewhere between £6 and £10. You may want to look at the register to see if an old judgement has been removed because your credit score is not as high as you thought it was. People often need this information if they are interested in a credit score for renting property or they need to take out a loan of some kind.

It could be that a potential employer performs a credit check to see whether you are a suitable candidate for a position within their company and this could involve a County Court Judgement check. Likewise, any potential landlord might want to conduct a CCJ check online to see if their new prospective tenant has any CCJs.

What is a CCJ?

So, what is a CCJ? A CCJ, or County Court Judgement, is where a court has to intervene in a monetary issue between two parties. If someone takes court action against you because you owe them money and you have not responded, it then becomes the duty of the courts to settle the disagreement. To do this they issue a CCJ which will determine a number of things including:

• Who you are paying
• The total you have to pay
• How you should pay it, either outright or in monthly increments
• When it has to be paid by

Part of the requirements of this is that your name will go on a log known as the register of judgements. This log is available to any member of the public and it will show that you have failed to keep to your financial agreements to the point where the courts have had to step in and take control.

Anyone conducting a CCJ check online will be able to see your name and this can be highly embarrassing for some people whereas others are not concerned by it. You must be aware that your name will enter this register and remain there for up to six years.

If you find yourself in this position, you could try and clean up your credit file to improve your score. This would make it easier for you to get a mortgage or borrow money in the future.

How Long does a CCJ Last?

Most people in this position want to know how long does a CCJ last for? This is very much down to the courts to decide and a lot of it will have to do with how much money you owe. Each person’s financial situation is completely unique and so the length of time that a CCJ is paid back over reflects this.

Once a CCJ has been approved, the courts will send you the details in the form of a letter and it will state how much is owed and how long the debt needs to be paid for. Regardless of whether you pay it off early or not, the order will still appear on the judgements register for six years and therefore could negatively affect your credit score for this length of time.

The only exception to this rule is if you pay the CCJ in full within one month of it being actioned. In this scenario, you can apply to have your name removed from. This usually costs £15 but if you are on a low income then you may not be charged this amount.

It’s a good idea to check your own financial history and see if there are any outstanding debts which could be affecting it.  Have a look at our CreditReport.co.uk site review to see details on one of the online services.

How Much does a CCJ Affect your Credit Rating?

A CCJ may not seem like a big deal but it can adversely have a damaging effect on your credit score. How much does a CCJ affect your credit rating? Well, that depends on how quickly you pay for it.

An order like this is seen as a breach of financial trust, so any potential lender will think twice about loaning you money if they see you have an order against you. Your details will appear on the register of judgements for six years and can therefore damage your credit rating for this length of time.

You may find it very hard to apply for further credit while this is still active on your report, but if you do pass you will find that the rates and terms and conditions are not nearly as attractive as they were before the judgement. Often mortgage credit reports are carried out to determine your financial history. Having a poor score can affect your chances of being accepted.

The only way a CCJ would not impact your rating severely is if you pay it off within the first month. You can apply for the order to be removed within the first month of it being issued and this should not damage the rating.

How to Clear a CCJ from a Credit File

The process of how to clear a CCJ from a credit file can be undertaken on two levels; at the beginning of the term and after it has ended. If you pay it within the first month, you can use an N443 application form to apply to the courts to have your details removed from the register. This happens relatively quickly and there is little-to-no cost involved.

After one month the order stays on the register of judgements and your file for six years and there is no way to remove it sooner. You can apply for a ‘Certificate of Satisfaction,’ which is the same process as applying to have your details removed within the first month.

The difference here is that this will just show prospective lenders that you have paid the debt – it will not remove it before the six-year period has ended. Make sure to check for yourself by using a service like Credit Angel online which displays your file for you.

The other way to clear CCJs from a credit file comes after the six years has elapsed. Technically it should just fall off the credit report after six years but if it doesn’t you can write to the reporting agencies to have it removed. There should be no charge involved in this process.

County Court Judgement Search

A County Court Judgement search can be accessed by anyone because it is a public document. This can include yourself, potential employers and landlords, and anyone carrying out a credit check on you.

It can also include friends, family members and people that you may have had disagreements with in the past. It will include personal information such as your name and address as well as showing that you have had severe financial issues and the amount of money involved.

The unfortunate side to a CCJ check online is that literally anyone can see that you have had CCJs brought against you and it can be embarrassing. Another popular company which allows you to see your financial history for yourself is the Check My File site which we have also reviewed here.

CCJ Register Free Search

The Registry Trust limited website is where you can search for details of a CCJ being appointed. There may be a small charge involved for accessing this information but if you want to look at your own details on the CCJ register using a free search then you may have to be a little bit crafty.

The three big credit reporting agencies, all have offers where you can look at your credit report free of charge for a limited time. By signing up to one or all of these services you will be able to find out if a County Court Judgement is attached to your file. Just be sure to cancel the subscription if you don’t want to use it at a later date. If you want to view someone else’s details for free then this may not be possible.

Experian Credit Report CCJ

An Experian credit report will document any CCJs that are attached to your credit file, even ones that may be incorrect. It could be that a judgement has been applied to the file through a simple clerical error, but all the time that it is on there it is damaging your credit rating.

Experian have a 30-day trial offer that lets you explore their full service. After the 30 days have expired you can continue to receive your credit score for free but not the full report. You can choose to carry on with the service but there is a monthly charge involved.

If you discover that there is a CCJ attached to your credit file that you do not recognise then you must contact Experian as soon as possible to have it removed. You can learn more about credit scores if you are unsure of how they will affect you financially.

Equifax CCJ Satisfied

As with all credit referencing agencies, Equifax should remove any CCJs from your file once they have been satisfied. After the six-year time period has elapsed the order should naturally come off your credit file, but credit reports can have a three-month delay on them.

If you want to challenge Equifax as to why it is still showing on your report you should allow for this time discrepancy. Once the order has been completed and the trace of it is removed from your credit report, you should find that you in time your credit score will start to rebuild itself and you will find applying for credit will become easier too.

The post CCJ Check Online appeared first on Your Credit Report.

The trouble is, the rating system is far from straightforward. Because there isn’t a universal scoring system this leads to confusion as to what the minimum credit score for renting in the UK actually is. A similar issue is looking at credit reports for mortgages if you are thinking of buying rather than renting.

The truth is there are three main credit reporting agencies that lenders use to get historical financial information from and each one has its own unique scoring system. These agencies are Equifax, Experian and CallCredit. These three separate scores are all as equally important as the other because there is no pattern as to which ones the lender will use to obtain your financial information.

In the end, it is ultimately up to the landlord to decide whether or not they accept you as a tenant. A check can be performed but the results are in no way legally binding. You may have a poor or bad credit score and the landlord could still accept you.

I want to Rent a House but have Bad Credit

Here’s a scenario that a lot of people find themselves in; I want to rent a house but have bad credit. Where do you go from here? Landlords have to perform a financial background check before agreeing to take you on as a tenant but they need your permission to do so first.

You are well within your rights to refuse the check but this could damage your chances before they have even started if it looks like you have something to hide. Find out more about what a credit score is if you are unsure about having an assessment done.

You could always be honest with your landlord. Tell them your history is bad and that you fully expect the search to fail to reach the ‘minimum credit score’ for renting in the UK.

This honest approach may actually help you because your landlord can see that you are not trying to hide something from them and they then see you in a much more favourable light. Just because you have bad credit it doesn’t automatically rule you out from applying for tenancy.

If you want to give yourself the best opportunity to succeed, request copies of your report from each of the big reporting agencies. These are available for free once a year by law and only cost a couple of pounds after that.

Once you have them, scour them with a fine tooth comb for any discrepancies and if there are any get them removed as soon as possible. Removal of misinformation can have a massively positive effect on your score and improve your chances of scoring higher on the credit check.

Will I pass a Credit Check for Renting?

A major concern for a lot of people when applying for tenancy is Will I pass a credit check for renting? This all depends on your credit report and what the landlord deems as a pass. The results are based on how you have conducted your finances, both in the present day and in the past.

If you have missed payments or have had to enter a financial restructuring program such as bankruptcy or an IVA then these will bring your score down. Conversely, if you’ve managed your payments effectively then this will have a positive effect on your score. See our review of the Check My File site if you would like to start checking yourself.

Your score is a reflection of how financially trustworthy you would appear to be. At the end of the day it is your landlord’s decision as to whether they take you on as a tenant or not. There is no legal minimum credit score for renting in the UK, and a landlord will use the results of a background check purely as a guideline.

The truth is that a lot of people are struggling with debt these days and bad credit ratings are all too common. The official report may say that your finance history is bad but that does not necessarily mean that you will be turned down for tenancy.

When renting a property, what is the Credit Check?

Okay, so we’ve established that there’s no getting around the credit check, the question then becomes when renting a property, what is the procedure? This is not as invasive as you would first expect it to be.

The report that your potential landlord sees will only have information that is available to the public on it. They will be able to see if you have had things such as;

• County Court Judgements
• Bankruptcy
• Decrees
• Administration orders

They will also search for the following personal details;

• Your full name
• Your address
• The Electoral Roll register to verify you are legally registered at an address

The personal details checks are purely to confirm that the identity details you have given the landlord or estate agents are correct. The remaining information that they can gather all comes from public records.

If you have had a serious financial lapse and needed to go bankrupt or you have CCJs, then part of the restructuring program is having your details logged onto a public register. This is the extent to which the landlords’ credit check can go. It will not reveal your actual score, account numbers or how much you are in debt by.

There are plenty of ways to improve your credit score if you are having difficulty and have struggled with debt in the past. These can help make it easier to get loans, mortgages and even cars.

Do Landlords do a Credit Check?

A frequently asked question when applying for tenancy is, Do Landlords do a credit check? The short answer is yes, they do. What’s important to remember is that this is not like applying for a loan; there is no 50/50 chance that you will or won’t be accepted.

This is because the landlord is not bound to accept you if you pass, just as they are not bound to accept you if your score isn’t particularly high. The assessment still has to be done but it is at their discretion whether they accept you as a tenant or not.

Do all Letting Agents do a Credit Check?

Another common question is ‘Do all letting agents do a credit check?’ Firstly, if they do then they need your permission to perform it. Secondly, if they do want to check your history then it’s only to see if you can afford your rent – they are not interested in the full ins and outs of your finances.

They can only use information that is stored on public registers, so they will check the Electoral Roll to confirm you are who you say you are, but after that any financial information they get is also from the public sector. If you have never had CCJs or bankruptcy and the like then there will be no information for them to see and your credit report should be favourable.

You can have a look at your own rating by using a service such as My Credit Monitor or many other alternatives online.

Can Letting Agents see Defaults?

A common concern is ‘Can letting agents see defaults?’ The only defaults they will be able to see are major ones that have resulted in a financial restructuring. This will include things such as bankruptcy, CCJs, administration orders and IVAs. If you paid your mobile phone bill late a couple of times then don’t worry, this will not appear on the report that the letting agents and the landlord sees.

How long does it take to do a Credit Check for Renting?

If you have to have a credit report done then there’s nothing worse than wondering if you are going to pass it or not. Whether it’s for a personal loan or a tenancy agreement, the wait can seem interminable.

So, how long does it take for a credit check for renting to come back? As a general rule of thumb, it can take between two and ten days for a renting credit report to come back but shouldn’t take any longer than that.

If you want to find out more about the process, see our Scores Matter review for a look at one of the top services online.

Acceptable Credit Score for Renting a Property in the UK

Knowing what an acceptable credit score for renting a property in the UK is can be a confusing affair. There are three main reporting companies that financial institutions use to determine credit suitability, but the problem is that they all have their own scales.

For this reason, you don’t have just one credit score, you actually have three. The table below illustrates how they use their own ratings and what they actually mean for you in terms of a good or bad score.

Failed Credit Check for Renting

If you’ve failed a credit check for renting then what should your next step be? Just because you have failed the perceived minimum credit score for renting in the UK that does not mean that your landlord will not be open to having you as a tenant. You should speak to them and see whether the failed check is an issue for them.

If it turns out that the rating is a potential sore point the landlord can also do something known as tenant referencing. This is basically a character reference from someone you know attesting to the fact that you are capable of paying your rent on time.

This is usually from your employer or from someone who has known you a long time in a position of responsibility such as a teacher or doctor. You could also get a guarantor who would act as an insurance policy for the landlord. If you cannot make your monthly rent payments then the guarantor promises to make them for you.

A failed credit report does not mean the end of the road for you as a tenant. Explore all the possible avenues available to you and renting a place of your own will be available to you.

The post Minimum Credit Score for Renting UK appeared first on Your Credit Report.

Very simply, your score is a reflection on what financial obligations you have and how you have maintained them. Even everyday things that you take for granted, such as paying for your car insurance monthly, have a credits rating consequence attached to them.

As a general rule, if you pay for it monthly then it is on credit. If this is the case, then it helps to generate your credit report. The rating is the end result of how well the finances have been managed.

Here are just a few examples of what can contribute towards your scores;

• Mortgage/ Rent
• Utility bills (gas, water, electric)
• Telecoms bills (mobile phone package, landline telephone)
• Internet
• TV package (Sky, cable, Netflix)
• Personal life insurance
• Car insurance (if paid monthly)
• Car tax (if paid monthly)
• Credit cards
• Personal loans
• Gym membership

If all of these things are paid on time then your score will rise. The healthier your rating is, the more favourable and attractive financial offers you will be eligible for. Then there’s the negative aspect of it. If you fail to keep to the terms and conditions of these various forms of credit then it will have a negative effect on the score.

The worse your score is, the harder you will find it to apply and pass for new credits and the terms and conditions you will be offered will be nowhere near as good as if your rating was better. You may be able to complete a credit file clean up if you have outstanding debts or payments which you have not settles.

How to Check Credit Score

If you are concerned or even curious about your own rating then you’ll want to know how to check your credit score. Fortunately, it couldn’t be easier to do this and there are now many different ways to acquire it for free.

The important thing to realise is this; there is not one universal scoring system that the financial institutions all use. They all use their own methods and scoring systems to determine whether they think a person is worthy of being credited or not.

What one lender may seem as a risky prospect another lender will be perfectly fine with. So how do you determine a rating from this? There are three main agencies that the vast majority of lenders will use as a basis of a person’s financial history. These are Experian, Equifax and Callcredit.

In keeping with the ‘no universal system’ theme, these three agencies all have their own scales, so it’s a good idea to do a check with them to get a true idea of the state of your finances. Alternatively, you could check out other services such as the Credit Angel site if you want to see other options.

The way to do this is to go to their respective websites and sign up for their services. If you want a basic report then this will be free, but if you want a more in-depth analysis then you may have to pay for the privilege.

Why Check Credit Score?

If you were wondering why you would even want to check your credit score, it’s because it is the key to a lot of aspects of everyday life. Your financial rating has the power to let you apply for credit and pay for things gradually and manageably if it is managed correctly.

If it’s not then it can have serious consequences on your ability to even get something a simple as a mobile phone contract. In extreme cases your report. Find out more on employment credit reports if this is something you are concerned about.

If an error has been made on your credit report or if something is still on that should have been removed, then it will negatively affect your scores. If you are applying for as life-changing as a mortgage, your ability to apply for and obtain an excellent package may be hampered through such discrepancies.

Example;

‘David Jones and Darren Jones are identical twins who live at the same address. David manages his finances well while Darren manages his finances poorly. David applies for a loan and gets turned down despite managing his money well. Why? The answer is D Jones appeared on his report – Darren’s bad financial conduct has mistakenly been put onto David’s credit report, meaning that he does not qualify for the loan he is applying for.’

Something as simple as this can have a devastating effect on your individual ratings and your ability to attain finance. This is why it is so important to check scores.

Experian Credit Score Range

The Experian Score range runs from 0 to 999 and it is compartmentalised into different ‘zones.’ The table below illustrates these zones and what they mean in real terms. Also view our Experian CreditExpert review here.

Equifax Credit Score Range

The Equifax Score range differs from the Experian score range. It runs from 300 to 850 and the table below illustrates what each score means. See our review of Equifax to learn more about their services.

What is a good Credit Score UK?

With all the agencies using different methods of coming to a conclusion it can be difficult to understand what a ballpark figure is. So, what is a good credit score in the UK?

With Experian, a good result is 700 and above, whereas with Equifax it is 660 and above. Noddle, who provide the scores for CallCredit have a scale of 1 to 5 and anything over a 3 is considered a good score.

As there is no one universal scoring system, there is no one universal rating to aim for. If you are keeping tabs the three scores then these are the figures you should be aiming for. It’s common for companies to look at your financial history if you are applying for credits. For example, a mobile phone credit check might be done by a provider to see if you will be able to keep up payments on a contract.

Free Credit Score Check

A free credit score check is available from all three of the agencies. All that is involved is providing a few details such as name and address and answering a few security questions. The big three will provide you with your credit rating for free, but if you want a little more in-depth information then you may have to pay for the privilege.

There are plenty more brands online which offer these kinds of services. For example, see our review of Credit Reports Matter to learn about this particular site.

Credit Score Companies

There are three credit score companies that the vast majority of financial institutions use for an idea of a person’s financial history. Equifax, Experian and CallCredit provide nearly all of the information that these institutions use but how they decide to interpret it is completely different. Here is a snapshot of how your information is distributed by these three companies;

This is why it is important to keep track of all three of your scores. The lenders use them in different ways and in different combinations. One lender may use Equifax and CallCredit, another may just use Equifax, so it’s important to make sure that all three figures are the best that they can be.

You can also use these services to have a look at the report yourself and see if there are any outstanding issues. Sometimes people will check online for CCJs to see if they have any judgements on their file which need to be sorted.

Credit Score Check Explained

When someone asks, ‘what is a credit score?’, it’s hard enough to explain that without having to explain what is involved with the check as well. However, the credit score check explained goes a little like this;

• You apply for credit
• Your lender will perform a check on you to see what your ratings say about your previous financial conduct
• The check will be performed by one, two or all three of the credit reporting agencies. This involves looking at your financial history and seeing how you have conducted those accounts. Every missed payment, default, charge, and serious transgression will be flagged up and reduce your score. Every payment made on time will help your result
• The score is generated and sent back to the lender
• The lender then decides how to use this information. Each lender will interpret the result differently and this will not only determine if you pass or not, but also what terms and conditions you will be offered.

The post What is a Credit Score? appeared first on Your Credit Report.

Pre-employment credit checks are a pre-emptive strike on behalf of the employer to see how much of a fraud or theft risk you potentially are. This is obviously especially important if you are working in the financial sector but it’s now also common in the healthcare and engineering sector too.

Of course, it is not always the case that people with bad financing will commit fraud – after all, someone with no debts at all is equally capable of doing the same thing. The point of the assessment is to identify the potential risk before it becomes an actual risk. It’s similar to credit checks for a mortgage which you may have had before.

Can Bad Credit Affect Employment?

If you are applying for a new job, the question ‘Can bad credit affect my employment chances?’ may not have even crossed your mind. The answer to this question is a definite ‘Maybe.’ These checks are not carried out by law; employers perform them at their own discretion.

You have to authorise one being performed on you before they can go ahead with it, but the ironic thing is that not agreeing to one may go against you just as much as having one and the report reading badly.

It also depends on which sector you are seeking employment in. If you are looking for employment in the financial sector for instance where you are strongly linked with money, then checking someone’s score is an almost foregone conclusion.

If your report shows you may be a potential liability due to the amount of debt that you have then that could jeopardise your employment chances. If you have ever tried to get a mobile phone contract, you will probably have been subject to a phone credit check beforehand. The process is much the same for a job application.

Employment Credit Check UK

An employment credit check in the UK will be conducted if the employer deems it a necessary precaution. It is up to you whether you are happy with this or not, but if the thought of an employer looking into your financial history bothers you it may not be a good idea to apply for that position.

The results of a credit check for a job must be kept confidential for legal reasons, so whether you get the job or not your financial data with remain private. The check that they will perform will only use information that is legally available to the general public, but they must not disclose the details of it to anyone or risk breaking the Data Protection Act.

Top Credit Report for Job Application

If you are concerned about your finance history affecting your chances of applying for a job then you should take a look at your report to see if there’s anything you can do to help improve your credit score.

There isn’t just one top credit report for job applications that you should use, in fact there are three. The three main agencies in the UK that financial institutions use to determine your score. See more details on these below:

1. Experian Credit Report review
2. Equifax Credit File Check
3. Callcredit

You should obtain a report from each of these providers, however. Each one has its own scoring system and financial institutions do not use them all as a rule, so the results from each agency could be very different.

Once you have the reports you can see if any of the information is out of date or just plain wrong. If it is you must contact the relevant reporting agency and get it removed as soon as possible.

Something as simple as a spelling mistake could mean that someone else’s bad credit has inadvertently ended up on your score and could scupper your chances of getting the job that you want.

Pre-Employment Credit Check – What are they looking for?

If a company does carry out a pre-employment credit check, what are they looking for? They are looking to see how you have conducted your finances and to see whether the results of the check means that you pose a potential risk to them.

It’s a good idea to have a look at your own report first so you know your own history. There are several online services which offer this, check out our Check My File review to learn more about this particular service.

You can see it from their point of view; someone who may be struggling severely with debt and is applying for a job in a bank handling cash all day could be seen as a potential problem. The check is also to see the potential for stealing personal data from computer systems and to see how organised you are with your own affairs before giving you the responsibility of being in charge of someone else’s.

A pre-employment check is not an in-depth credit search. They are only allowed to search the public registers for evidence of your financial history, but they will also look at the Electoral Roll Register to confirm your name and address matches what you have given them on your application. This may sound odd, but it is a classic fraud trick to give a false name and address.

What do they look for in a background check for a job?

So, what do they look for in a background check for a job? In addition to confirming your name and address details match up by looking at the electoral register, they will check the publicly held records for any evidence of serious debt mismanagement. This will include arrangements such as;

• CCJs
• Bankruptcy
• Voluntary Arrangements
• Decrees
• Administration Orders

Each one of these serious breaches of financial trust means that you have to have your details logged on a public register as part of the restructuring program. Your potential employers have access to this data and could use it to determine whether they consider you a risk or not.

Can Employers look at your Credit Report?

Can employers look at your credit report? In a word, no, they can’t. That information is covered by the Data Protection Act and is off-limits to anyone without your expressed permission.

However, they CAN see a stripped back version of the report that shows your payment record, the amount you owe, and your available credits. It does not disclose the finer details or any personal data such as your actual score, your marital status, or your account numbers. If you have ever tried to rent a property, the landlord may have carried out a similar check to see if you meet the credit score for renting in the UK.

Generally speaking, a pre-employment credit check will only consist of information that is available to the public. This may still be enough to rule you out of the running if what they find is deemed a possible risk that they don’t have to take.

What is considered a good Credit Score for employment?

A credit check for a job may have been something of an unusual event at one time, but the fact of the matter is more people than ever are struggling with their finances and are having to resort to serious forms of financial restructuring to fix them. Now, some 25% of HR teams use a form of checking to vet their potential employees.

So, what is considered a good credit score for employment? The employer will not see your actual score as they are not allowed to by law; they will only see if your repayment requirements have been met on time and in full. They are only looking for potential liabilities, so in that sense, it is just like performing a criminal background check.

Job Offer Rescinded after Credit Check

If a job offer is rescinded after a credit check then you should consider yourself unfortunate. Surveys show that the vast majority of employers are not too concerned with the results of a credit check for a job, even if the application process requires it.

To get turned down for a job because of your finances usually means that the role requires you to have access to extremely sensitive personal or financial data. If your financial history is not the best then the perceived security issue will prevent you from getting the position. The employers are not breaking the equality laws by doing this, they are just being sensible.

If you are worried about this, you can see a report for yourself on your repayment history before applying for jobs. This will give you an idea of any improvements you could make to your finances. See our Scores Matter review page for more information on a service which offers this.

Can you get a job with Bad Credit?

If your finances have been in better shape then it may be bothering you, ‘Can you get a job with bad credit?’ The overwhelming answer to this is yes.

The vast majority of employers don’t bother with these checks and even those that do say that it wouldn’t usually go against a candidate if they had a poor financial history. The only situations where a credit check for a job does seem to matter a lot is where security and financial stability are a top priority.

It’s always worth checking your own history if you are worried.

The post Credit Check for a Job appeared first on Your Credit Report.

The good news is it’s easier and cheaper than ever to check your scores. Companies used to charge either a one-off or a monthly fee for you to gain access to your credit file, but that’s no longer the case. Here are two credit report companies we highly recommend:-

1. https://yourcreditreport.org.uk/uk-credit-ratings-review/
2. https://yourcreditreport.org.uk/check-my-file-review/

There are now websites you can access and apps that you can download that give detailed information on your credit score that cost nothing to download and nothing to access.

What Even is a Credit Score?

But before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s explain what a credit score actually is. Your credit score is entirely unique to you. It is a list of your current and previous credit agreements such as credit cards, mortgages, store cards, utility bills and car finance, and your score is based on how you’ve maintained those accounts.

What isn’t generally known is that each lender will score you differently based on their own systems, there isn’t just one universal credit rating, but if you have had credit with a bank or a lending company previously, this may go in your favour.

The main thing to realize is, your conduct with existing and previous credit will affect A) if you pass for credit, B) how much you can have, and C) what rate of interest you will be charged.   

If you’ve ever been in the position where you’ve been turned down for credit, not only is it embarrassing, but it affects your whole mood and your future scoring. So what can you do to ensure that this doesn’t happen? Let’s go through how to improve your credit score:

How To Improve Credit Score In The UK

There are a number of different things that you can do to improve your credit score in the UK. A lot of them seem fairly obvious, but simplicity and streamlining are the key here. Here’s a list of the Top Ten recommended actions:

1. Check Your Credit File

Before you apply for any credit at all, even a £10 a month phone contract, check your credit score. Checking that all the information that it contains about you is up to date and accurate is imperative. If you do find something that is incorrect, contact the lender and get them to either amend it or remove it.

Inaccurate information can have a real damaging effect on your ability to pass for credit, so make sure that you put yourself in the best possible position first. Here is a link to a credit file comparison website that shows you the best place to sign up to receive this information.

2. Register on the Electoral Roll

This may sound like a strange one, but it just shows the lender that you are who you say you are. By consulting the electoral register, companies can confirm that your address matches up to your application. Also, being at one address for a good length of time will go in your favour as it is seen as a sign of stability.

3. Don’t Miss Payment Deadlines

Pay your bills on time! This doesn’t just mean credit in the traditional sense like a credit card bill or a car finance payment, it also applies to things like utility bills, council tax, telecoms and tv and internet providers as well. Any missed payments can potentially stay on (and damage) your credit file for up to six years.

4. Take Out Additional UK Bank Account

Having two or more UK bank accounts shows more history on your credit file. The more history you create on your credit file the better your scores will be as long as you do not miss payments. Here is the list of best UK bank accounts to sign up with to improve your credit score.

5. Take Out Additional Credit Card

Sounds crazy applying for more credit cards improves your credit history. But the more credit file history you have the better the scores will be on your personal file. Here is the list of best uk credit card providers to sign up with which will start improving your financial history.

6. Disassociate Financially From Others

Not many people realise that their bad debt may be down to someone else’s problem. If you have taken out a mortgage in joint names, or have split from a partner / wife / husband and they have bad credit, it could be this association that is affecting your credit score.

If this is the case, inform the lenders that you are no longer affiliated with this person via a financial dissociation order, which will successfully separate you from their financial ties.

7. Pay Your Debts Faster

Paying more than the minimum payment each month is a surefire way to improve your credit score. This proves to lenders that you are committed and able to make regular payments and that you are financially responsible.

8. Apply for Loan Consolidation

If you are struggling to pay the minimum payments over several creditors then a loan consolidation will help your credit file. The loans will help you repay the several credit providers into one affordable payment so you don’t start to fall behind on payments which can harm your finance history. Here is the best place to apply for a loan consolidation as they compare the best rates to suit your situation.

9. Spread Out Your Credit Applications

If you apply for lots of credit all at once, all you are doing is showing potential lenders that you are desperate. By appearing to be desperate you’ll come across as a liability and your chances of success will plummet. The introduction of eligibility calculators may be one way to combat this.

The calculators do a ‘soft search’ – this means you will see the search on your credit file but lenders won’t. It’s not foolproof, but it does give you some idea as to how you stand before applying and getting a black mark on your score.

10. Take Out a Credit Rebuilding Card

This may seem a little counter-intuitive as the APR on some of them can be extortionate. What these are designed to do is encourage you to spend small amounts on them and pay the balance IN FULL each month. If you do this for six months to a year, you’ll notice a significant change in your credit report.

You must pay the balance IN FULL each month though, or you’re going to get hammered by interest charges and make your score even worse. Here is a link to a credit rebuilding card comparison website that shows you the best place to apply for these rebuilding cards. But please make sure to pay the balance on these in full each month to eliminate unexpected high-interest charges.

11. Take Out a Pre-Paid Credit Card

If the credit building cards are still not an option for you then it might be worth considering a pre-paid credit card. These cards will charge you a monthly fee for using them (usually £5) and you need to pay this fee consecutively for 12 months.

A pre-paid card doesn’t require a credit search because you’re not actually borrowing anything, but it will gradually improve your credit rating. The best website for these is clicking through to this pre-paid card comparison site that gives you plenty of the best options in the UK.

12. Cancel Unused Store Cards

Ironically, access to too much credit is seen as a bad thing in lender’s eyes. Conversely, long-standing credit with one lender is seen as a good thing, so it’s all about striking the right balance. Consolidation is a good way to neaten things up if you have a lot of random bits of credit, otherwise just cancel credit cards you don’t use.

The best ways to build your credit scores is to use these creditors and repay them each month. Many people think not using any credit is good but actually, that is not the case. You can get people who have never been overdrawn or missed any payments with a lower credit score can someone who takes credit regularly and builds a history of taking credit and repaying.

13. Timing is Crucial

This links into spreading out your applications. If you have had bad debt in the past such as bankruptcy or CCJ orders, then hold off applying for new credit until these are due to lapse. Once old credit has been removed from your file it gives you a much more favourable chance to apply for new forms of credit because your history is that much smoother.

If you are currently struggling to repay existing debt there are government-backed schemes that help write off debts in the UK. Check this free debt advice website for more information on this.

14. Lower Credit Utilization Rate

Your credit utilization rate is an important indicator of potential credit risk. Credit utilization rates are based on revolving credit like credit cards and overdrafts. Revolving credit is not mortgages or long-term loan agreements. The instalment payments like mortgages are treated differently on credit scores as scored on a debt to income ratio. Credit utilization rate is a comparison of total credit used to total credit available.

So if you have 50k total credit available and have 10k debts, your credit utilization rate is 20%. The lower the credit utilization ratio the more it helps your total credit score calculation. So, therefore, trying to request a credit limit increase from a credit card issuer is good if approved and trying to keep your total credit allowance below 30% is ideal. This shows credit report calculations you’re doing a good job of managing your debts as not overspending.

So the best solution is to try and get as much credit allowance as possible but then keep your credit utilization ratio below 30% as the lower this percentage is, the better. The total balance-to-limit ratio is the simple formula so get extending your credit limits and reduce your debt levels to lower the total balance-to-limit ratio.

How Long Does It Take To Improve My Credit Score?

This is a bit of a tricky one. It’s like that old adage, ‘How long is a piece of string?’ – the length of time that it takes to improve your credit score depends upon how bad it was in the first place. There are three UK credit reference agencies; Equifax, Experian and Callcredit and they all compile your credit history data, allowing them to send that information to potential lenders. They obtain this information from four sources; The electoral roll, the county courts, an address search, and account data.

Depending on what these searches come back with will determine your overall credit score. These searches will pick up any defaults, bankruptcies, County Court Judgements and payment agreements that you may have had. It will also contain a record of how many searches have been made against you. The reason this is so important is, the severity of the ‘black mark’ against you will determine how long it stays on your credit file for. Obviously, the longer a black mark is on your file, the longer it will impact upon your credit score and your ability to improve it.

Any negative change to your financial situation can have a subsequent knock-on effect and it can take years to rebuild your credit score. Something like a bankruptcy stays on your credit file for up to six years and can have a real impact on your ability to regain a good score again. Any inquiries will remain on your report for two years and some tax liens can stay on there for up to ten years.

There is no magic wand that will build your score back up again instantly, but there are a few ways you can help it along. The first one is self-explanatory; make your payments on time. This shows that you are actively trying to be responsible with your finances. It won’t happen overnight, but it will have a positive effect on your score. The other thing to do is check your credit score for incorrect data as this can have a lasting damaging effect on your credit score. Get it removed as quickly as possible and those credit score numbers should improve dramatically.

How To Improve Credit Score With A Credit Card

This may seem like a strange idea. How can having a credit card improve your credit score? You’re taking on more credit, so surely that should go against you, right? No, not necessarily. If your credit history has been damaged it can be difficult to repair that, and it will certainly take time. A credit card can be a valuable tool to help you but only if it is used responsibly. It is very easy to get carried away and let it spiral out of control and before you know it you’re in a worse position than when you first started.

Let’s start with credit rebuilding credit cards. These cards are specifically designed to allow people to have credit that has a bad credit score but want to rebuild it. Now, let’s be very clear about something here; the lenders aren’t doing this out of the goodness of their hearts. You are classed as a financial liability and they are taking a chance by lending you money. They will help you…but at a price. To offset that liability concern they will lend you money at a vastly increased rate.

What I mean by this is, say your credit rating was good and you applied for a credit card through your bank, you might get an APR rate of 7% or less, which is fairly reasonable. The credit rebuilder card APR rates are much, much higher and are common around the 35-60% mark. The lender might sell it to you as though they are doing you a favour, but they really want you to fall behind on your payments so they can profit from those extortionate APR rates.

The idea is to pay off your balance in full each and every month. This means that if you are using the card, you need to make sure that it is a manageable amount that you can clear when the bill needs to be paid. If you go buying TV’s and games consoles and the like on it you are going to be in a world of trouble. A credit rebuilding card is best used for something like the monthly grocery shop. Just pay for the shopping on the card and use the money you would have used to buy the groceries with to pay the card balance.

But you MUST clear that balance or you’re going to get stung and stung badly with interest charges, and that will see your overall debt level skyrocket. If you can use a card like this sensibly for 12 consecutive months, clearing the balance, then this will have a positive impact on your credit rating. Who knows, it may be enough for you to be able to apply for one of the cards with a much lower APR.

Speaking of regular credit cards, these are also a great way of repairing your credit score if they are used sensibly. You are likely to have access to a much higher credit limit on one of these cards compared to the credit builder type, and this can be tempting. The best way to use one of these cards it to treat it like a debit card. You need to set yourself a manageable budget and try to keep the balance as low as possible or it could end up running away from you. If you can pay the balance off each month, that’s great.

You’ll save on interest charges and it will have a positive impact on your credit score. If you can’t pay the full amount each month make sure you pay at least the minimum amount and on time. This method is a bit of a double-edged sword; paying the minimum amount on time will show that you are responsible with your finances, but only paying the minimum amount looks like you can’t really afford to pay anything other than the bare minimum because you’ve over-stretched yourself and this looks bad. Try to find a sensible go-between and pay more than the minimum payment each month without leaving yourself short. You’ll pay less in interest charges, keep your balance low and the lender happy.

The main thing to remember is always, always pay on time. If you are a bit short one month because the washing machine has blown up and can only pay the minimum, that’s fine, it happens to all of us. Just don’t make a habit of it. Keeping your balance low will improve your credit score no end, and might even lead to an increase in your credit limit at the annual review.

How To Improve Your Credit Score Fast UK

You may have gotten into debt through circumstances beyond your control. Maybe you had been made redundant at work with no sort of final financial package to help tide you over. Maybe your car has finally given up the ghost but you rely on it to get to work and needed a new one as soon as possible which maxed out the credit card. Whatever it is that’s caused your credit rating to slip, don’t worry you’re not on your own. Millions of people receive default notices each year, the trick is to not keep getting them!

Whether it’s something unexpected that happens like the examples above or your credit rating is still suffering a hangover from something like a bankruptcy that happened a long time ago but stays on your report for years, it’s in your interest to rebuild your credit rating as quickly as possible. Believe it or not, some prospective employers look at your credit score before deciding whether to consider you for a job offer. This is why it is so important to manage your credit score and improve it wherever possible. But how do you go about doing this, is it even possible?

Strictly speaking, there is no overnight remedy, no miracle cure, but there are one or two things that can boost it just enough to have a positive impact in as little as thirty days. The first of these things is to check that credit report, check it twice, then check it again. If there are any inconsistencies, old details or old-fashioned mistakes, you need to get them rectified as soon as possible.

Something as simple as writing that you earn £2,000 a year instead of £20,000 a year will have a huge impact on your credit score. It could be that you live in Flat 2C, but your report has you living at Flat 2B and they are actually looking at entirely the wrong address. Perhaps most telling of all is financial links to other people. Maybe you have a joint mortgage with your husband or wife and they have a bad credit history which is bringing yours down.

Maybe you have the same issue with an ex-partner; you’re no longer together but the financial institutes didn’t get the memo for whatever reason. Another reason that is commonly overlooked is a house or flat sharing. If you are still registered as living in a house share even though you moved out ages ago, any bad debt from one of the other housemates will be linked to you through the address alone. Find these problems and correct them by getting in touch with the various lenders and ask them to remove or amend these details. The sooner this is rectified, the sooner your credit score will show signs of improvement.

Another way to improve your credit score fast is by increasing your credit limit. I know, I know, that sounds crazy, but it can work. The thing with this one is that by asking for an increase with someone that you already have credit with, you have a better chance of success than using an external lender. If the request is granted, that will have the knock-on effect of boosting your credit rating. The trick now is not to spend it…

Finally, you can try and negotiate with your lenders. You might see this as going cap-in-hand and begging to your lender, but it’s far better than the alternative. If you have missed a payment for one reason or another, speak to your creditors and inform them of the situation. Creditors are usually happy to waive charges as a goodwill gesture for longtime standing customers. Once the late payment is forgiven, this will boost your credit rating.

If your debt is a little more serious than a one-off missed a payment you could ask your creditors to accept a partial payment from you instead. This shows that, although you are unable to pay the amount that is being asked, you are trying to seek a solution by paying as much as you are able to rather than simply ignoring it. If they agree to your terms, you must make sure that you receive this in writing before you make any further payment. Once you have the agreement, this should see your credit rating improve rather than being tarnished with missed payments.

Utilise Credit Utilisation Ratio

To calculate your credit utilisation then you need to divide your debt levels by your credit limit amount then multiply this by 100 to get the percentage of credit utilization ratio. The lower your credit utilization rate the better this is for your report scores. A low credit utilization shows you’re only using a small amount of the credit you are allocated to spend.

The FICO scoring strategy looks at your credit utilization in two sections. These are the individual utilization of each of your creditors and then the total of all your creditors balances against the total credit limit you are entitled to. If either of these two sections gives a high utilization score then this can harm your credit reporting score.

High utilization lowers your credit reporting scores. It sends signals to prospective lenders that there is an increased risk of you falling behind on further payments. The high utilization ratio means you are close to your credit limits and they are more likely to default or struggle to pay further debts back. So keep your percentages as low as possible and ideally if you can keep the debt levels to less than 30% of your credit limits that is a nice credit utilisation score.

How To Improve Credit Score Immediately

If it’s not enough to see a relatively quick improvement in your credit score, then what can you do that would make an immediate impact on it? You can, of course, make your minimum payments on time. As soon as that payment is made it automatically increases your credit score because you have stuck to the terms of the agreement you made with your lender. This also has the advantage of being an ongoing benefit. Keep those payments coming in on time and that credit score will keep rising and rising.

Linked to this is another suggestion that seems obvious once you think about it. Instead of paying your bill once a month, pay twice a month instead. Let’s say, for example, that you have a credit card with a £500 limit on it, and every month you use the full £500. By sending in a payment of £500 once a month, yes you are paying on time and yes you are clearing the balance, but lenders will view this as high credit usage.

To them, it looks like you need to use that amount every month and it might actually go against you. Now, if you pay £250 at the start of the month and £250 at the end of the month, that takes your credit usage down by 50%. Make sense? It’s a bit of a sneaky loophole, but it shows that you are a regular payer, who pays more than the minimum every month and doesn’t max out the card every month too. You could go one step further and split it into three payments. However many payments you decide to split it into, you are constantly chipping away at that final balance and bringing your card utilisation down, which will have an immediate impact on your credit score.

Another way to fortify that credit score immediately is by reducing your debt to income ratio. By increasing your income by paying off an outstanding debt source you do two things; 1) you leave yourself with more disposable income, as the money you would have used in the form of payments towards that account is now surplus, and 2) you now have less debt so your credit score will increase.

A slightly riskier option is to open up a new account. You could try to get an increase in your credit limit with your existing provider, and this may be enough to give you what you need. If they turn you down, however, you do have the option to look elsewhere. Generally speaking, you are more likely to get credit with a company that you already have dealings with.

If you do go elsewhere they will have their own system for running a credit check on you – this can either work for you or against you. If it works, then great, your credit score will immediately look healthier. Just be aware that you may also get declined and this won’t do much good for your credit file.

There is one other final way you could improve your credit score immediately but it requires a lot of trust and respect; you could become an authorised user. This basically means finding somebody who will let you share their account, and therefore, their credit score. As long as a card has been issued in your name, that account will show up on your credit score and give it an instant lift. This option might not be for everyone and like I say, it takes a lot of trust and respect from both parties, but it can work if you need that credit score boosting immediately.

How To Improve Credit Score From Fair To Good

So your credit score is ‘Fair’ but you’d like to improve it to be ‘Good’. How do you improve your credit score from ‘Fair’ to ‘Good’? It all depends on where you start, really. You see, because there is no universal credit rating system as such, your credit rating is just an approximation of all the available data. So if Equifax say you have a fair credit score, you might be a few points up or below the figure that they have given you. This could play significantly in your favour as one lender might consider your score better than another lender. It can obviously also have the opposite effect, so it’s a good idea to see if you can play the odds a little safer by increasing that score by a few more points.

Regardless of what your numerical score is at the moment, the way to progress to ‘Good’ from ’Fair’ is exactly the same. Why would you want to do this in the first place, for a few measly points it doesn’t sound like it’s worth the effort? The difference between ‘Fair’ and ‘Good’ could be the reason you are not accepted for a mortgage. It might be the difference between being accepted for a credit card with 0% interest, or being offered one but with a much higher APR.

A ‘Good’ credit score will allow you the freedom to have a wider range of options to choose from when it comes to deciding what sort of credit you want to have instead of being restricted to just one or two choices. Put simply, the better your score, the more options you have and the better those options become. Now, do we have your attention?

To put this into action there are a few things that you might do. The first thing that is recommended is to check your credit score to find out what may be affecting it, especially if you’re not sure why it is low in the first place. Your credit report should give you both the positives and the negatives behind the outcome of its decision, and it’s those negatives that you can get to work on. If there is any old information that is no longer relevant or current information that is incorrect, this can affect your score.

It’s not outside the realms of possibility that there are details that are on your credit file that entirely unconnected to you. For example, there may be someone the same sex as you, with the same birthday and the same name, but their last name is spelt ‘Davies’ and yours is spelt ‘Davis’. Innocent little mistakes like that can make a huge difference to your ability to apply for credit.

Secondly, you could try to shift the balance of your existing debts. It’s all to do with how you utilise your credit accounts that has the biggest effect on how your credit rating is decided. So for example, let’s assume that you have two credit cards and both credit cards have a limit of £1,000 each. You use one of the cards all the time because you get points and all sorts of great bonuses for using it, and although you’re making payments on time it’s constantly maxed out.

The second card doesn’t get used as much and there’s a balance on there of £500. Combined you have an overall debt of £1,500. The way the credit agencies will see this is not, ‘This person has maxed out one card but the other one has plenty left on it’. The way the credit agencies see this is simply, ‘This person is using 100% of the available credit on this card. This person is a potential liability’.

The smart way to get around this is to spread the debt across the two cards evenly, £750 on one and £750 on the other. This way the credit agencies look and see, ‘This person only uses 75% of their available credit, they organise their finances well, they are a good proposition to lend to’. To be clear, 75% is still a very high usage, but it’s a lot better than 100%. It sounds simple, but it’s an easy way to improve from a ‘Fair’ score to a ‘Good’ score.

The last thing you could do to improve your credit score is to apply for new credit. This could be with your existing lender, which usually gives you a small advantage, or from somewhere completely new. The thing to remember with this method is that is you have a ‘Fair’ rating, you will get offers from potential creditors, but the products they will offer will be fairly limited and they will more than likely be a higher interest rate. It’s the whole ‘speculate to accumulate’ scenario; you have to apply for finance with a higher rate because you’ve no other choice, but you know that once you are accepted it will increase your credit score. All you have to do is maintain it responsibly.

How To Use Credit Card To Improve Credit Score

Another trick to use when trying to improve your credit score is by using your credit card. Yes, you read that correctly, use your credit card. I’m not suggesting you go on a spending spree with your flexible friend, quite the opposite in fact.

If you want to improve your credit score by using a credit card then you have to stop thinking of it as a credit card. When you use a credit card, the balance goes up. When you use a debit card the balance goes down. It’s all too easy to keep handing over the credit card when the money doesn’t dwindle down like your current account balance does, and it can lead to serious problems if it isn’t kept in check.

Basically, you need to try and have the mentality that your credit card is a debit card and your usual debit card doesn’t exist; just use the credit card to pay for low cost things like a magazine or a family meal instead of your debit card. Once you have paid for these items using the credit card, immediately pay that same balance off your credit card bill using your debit card. This way of utilising the credit card allows you to build up a really good credit score because it shows that you can use it responsibly. It doesn’t matter that you might only spend £30 a month on a card that has a £3,000 limit, what does matter is that you are conducting it in the right manner.

If you don’t have the option of doing this because you don’t have an existing credit card, then there is one other option that you might try. It’s along the same lines but you have to be ultra-disciplined or it could turn out to be more of a hindrance than a help. Credit rebuilding cards are the perfect way to build up your credit score if you can’t get a card via traditional means.

The way these cards work are exactly the same as a regular credit card, although it will most likely have a much smaller credit limit. The caveat with these, however, is that the APR rates will be many times higher than a conventional credit card. There are cards on the market that have an astonishing APR of 60% and above! If you pay the balance off every month then you have nothing to worry about, you won’t be charged a penny’s worth of interest.

Keep this up over a sustained period and in no time at all your credit score will show steady signs of recovery. If you don’t pay the full balance off then that’s when you start accruing interest based on that monster APR figure, and your balance will shoot up while your credit rating goes in the opposite direction.

If you do choose this method you have to be strict with yourself. You must pay your bill on time, you must pay the full amount and you must stay within your credit limit. Any deviation from these three simple rules can result could potentially result in you creating a very potent financial mess. Play the game correctly, however, and it’s a surefire way to bump up your credit score from an unfavourable position.

How To Improve Poor Credit Score

It’s always a bit of a shock if you come to apply for credit and you either get turned down flat or are only offered limited products with high interest attached to them. Being refused for credit is, well, just plain embarrassing, and surveys have revealed that people would be more comfortable revealing their weight rather than their credit score.

That’s how sensitive this can be. What can you do to try and avoid this? The difference between a ‘Fair’ credit score and a ‘Good’ credit score might not be as elusive as you think, and it can be achieved by just changing your habits a little bit and having more of an understanding of how the scoring system works.

It’s in everybody’s interest to keep on top of their credit score because it affects more aspects of your life than you might realise. Of course, your credit score is important for things like applying for a mortgage or a big loan, but even your gas and electricity suppliers can have a serious say in your credit score, especially if you are in arrears to them. Everything that you have that requires a regular payment is classed as credit; your mobile phone, credit card bill, utilities, car insurance, life insurance, and so on and so on.

The way that you handle and maintain these accounts will play a huge part in deciding your overall credit score, but other factors are also considered. Your credit score takes a number of things into account; 1) the information you give on your application, 2) your credit file, and 3) your credit history. These three things combined will determine if you pass for credit, how much credit you can have, and what products and rate of interest you will be offered.

If you want to give yourself the best possible chance of having more options and a better credit score, there are a number of things you can do. Some are fairly obvious, others seem like an odd idea, others are just plain sneaky, but all of them will help. 

The first one is obvious but it’s also linked into something else; paying your bills on time and IN FULL. Yes, I know you could have figured that paying on time one out for yourself, but people don’t realise how long a defaulted payment can stay on your credit file for and how much it can hurt your overall score. Enquiries into your credit history alone stay on your file for two years, imagine what the odd missed or late payment here or there could do. By making your payments on time you are perceived as being a responsible lender and this will have a positive effect on your credit score.

Linked in to this is minimum payments – yes it’s good if you make the payments on time but only paying the minimum payment can actually have a negative impact. For one, you get stung for interest charges, and two, you actually look like you’re struggling to lenders. If you are in the position to pay your balance off every month then your score should get an a significant boost. This is because there is no better way to show the creditors that you are on top of your finances than by having a clean slate every month. Sensible utilisation of your credit is the number one way to improve your credit report score quickly.

Speaking of credit reports, when was the last time you looked at yours in depth? This could be the cause of some of your financial issues without you even realising it. You need to check it thoroughly for any information that is either no longer relevant or incorrect because it could be dragging your overall score down. Financial links to an ex-partner, changes of address, and mistakes on your personal details are all things that can negatively impact your score.

Imagine a pair of identical twins living at the same address, one named Paul Brown and one named Peter Brown. Paul has bad credit, Peter does not. What happens if Peter applies for credit under the name P. Brown? There’s a good chance he could be mistaken for his brother and get refused credit. This is why it’s essential to make sure that your credit report is correct. If it’s not, contact the relevant creditor and get it changed immediately, and this will have a positive effect on your overall score. 

Let’s assume that you checked your credit score, everything is correct but your score is still pretty rotten. You get home from work and, bang, your cooker decides to pack up. How can you get a new one if your credit score is bad? You were made bankrupt recently and that is going to stay on your credit file for six years. You have had to cut your credit card up as part of the bankruptcy, so using that is no longer an option. What’s your next move?

Fortunately, there are a few things you can do that will allow you to obtain credit and improve your credit score too. The first of these is a credit building card. Being perfectly honest here, a credit building card is for people in just this type of situation. You’re a high risk case, so if someone is going to be willing to lend you money, they want paying for the privilege. Credit building cards usually have a low credit limit on them but their interest rates will be really high.

That’s okay though – if you use it properly. You see, if you pay the full amount each month you don’t pay any interest at all, it’s only when you don’t that you’ll start getting hit for all that interest. Keep this up regularly and your credit score will soon take a turn in the right direction. Okay, time for one of those sneaky methods I mentioned before; pay twice.

Before you recoil in horror, I’m not suggesting that you pay double. If you’re in the situation above then you’re probably not in the position to anyway. What I’m advising is that you split your payment in two; you pay half a few weeks before the due date and the other half just before. This has two effects. Firstly, it looks like you’ve only used half of your available credit for most of the month instead of all of it, and secondly, you look like a conscientious payer who is actively trying to reduce their balance as much as possible. So not only have you paid on time, you’ve also made an extra payment and cleared your balance.

If you are not able to apply for the credit building card there is one other thing you could try. It’s not an overnight fix but it does have a positive impact on your credit score. Pre-paid credit cards have been around for a while now, and they are perfect if you are trying to salvage your credit score. There’s usually a small administration fee to pay each month, around £5, and you just deposit however much money you want to use onto it. Because you’re not actually applying for any finance, there’s no credit check, but if you use it wisely and keep paying the admin fee consecutively for 12 months, then this will improve your credit score.

How To Improve My Credit Score For Free

Everyone could benefit from a better credit score. A better credit score means that you qualify for lower interest rates and better terms. If you don’t have a good credit score but want to improve it, then don’t worry, there are a number of ways to improve your credit score for free and most of them are pretty common sense. A lot of them just involve asking nicely!

The first thing to do is to check your credit report. This is very easy to obtain, you can have it almost instantly and it’s completely free. Once you have your report you need to check it for any inconsistencies like wrong current address, wrong spelling of your name, financial ties to someone that no longer apply, and previous charges. All of these things can have a detrimental affect on your credit score and they need to rectified or just plain wiped out as soon as possible.

The issue of charges should be something that you try to contest. These lenders make thousands if not millions of pounds in profit every year – are they really going to feel a £12 charge? They might not, but you will. It might seem like an insignificant amount, but it’s the lasting damage that it can do to your credit report that you should be concerned about. Any kind of default automatically goes on your credit file and can stay there for a number of years.

Imagine how sick you’d feel if you got declined for a mortgage because you paid a few bills late a while ago and you were too busy to be bothered contesting those late payment charges. Call your credit provider up and speak to them. You’ll find that they are pretty reasonable with long standing customers and are happy to wipe off the odd late charge here and there to keep your business. The difference this will make to your credit score cannot be understated, and it doesn’t cost a thing.

Another strategy you could try is to raise your credit limit with an existing lender. It’s worth saying that this is only free if you have the willpower not to use it or can clear the extra balance every month. This might seem a little bit odd, having more credit to give you a better score, but it can definitely work. It’s all down to how you compose yourself when it comes to using the available credit limit that’s the real trick. If you have a credit card with a limit of £1,000 and a balance of £600, you’re using 60% of the available credit limit.

Anything over 50% is considered high usage, and therefore this can go against you on your credit report. If you call your card provider and ask (nicely) for a credit limit raise and are accepted, your usage of the available limit automatically drops. So, if they raise the limit to £2,000 that £600 only equates to 30% of your overall balance and your credit score will see an instant improvement. The only thing you have to do is not get carried away with this availability of new credit. Strangely, if you think your credit limit is too high and you voluntarily reduce it, this can go against you.

If you are able to, take a new credit card or loan. This runs along the same principle of asking your existing provider for a higher credit limit, but having multiple credit accounts that you manage well can also have a positive influence on your credit score. Try to shop around for the card or loan with the best possible terms, such as 0% APR, or a great balance transfer rate, that way you’ll spread your credit more evenly.

This has the added bonus of bringing one of your card balances right down, and this will add a few more points to that already-improving credit score. Again, all of these methods are free, they just require maybe 20 minutes of your time. Isn’t that time well spent if it can improve your credit rating?

How To Improve Credit Score After Bankruptcy

There are a number of circumstances that might lead somebody to going bankrupt but in the end, the reasons are all the same; they have hit a financial wall and can no longer afford to keep up with their financial commitments. Going bankrupt is a difficult thing to go through, personally. For a start, you have to pay to go bankrupt, which seems silly when the reason you are going bankrupt is because of a lack of funds!

The worst thing about it though is the detrimental effect it has on your credit file. Most people who go bankrupt are discharged after a year. That means that after a year the bad debt is declared null and void and the creditors cannot ask you for any further payment. However, it doesn’t end there, the bankruptcy stays on your credit file for a further five years.

Six years is a long time for anybody, especially when it comes to applying for finance. So what do you do if during that six year period you want to apply for finance or credit? You may not want or need it for a specific purpose, but you just want to make your credit score a bit more respectable again. Bankruptcies and IVAs, along with CCJs, are some of the most serious ‘black marks’ against your credit file that you can get.

They are a cast iron record that you have seriously defaulted on your financial commitments and are unable to control your finances. In short, you’re considered a liability for the foreseeable future and you’re going to find it incredibly hard to find someone to take a gamble and lend you money. The ones that are willing to take a chance on you will want paying handsomely for it, and interest rates can be astronomical. 

The good news is, even though it may be hard it’s not impossible, far from it. You just have to be a bit wiser with the decisions that you make and really search for the best available product. Timing is everything – don’t expect to go bankrupt on a Monday and be able to apply for new credit on Tuesday, it doesn’t work like that. It takes a bit of time and patience and careful control of your budget.

Start with something simple. Paying your bills on time will help your credit score to recover more than you realise. Your credit score is largely based on your ability to live within your means and pay your bills on time. Any defaults while a bankruptcy is still on your credit file could be disastrous, and any attempts you are making to repair it could be all for nothing.

It might not feel like you are having any impact by doing this, but you are. Regular, up to date payments on everything from your internet bill to your car insurance will all count towards repairing your credit report. If you can do this for a sustained amount of time you will find it much easier to apply for a loan or credit card with a small credit limit twelve months down the line.

If you are able to, it’s never a bad thing to open a savings account. Some banks will not let you open a new account after bankruptcy, but the majority will let you open a basic savings account as there’s no risk involved to them. Just try to put something away each month, and this will show that you are trying to get your finances under control and safeguard against further financial difficulties in the future. You may not be able to save much, but it all helps to rebuild that credit score.

The first thing you can try if you actually want or need credit is a secured credit card. This is where you deposit an amount into a savings account and that deposit secures the card. Essentially, that amount becomes your credit limit. What you need to do with this type of card is thoroughly read the terms and conditions because some of them have all sorts of fees and charges attached that could chip away at your deposit.

If you manage the card well this will increase your chances of applying for an unsecured card in the future. In a similar vein, you could also try a credit rebuilding card. These work in much the same way as a regular credit card other than the interest rates are much higher. If you pay the balance back in full each month then they can be an extremely effective tool to rebuild your credit rating, but don’t get sucked into a situation where they start applying the interest or you’ll be in a pickle again.

Finally for credit cards, if neither of those options are viable you could always get a prepaid credit card. There’s no financial risk on the part of the provider because you’re not actually taking out any credit – you just pay them a monthly fee of around £5 and then top up the card with however much you like. Keep paying the £5 a month consecutively and after 12 months you should see your credit score numbers start to rise again.

How To Improve Your Credit Score As A Student

It’s a running joke that students are always broke. It’s a standard cliche that they spend their student finance money on going out and having a good time and have to spend three or four years of their lives eating cold baked beans out of the tin as a result. Cliche or not, being in debt as a student is as serious as being in debt for anybody else. You still have to eat, to get to lectures and work and you still have bills to pay.

For a lot of students, it’s the first time they’ve had to be financially independent and it can all seem a bit too much and get on top of them. Keeping a good credit score as a student needn’t be hard though, it’s all a matter of self control.

The main financial trap that students fall into is through being financially attached to other people. As a student, this is so easy to do because of flat and house shares. As a part of that communal house, you are responsible for your share of the bills like gas, electricity, rent, tv license, and internet. This is on top of your own personal outlay for food, travel and personal finances like mobile phones.

If you are named on any of the shared accounts then you share the credit files of those other people, so if you apply for credit and get knocked back even though you have a fairly good credit rating, chances are it’s one of your housemates that’s holding you back. If it’s possible, try to remove yourself from these communal accounts and find an alternate way for you to pay your share. There are plenty of free apps that let you split bills equally, so see if you can do this instead as it will detach you from the other people’s toxic credit and improve your own.

Another thing you can try is to ask The Bank Of Mum And Dad. This isn’t like where you call them up and ask for a tenner because you’ve run out of baked beans, this is a legally binding financial agreement. If they consent to it, you could be an authorised user on their credit card. As long as you get your own card with your name on it, when a credit check is done your parent’s credit card account will show up on your report.

Obviously, the reverse is true, so if you start spending like crazy on your card and don’t keep up with the payments you will drag your parent’s credit score down as well as your own. This method is a great way of boosting your credit rating but you have to be uber careful with how you use it. Not only can it be tempting to abuse your parent’s credit card, but it can have a damaging effect on your relationship with them if you are irresponsible with it. Think carefully before choosing this option. 

Of course, you could always try to take out a credit card of your own. Chances are you will be working while you are a student and you will have a proof of income and proof of address so you could apply for your own. Many providers have credit cards that are specifically tailored towards students and you may find that these work to your advantage more than a regular credit card might.

Finally, this last tip could improve your credit score but only indirectly. You’re a student; most places offer student discount if you have a valid NUS card so take advantage of it. The more you can save using the NUS card, the more disposable income you have. If you have a more disposable income you could open a savings account and save it or you could pay more off your credit card. Both of these will raise your credit score. With that extra money, you could even take out a contract for a better mobile phone. That way you can use it to ring home and ask Mum to bring more beans the next time she comes to visit… 

How To Improve Your Credit Score After An IVA

An Individual Voluntary Aid (IVA) is similar to bankruptcy in that you cannot keep up with your financial commitments and have to come to some other arrangement with your creditors. IVAs are typically only available to those who have debts of £5,000 or more. Unlike a bankruptcy, an IVA means that you have some disposable income at the end of the month after all your bills have been taken into account.

Based on however much disposable income is left, you and your creditors will agree on a figure that you can realistically afford to pay back over a certain length of time. This time span is usually five or six years but can differ depending on individual circumstances. Once a figure and time scale have been agreed, then all interest and charges are frozen.

At the end of the agreed time scale, any remaining debt is wiped off and you are debt free. This can take your monthly outgoings down by as much as 70%, but much like the bankruptcy path, it will stay on your credit file for six years regardless of whether you pay it off early or not, and it will have a damaging impact on your credit score.

With this staying on your report for such a long time it will definitely affect how you can apply for credit and what terms and conditions you are offered. It’s understandable that after going through an IVA you might want to stay as far away from debt as possible, but a small amount of controlled debt is highly beneficial. You will find it easier to obtain credit once the six years has elapsed, but the good news is that having an IVA doesn’t completely stop you from having credit. Here are some of the steps you can take to improve your credit score after an IVA.

After a few months has passed since the completion of your IVA, obtain a copy of your credit report. This can easily be done online or by post and usually only costs a few pounds. The Insolvency Service should have updated your details but it’s always a good idea to check and make sure. If there is an error then you can challenge it and have it removed. This will have the immediate effect of improving your credit score and your chances of being approved for finance with better terms and conditions.

One thing to definitely NOT do is take out a payday loan. The average APR on them is astonishing and even though they are usually only very short term, they reek of desperation to any potential lenders. Small, steady steps is the key here, not quick fixes.

The best thing you can do is apply for a credit card with a low credit limit and use it as a debit card. Don’t go silly and start spending like there’s no tomorrow, just use it for small purchases like the weekly shop and pay it off straight away. This is low risk, sensible money management, and it’s just what creditors want to see if you’ve had a bad credit history.

You may have to go for a credit card that has a fairly high APR, but if you are planning on paying off the balance every month then it doesn’t matter at all, it won’t affect you. The main thing is to keep paying payments on time, pay the full amount, and your credit score will improve to the point where you can apply for something better.

How Long Does It Take To Improve Credit Score After Debt Settlement?

Technically speaking, you don’t have to wait until you’ve settled your debts to improve your credit score. You’ll find it much more difficult to do it if you have a lot of debt, but it can be done. The word ‘debt’ has many negative connotations with it, but it need not be a bad thing. A contract mobile phone is something that you pay for monthly, hence, it is a debt. But if the account is managed sensibly then it can raise your credit score rather than hinder it.

Of course, some debt can have a lasting effect even after it has been settled. For instance, something like bankruptcy means that your debt is settled after 12 months, but it stays on your record for a further 5 years. There’s no set timeline for how long it takes to improve your credit score, and this is basically down to the system that is used to grade credit scores. Each lender has a different scale to measure you on, so what is deemed low at one provider might be perfectly fine with another.

The thing to try and do is keep your nose clean while you have debt, by paying your bills on time and not defaulting on any of them. This is equally important for all credit accounts that you have, as each one has the same consequence; a bad credit score. Once the debt has been settled you are free to shop around for an alternative credit method, but choose wisely.

If you do too many searches at once you’ll just look desperate and if you fail too many searches you’ll be back at square one. Try to give yourself some breathing space when applying – don’t celebrate a debt settlement by taking out new debt the same week, give it a few months to give it a chance to show up on your credit report, then apply. How you conduct yourself both during and after you have settled debt will determine how long it is before your credit score improves.

You should pay your bills on time, spend frugally on credit cards and try to keep the limit as low as possible. It sounds obvious and kind of boring, but it’s the easiest and fastest way to improve your financial position after debt.

How To Improve Credit Score For A Home Loan

Getting a home loan, or a mortgage, is one of the most important decisions a person ever has to make. It’s undoubtedly the most expensive decision a person will ever have to make, so it needs a lot of research to give you the best possible outcome. But the research shouldn’t purely be on what mortgage to take out, you should direct a lot of attention to your credit report too.

You need to do this a minimum of six to twelve months before you even consider looking at houses and home loans, as this will give your credit score ample time to be in the best shape that it can be. The worse your credit file is, the less chance you have of owning your own home.

The first thing to do is request a copy of your credit report from the last twelve months from all three of the credit reporting agencies; Equifax, Experian and Callcredit. The reason you need all three is because they will not be exactly the same, as some creditors only send information to one or two of the agencies instead of all three and you need to know what is on every one. This way you can solve any problems on them before that crucial home loan search goes through.

The mortgage package you will be offered stems from what the three reports say, so they need to be the best they can be.

To improve on what the reports say you need to focus on the negative aspects of it and start turning them around. If you have late payment charges, call up your creditors and query them. If you have any information that is wrong or no longer applies to you then it needs to be dealt with as soon as possible. If you are not making payments on time through sheer forgetfulness then set up a direct debit to make sure they go out on time.

The number one factor is determining your credit score is if your bills on time. If they are paid on time, are you paying enough? Never just pay the minimum amount, always try to paid more even if it’s just a little. Paying your balance off each month will be a huge help, but if that isn’t a realistic option for you, see if you can open up a new credit card and split the balance across the two cards so it looks like you have a smaller card utilisation on them.

All of these methods are tiny little tweaks as to how you should normally deal with credit, but each one of them will add precious points to your credit score and make that dream of home ownership a little more real.

How To Improve Your Credit Score In 24 Hours

You’d be forgiven for thinking that taking out a payday loan and paying it back within 24 hours would be a surefire way to bump up your credit score overnight, but you’d be wrong. Yes, you are abiding by the terms and paying it back on time, but payday loans are considered a black mark against your name, purely because they are considered to be the last resort of somebody with severe financial problems.

That’s not to say that that is the case with all credit providers though. There is a strong case to be said for taking out a small loan that you don’t actually need with one of the more mainstream providers. Because you have been accepted for credit your credit score will take a jump upwards. Once that has happened you can pay it back within a month or two and your credit score will retain that spike that you saw initially.

Another way of improving your credit score in 24 hours is to bring down balances that are close to their limit. Let’s say for arguments sake that you have a credit card with a limit of £2,500 and that you have a balance on it of £2,000. This means that you are using 80% of that card’s available credit. Anything above 50% is considered high and around 30% is the norm.

So, if you pay £1,250 off that card it would still leave you with a balance of £750 but you would only be using 30% of the card’s available credit. This will see an instant jump in your credit score because 1) you’ve made a large payment, and 2) you’ve brought your overall debt tumbling down.

In direct opposition to the last point, you could actually ask for more credit to see a spike in your credit rating overnight. By contacting a lender who you have current credit with and asking them to extend it, you can send your credit rating through the roof. This goes back to the utilisation theory again.

If you have a £2,000 limit and a £1,500 balance you are using 75% of the available credit limit. If you keep your balance at £1,500 but increase your credit limit to £3,000, you are only using 50% of the available limit. Make sense? By increasing your available credit, you’re actually decreasing the card utilisation, and that looks good to the credit companies. 

As well as being able to do quick fixes like this to your credit score, you can do so much good for it in 24 hours by doing things like checking your credit report to see if it’s up to date, paying your bills on time, and closing down old accounts that are no longer used, but the tips above should see an instant spike in your credit rating should you need it.

How Long Does It Take Credit Score To Improve After Paying Off Debt?

There’s no right or wrong answer to this question because it depends on so many different factors. Debt is a uniquely individual thing, from the reasons to why we have it, to how much we have. The financial institutions that determine our credit score use different methods to see whether we meet their criteria for lending, and this affects what rate and product they will offer us.

Different types of debt have different lengths of time for affecting our credit scores. A missed payment charge may continue to hound you for up to two years, whereas CCJs have an even longer lasting effect on your credit file, staying on there for six years.

There is no set timeline to recovery as such, but there are things that you can put into place that will help your credit score to recover quicker rather than if you did nothing at all. This mostly includes being sensible with your money and not making the same old mistakes. Generally speaking, your credit report is updated every 30 days and takes everything into account that has happened during that time period.

So, if you have paid all your bills on time, not been refused credit, perhaps paid an outstanding debt in full, or have been accepted for new credit within that time frame, it will have a positive effect your score. If you have been declined for new credit, applied for too much credit all at once, missed payments or have gone over your allowed balance, then these will all have the reverse effect on your score.

The fastest way you can increase your credit score is by being boring and paying things on time. Sign up to direct debits and standing orders so that payments are not missed, tick the option that gives you text message alerts and email updates when payments are due, just give yourself every opportunity to be on the ball when it comes to organising your finances. If you can do just that then your credit score will improve a lot faster and your options will become more appealing and available sooner rather than later.

How To Improve Credit Score For Mortgage

Buying a house is the perfect mixture of excitement and fear. Excitement, because you get to buy your own place, and fear because, well, you’re buying your own place! With a purchase as big as this and long-lasting financial implications based on the strength of what mortgage package you are offered, it makes sense to make sure that you can make as many improvements to your credit score as possible.

The best way to do this is to start early. Don’t try and do this a week before you sign on the dotted line or you won’t have given your credit score the chance to improve in time. Ideally, you need to start planning this a full year in advance to take full advantage of the changes you’ll be making. The first important thing to do is to get a credit report from all three of the credit reporting agencies. These should only cost around £2 each and they are vitally important to getting your report 12 months down the line into shape.

You won’t get your credit score included in this, but it’s the details of the report that are of interest. Once you have it, scour it with a fine tooth comb for any and all incorrect information because the slightest little inconsistency could mean the difference between a good mortgage rate and a really good mortgage rate. If there are any mistakes then dispute them and get the misinformation removed before it can damage your score any further.

The next thing to do is to try and reduce your debt-to-income ratio. This means getting rid of as much debt as possible, ideally to about 10% of your income. Don’t take out any new debt either as it will undo all your hard work reducing the bill. This is obviously really hard if you’re buying a house as there’s so much to buy for it, but you have to keep that spending under control to see the benefit in your mortgage rate.

Finally, and fairly obviously, keep making your monthly payments on time. This is everything from your life insurance to your car loan to your Sky TV package. Just one default could have serious consequences for you later on. It doesn’t matter how much you’ve defaulted by, the point is you defaulted and that puts a big, black mark on your credit score that’s hard to remove quickly. Just keep plugging away, on time and that house will be yours before you know it.

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The better your credit score is, the more mortgage packages and potential lenders will be available to you. These are likely to offer low, competitive APRs and incentives, and they can potentially allow you to borrow a little more than you first thought, allowing you to bid for your dream home. In direct opposition to this, the worse your mortgage credit check comes out, the less products will be available. You may find yourself restricted to one or two lenders and the amount repayable over the term of the mortgage could be much more than you bargained for.

The best thing that you can do is to request a free copy of your credit report from each of the three Credit Reporting companies in the UK. These are:

1. Equifax reports
2. Experian reporting company
3. Callcredit report company

Go through the reports to see if everything is accurate. If it isn’t, then it could be adversely affecting your credit rating and this will damage your chances of getting the best mortgage package. Contact the appropriate company and get it removed from your report. Look to see what you can do to improve the credit rating before you apply for the mortgage, such as;

• Don’t close down old accounts that are no longer used – they actually work in your favour
• Try to use less than 50% of your credit card allowance
• Don’t miss payments
• Don’t take out any new forms of credit

These little things may not seem like much but they will all have a positive effect on your credit rating and make your mortgage credit check much less traumatic.

What Credit Score do I need for a Mortgage?

Applying for a mortgage is a big deal. You need to get the best financial package you can so paying for your home won’t be crippling you each month. Your rating is integral to what terms and conditions you will be offered, so you may be wondering What credit score do I need for a mortgage?

The answer to this is a bit subjective because the credit scoring companies do not all use the same scale. For example, a score of 600 is considered poor with Experian, but with Equifax it is considered excellent. Here is how the three major credit reporting agencies scale their judgements:

Experian Rating (Average UK Score = mid 700’s)

Equifax Rating (Average UK Score = 380)

Callcredit Rating out of 710 (Average UK Score = 611 or level 3)

So, how do you decipher all of this when it comes to applying for your mortgage? Mortgage applications go off the FICO scale, which runs from 300 to 850. After consulting all three major credit reporting scores and combining the results, you will need a minimum FICO score of 580 to apply. A similar system may be applied if you ever have a credit check for a job as some employers to carry these out.

Acceptable Credit Score for Mortgage

When you are looking at applying the better your rating is then the number of financial products that you are able to choose from will increase and the interest rates will be more favourable. But this begs the question; What is an acceptable credit score for a mortgage?

At this moment in time, you need to be able to afford a minimum of a 3.5% deposit. To be able to do that it is widely acknowledged that you need a score of at least 580 on the FICO scale. The FICO score runs from 300 to 850 and is categorised in this way;

FICO Rating

So you see, a score of 580 is the bare minimum that is expected of you to be able to realistically afford a mortgage. A credit check score of less than this will either return offers with very high interest and monthly payments or may reject you altogether. The higher your mortgage credit check score is, the more chance you have of being a homeowner.

What is Minimum Credit Score for Mortgage

Applying for a mortgage can be scary and nerve-wracking. Until that point, many people have never even bothered to check their report or know what the numbers mean if they have. It is likely to be the most important purchase you ever make, so it makes perfect sense to investigate your score and see if you can improve it in any way. You could also complete a CCJ check online if you are wondering about this.

First, you’ll need to know what is the minimum score for an application. On a scale of 0-850, you will need a credit check score of at least 580 points, but this score will not give you much wiggle room when it comes to comparing different potential mortgage offers. Although it will be enough to get you a mortgage it won’t be enough to get you a good deal. Try to improve your credit rating as much as possible in the 12 months leading up to applying for your mortgage and you’ll find that the options will become much more attractive.

Excellent Credit Score and Mortgage

Having an excellent credit score will help enormously when it comes to getting your mortgage. It is a financial agreement – a big one, but a financial agreement all the same. When you apply for any form of credit, whether it be a mobile phone contract, a credit card or mortgages, your finances are subject to scrutiny. The better you have composed your finances, the more choice of products you will have and the offers will be much better in regards to how much interest you have to pay for it.

This is why an excellent rating and a great mortgage offer go hand-in-hand. If you are paying for the most expensive thing that you have on a monthly basis, then you’ll want to keep the payments as manageable as possible but not still be paying for it years after it should have finished. Your mortgage credit check will have a big say in determining what you get offered so it’s in your interests to do what you can to make sure it is as healthy as it can be.

Best Credit Report for Mortgage

The best credit report for a mortgage application is not one single report, it’s actually three. It’s a little-known fact that there is no such thing as a financial ‘blacklist’ and this is because there is no universal credit scoring system. Banks and lenders all use their own systems and will consult different companies for credit reports on a potential customer. What one lender may deem to be a potential risk, another may be perfectly fine with.

So, when it comes to getting your credit report you should get one from each of the three main credit report providers; Equifax, Experian, and Callcredit. This way you will be able to see exactly what a potential lender will see and it gives you the opportunity to correct any mistakes on them which may cause you problems. The reports can be claimed by contacting the agencies directly. By law, you are entitled to one free report every 12 months, but even if you have to pay for them they only cost a few pounds. It may be the best few pounds that you ever spend.

Can I Get a Mortgage with a Credit Score of 700?

If you are concerned about whether your mortgage credit check will let you down when it comes to applying for one, then do something preemptive about it. Most credit scoring firms allow you to view your report for free so take full advantage of this.

Once you have your score you’ll want to know what it means. For example, Can I get a mortgage with a credit score of 700? Is 700 good or bad? Is 700 enough to get me a good deal or just an okay deal? Does a score of 700 mean you just miss out on the next level of better deals?

It all depends on who has provided your report. A score of 700 is excellent with Callcredit but only a fair score with Experian. However, on the scale that FICO use, 700 is a good score. The FICO scoring system is the one that mortgage companies will use to determine what products to offer you, so 700 will definitely qualify you for a mortgage. The FICO scale does go up to 850 though, so although a score of 700 is good, better deals would be available with a higher score.

How does a Mortgage affect my Credit Score?

A frequently asked question is How does a mortgage affect my credit score? It’s a good question because you would think that an expensive financial burden would be bad for your report. But, doesn’t making regular payments on time make your rating better?

The truth is that after you take out a mortgage your credit rating will probably take a bit of a hit, after all, you’ve just taken on a substantial new loan. If you try to take out any other forms of credit within six months of having a mortgage approved then you might find that it is either refused or the terms and conditions aren’t the best. Try to wait for at least six months before applying for something else.

After that, and assuming you keep up with your repayments on time, your credit score should recover. This is because it is now seen as a ‘responsible lending’ rather than a big debt.

There are so many places to check your score, including Credit Angel, so you might as well find out if your score will affect mortgages right away.

Low Credit Score Mortgage

If you have a low credit score then that doesn’t necessarily mean that you won’t be approved, it just means that you won’t get the best offers. It might mean that you end up paying more each month or over a longer term. You might even have to put a larger lump sum deposit down, but the point is you may still qualify with a low credit score.

The question is whether you want to accept that. If your financial position doesn’t show signs of improvement due to ongoing debt management perhaps, then you may have no other choice. If, however, you think there is a way you can make your rating better by doing little things to improve it, then it might be worth holding off on a mortgage while you do. It’ll be frustrating but you will benefit from it massively in the long run.

What is a Good Credit Score for a Mortgage UK

If you are applying for a mortgage then it’s a good idea to do a bit of homework first. For example; What is a good credit score for a mortgage in the UK? Considering it will probably be one of the biggest investments you will ever make, wouldn’t it be a good idea to find out the answers to questions like this first rather than wait until the mortgage credit check is being run?

Getting to grips with your report isn’t as daunting as you might think. Your scores from the various different credit checking companies are easy to get and in most cases, they are either free or cost very little. If you want to go one step further and get your credit report, that is, a thorough record of your entire financial history, then this will cost a little more. You’ll find that having this information will prove invaluable as it can give you an idea of what mortgage you may pass for.

A good rating for a mortgage is 700 points, but this is a middle of the road number. You can qualify for a mortgage was a smaller score, but on the other hand, you can get better offers if your score is over 700. Consult your credit report to see if there is anything you can do to boost your chances of being offered a better mortgage deal.

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It is also possible to see your credit records in real time with Experian CreditExpert and although this is charged with a monthly fee, you can get the first month free with the option to cancel. If you are bankrupt, have CCJ’s (country court judgements) against you or you have done an IVA (individual voluntary arrangement) then you already know that a credit file clean-up will be required.

How to Wipe Your Credit History Clean in the UK

You really need to know how to wipe your credit history clean in the UK. If you have acquired the debt through the use of a credit card, there are a few things you can try to accomplish this. If this is debt with a particular company, you can get in contact and try and resolve this yourself. If the company drops the debt, this will clear from your file.

If this fails, you can get in contact with your local financial ombudsmen. This particular service has been set up by parliament in order to deal with a variety of financial areas and ensure that both partied are treated fairly. They also have the legal power to step in if they believe that this is not the case. Check out our Credit Angel review to find out more details on another service which can help.

How to Remove Items From My Credit Report in the UK

If you are still wondering how to remove items from my credit report in the UK, there are other avenues to try. You can add a 200-word article called a ‘Notice of Correction’ on your finance record as an explanation for why you have missed certain payments. For example, you have been out of the country and unable to take control of finances etc. In some cases, this can be the deciding factor on whether you lent money or not in the future and banks will take this into account.

This being said, it is always better to try and resolve the issue and have the items removed completely if possible. This is one way to improve your credit score and make it easier for you to get loans or mortgages in the future. It is also important to check that these are your debts and that you haven’t been on the receiving end of identity fraud. If this is the case you must add the note to your file and get in touch with your financial ombudsman.

How to Remove Discharged Debt From My Credit Report

There are many online searches for ‘how to remove discharged debt from my credit report’ and answers can vary depending on who you get in contact with. Experian will receive regular updates from the insolvency service in relation to debts and therefore records will reflect your current financial standing. This being said, if you have filed for bankruptcy, this will generally stay on your report for a further 6 years before being removed. You can check your own credit score using services like My Credit Monitor which are really helpful.

CCJ’s will also be removed automatically 6 years after the judgement date, however, lenders will pay less attention to these the older they become. Once your debt is no longer an issue, you can take out a credit builder product which will help with your credit file clean up. A credit builder card will allow you to gain the trust of lenders by consistently borrowing and repaying, thus improving your overall score.

How to Get a Default Removed From Your Credit File

When looking how to get a default removed from your credit file you become aware that bankruptcy and county court judgements will be removed automatically after 6 years however this is not always the last of it. A lender is still able to chase you for the debt as unless this is statute barred. A debt which is statute barred cannot be pursued by the lender once it has outside of the specific period although this debt will still be listed on the credit file.

A file report will not show if a debt is barred however you can contact advisors such as https://nationaldebtadvice.org.uk/ for more information. If an account that does not belong to you appears on your credit record system then the first step will be to contact the lender to dispute. If this does appear on the file they should remove this as soon as possible.

Remove Items From a Credit Report Legally

If you are working to remove items from a credit report legally, it can often be very time-consuming. Speaking to an agency can speed up the process and allow you to ask for advice on the matter. Certain debts can stay on your debt account for 6 years however they become less of an issue, the longer they are on the system. Find out more about credit scores first if you are unsure on how they work.

The best way of getting a debt cleared from the credit file would be to contact the lender and agree that it was not justified in the first place. If you cannot agree that the debt was unjustified, the lender will have had a duty of care to report this and it will remain on your account information for the 6 years.

How to Get Delinquent Accounts Off a Credit Report

With many lenders looking at your most recent financial history, delinquent accounts can become less troublesome the longer they appear on your credit file. After 5 years on your file, flagged items are much less likely to affect borrowing. Take a look at our Equifax review for more details on another great service to help you check your credit.

This being said, any default on your account can still put lenders off and it is always good to know how to get delinquent accounts off a credit report. If disputes on your credit file are due to unfortunate circumstances that are out of your control (such as illness, family bereavement etc.) then it always worth noting this on your account.

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Overview

Experian let you sign up and check your Experian credit score for free. This is not a limited time offer, this is a ‘for life’ deal. Your file is periodically updated every 30 days as long as you login regularly. You might also be interested in reading out Experian CreditExpert review, which will provide more information on the alternatives available.

To compliment this they offer a wealth of advice on how to control your finances and improve your credit score.

With Experian you can compare different financial packages such as loans, credit cards and mortgages and see which one is most suited to your needs.

You can also request a copy of your credit report for a very small charge. They do also offer a more indepth service called CreditExpert, although there is a monthly fee for this product. Your first month, however, is completely free.

The following Experian review is based on our personal observations of their services, ease of use, quality of advice and all-round experience. It is designed to give you an unbiased, honest opinion of one of the UK’s biggest credit-reporting agencies.

What is Experian?

So, what is Experian, then? Experian are a consumer credit reporting agency that serves society, businesses and individual consumers by collating and providing relevant financial data.

Experian hardly need an introduction. Over one billion people around the world use their services and they are one of the UK’s three biggest credit rating agencies along with Call Credit and Equifax.

If a financial institute wants to check on your fiscal history then the chances are they are going to use Experian to do it.

Here are a few quick facts about Experian to get an idea of the scale of the company:

• Founded in 1996.
• They are the UK’s most trusted credit score provider
• They expanded rapidly and now serve 37 countries around the world with finding a suitable credit service and supplying financial analytical data.
• The Dublin-based company employ 17,000 people.
• They are listed on the London Stock Exchange.
• They also trade on the FTSE 100 Index.

Make no mistake – this is a big company. If you want your credit report with Experian, make sure to view the report now.

Experian Credit Report Login

To access your Experian Credit Report, the first thing you need is an Experian account. This is free to do and is extremely easy to set up.

Signing up for the free service takes just a couple of minutes and is fairly self explanatory. Follow the steps below if you are uncertain in any way as to how this is done.

1. Click on the link on our site
2. Go to sign up for FREE in the top right hand corner of the page
3. Input the details you are asked for (name, address, date of birth, etc.)
4. Answer the security questions
5. That’s all there is to it. A free Experian account in a matter of minutes.

Where Experian is different to other online experiences – such as Equifax credit ratings – is the security questions that it asks.

In addition to the usual personal details we were also asked to confirm information about a personal bill from a set of multichoice answers. This was comforting as it shows they take their security protocols very seriously.

The final screen before the account was confirmed asked about our annual income and residential status.

This did feel a little intrusive but when you take into account they will use that information to provide you with financial offers that you would qualify for it is more than understandable.

The Experian Credit Report login in was straightforward. All that is required is a username or email address, password and an additional security question.

If you forget any of these there is a link to reset them provided you answer the correct security questions. Marks earned here for ease of use and attention to security measures.

Experian Free Credit Score

The Experian free credit score system is easy to understand. Your score is rated out of 999. This is split up into five sub-divisions; Very Poor, Poor, Fair, Good and Excellent. To make it even easier to understand there is a colour coding system –

• Red for Very Poor (0-560 points)
• Orange for Poor ((561-720 points)
• Amber for Fair (721-880 points)
• Light Green for Good (881-960 points)
• Dark Green for Excellent (961-999 points)

This is nice and simple to help you to understand at a glance what is considered a good credit score and what is considered a bad credit score. However, this is also its drawback – it is rather basic.

There’s no additional breakdown as to why you have the score you have. It would have been nice to see what positives and negatives were affecting our score.

How to Get a Free Report

Everyone is entitled to one free credit report every twelve months by law. Accessing the Experian free credit score was simple enough but knowing how to get the Experian free credit report was altogether different.

Rather than have a simple link to click, it seems you have to register for Experian’s CreditExpert service. Although this is free for the first 30 days there is a monthly charge to access it after that.

There are a number of free reports online like Check my File and others, however Experian is one of the best.

There was an easy link to the Experian Statutory Credit Report service they offer which incurs a small charge, but trying to find the link to the Experian free credit report was a real task.

We did locate the page eventually but only once we had run it through a search engine first. Points deducted here.

Services and Features

The services and features are the most impressive thing about Experian. They allow you to search for credit cards, loans, mortgages, insurance and energy without damaging your credit report.

The big advantage of this is you can see what financial packages you would realistically be accepted for. This saves you a lot of time searching and a lot of worrying too.

Again, this process was easy to use and thoroughly transparent making for a pleasant user experience.

All of the above information can be accessed for free, but where Experian really excels is the Experian CreditExpert package.

Similar services can be found at Credit Angel.

We were able to use this feature thanks to the thirty day free trial which gave us plenty of time to really get to grips with what they have to offer.

It really does feel like it’s tailored to your individual needs. With everything from daily updates on your credit score to fraud alerts, it makes you feel as though they genuinely want to look after you and your finances.

They also have UK-based telephone support, so if you do have a question there is someone on hand to put your mind at ease.

What services and features do you actually get from Experian CreditExpert for your monthly fee?

• Daily Experian Credit Score and Credit Report
• The latest financial packages tailored to you
• Keep track of your score and understand how to improve it
• Web Monitoring
• Frequent reports on any changes
• UK helpline
• Experian fraud support

The monthly cost of this fantastic service is also far less than a lot of its competitors, so extra Brownie points were added because of this.

Dispute Process and File Correction

If you need to go through the dispute process and file correction is necessary then you need to be sure that the information you have is up to date.

Companies only send their data to Experian once a month and so it can take six weeks for a discrepancy to show up.

All credit report companies, including UK Credit Ratings have a specific dispute process and file correction, but we believe Experian to be one of the best.

Once you file a dispute, Experian promise to get back to you with the results within 28 days. It may sound like a long drawn out process, but there is a legal process that they are obliged to follow.

The FAQs section of the Experian website is very good at answering basic questions about your credit report.

Safety and Security

As you would expect from a company that deals with sensitive data, Experian’s safety and security policy is excellent. The two step password system means that your details are safe and secure.

Data protection is their number one priority and this was evident both when you login to your Experian account and when you contact their support team.

Help and Support

Yet another strong point of the Experian experience is their help and support network. Help and support are second to none – the staff are professional and helpful and are readily available.

By calling 0344 481 0800 you can ask questions about your credit report, seek financial advice and report cases of fraud.

Experian CreditExpert subscribers also have access to a dedicated fraud department. If you are in the unfortunate position of being a victim of fraud, it’s comforting to know that there is always someone on hand to help and reassure.

Our Verdict

Our verdict overall for credit reports is that we were very impressed with Experian. It is easy to use, self explanatory for the most part, and is genuinely helpful.

The ability to tailor your financial product checks without it affecting your credit score is a real plus, and the variety of choice is very pleasing.

The only downside we found was that it was a bit basic. If you wanted to find out why your score was at the level that it was you had to sign up for the much more comprehensive CreditExpert package.

We also struggled to find the free Experian Credit Report link but this was only a minor issue.

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