Credit Repair
The first step in improving your credit rating is to find out why it is low in the first place. You probably have a good idea why it is, missed payments, County Court Judgements (CCJs), defaulting on loans, etc, but it is a good idea to see just what your record shows, as a first step in trying to make it better.
You can easily get copies of the records of information held on you with the main credit reference agencies. Remember that they hold this information with your full knowledge and approval, as you signed an agreement to this effect every time you took on any financial commitment, such as hire purchase, a credit card, charge card, store card, bank account with an overdraft facility, personal loan, car loan, mortgage, etc, anything involving credit will be recorded.
They also keep information which is available from the public records, such as County Court Judgements, etc. All this is quite legal and proper, there is nothing underhand.
You can see your records by using the links on this site to
Experian
and
Equifax, or have a comprehensive
summary from a number of different
sources.
Check that all the information listed is accurate, you can have it corrected if it is wrong. Just write to the credit reference agency which has the information you think is wrong, with written evidence of the correct details and they will carry out further checks and change it if required.
For example, the information on a court judgement may be out out date and showing as still outstanding. You may have paid it off in full, and you have confirmation of this from the court. Send them a copy of this and they will check the court records and update your file with the most recent information.
Everything you can do to have the best and most up to date information showing in your records will be beneficial in the future, if you have been making progress in improving your financial position.
Once you know the base line you are starting off with, you will have a better idea how to improve it. For example, one of the worst areas may have been that you have been late in making payments on your credit card bills.
If you start making sure you make at least the minimum payment each month on time, over a period, the records of the missed payments will be older and older, and the most recent records will show you have been keeping up with payments, which looks much better.
Remember that only paying off the minimum amount each month means it will take a very long time to make substantial progress in reducing the outstanding balance.
Make sure you are on the electoral roll at your current address, this is one of the first things they check.
Don't keep making more and more applications for credit, particularly if they are just being turned down. Every time you apply for any sort of credit, you are agreeing for a credit check to be made, and each credit check is logged, so try to keep them to a minimum.
Always, always tell the absolute truth on every application you make, whether in filling in a form, making an application over the phone, or online. Remember a great deal of information about your history is held in a variety of different places, all of which can be, and is, checked, so don't try to mislead anyone, or "overlook" something, much better to be completely straight and upfront.
Information matching and everything looking as it should be, is far better than someone finding out a false statement, which is disaster as far as your credit history is concerned.
Try to avoid making a joint application for credit with someone who has a worse credit record than you have. Once you are tied to them in this way, it can make your own record look worse than it needs to be.
One thing you can do straight away is to take one of the prepaid cards listed in our Prepaid Card section, at least that gives you a means of making online, telephone and direct purchase payments while you are taking longer term action.
Vanquis Visa Card