Here are some questions I have seen recently about how long it takes to improve your credit score to get a mortgage: I was foolish with credit cards for years but now I am determined to buy a house - how long will this take? My credit score is dreadful. My new partner has a good credit record and we want to get a mortgage. I have a poor credit rating but I have now inherited a deposit. … [Read more...]
Credit Ratings
There is a lot talked about credit ratings on the Internet but it can be very confusing and sometimes even wrong! If you can't make the proper payments to your debts, your credit rating will suffer. But different debt options affect your credit score in different ways, so I've written these articles looking at the details of each situation.
This pages has all Debt Camel's articles about credit rating in date order - there are a lot of them! If you would like to see the most read articles, check out Debt Camel's page on Credit Score - problems, queries and answers which also tells you how to find out what is on your credit record.
Will my credit record be clear? Good news & bad news
A reader asked: I have a debt with a default date 30 April 2012. I was paying the debt for about a year then stopped as the default would always be on my file in any case. Will the debt drop off in 2018, or will it extend to 2019 as I was paying it for a year? Do settled accounts affect your credit score? The simple answer is that all defaults drop off your credit record after six years, but … [Read more...]
Should paying your rent help you get a mortgage?
It sounds like common sense to say that if you have paid £900 rent a month for a couple of years then you can obviously afford a mortgage costing £900 a month. And if you live in London or the south-east, you will probably add that rents are so high you can't afford to save much for a deposit, so you need your good rental payment record to be taken into account in a mortgage application. This … [Read more...]
LOQBOX – how saving can improve your credit score
LOQBOX is a new product that aims to improve your credit score as you save regular amounts of money. And there are no fees at all. Which sounds good, doesn't it! I'm tired of suggesting that people with poor credit scores should get a "bad credit card", use it each month and repay it in full each month. That works work well if you can stick to the plan... but one 24 year old I was talking to … [Read more...]
Should you get a joint account for the bills?
Should we use a joint account for everything? Or get a joint account only for the bills? How will a joint account affect our credit scores? Is it best to both use the same bank? I've seen a few questions about how couples share finances recently, so I've brought them together into one article. Should we use a joint account for everything? Don't rush into this! Not only are you linking … [Read more...]
Has a lender written off my debt?
A reader asked hopefully the other day if his debt had been written off: I've just seen that the balance on a credit card I haven't been able to pay for more than a year is now zero. If it's been written off that would be great, but how can I find out if this has happened? The bad news is that this is very unlikely. The debt has probably been sold to a debt purchaser Lenders like to get … [Read more...]
How to add a Notice of Correction to a credit record (and is it worth it?)
Finding something negative on your credit record is bad enough - but it feels a lot worse if you think it is wrong or unreasonable. You have the legal right (in the Consumer Credit Act (1974) ) to add a "Notice of Correction" to your credit report if you feel something is misleading or you want to provide an explanation. What is a Notice of Correction? A Notice of Correction is a … [Read more...]
What should the default date for a debt be?
A default on a debt badly damages your credit score, so how long will it be there? The credit record rules say: the debt, including the default, is deleted from your credit record six years later after the first default. There are no exceptions. The debt disappears after six years in all these cases: you have repaid the debt in full, you have made a partial settlement, you are still … [Read more...]
Answers to the Quiz about types of debt
SPOILER ALERT Have a go at the quiz here before reading this page! A reminder: all the examples are for someone living in England, Wales or Northern Ireland. The same general diagram may apply in other countries, but the types of debts, the timescales and credit recording may be very different. A brief (no jargon!) explanation of my terms: Priority = a debt that is important, because … [Read more...]
Do you know your debts? A quiz!
Is that debt is a priority? Could you get a CCJ for it? Why isn't it on your credit record? If you have problems with your debts, it helps to understand why different debts sometimes have to be handled differently. Getting one wrong could be a big mistake! Here is a quiz, seeing if you can place some debt examples into the right place on the diagram below. Whether you think you are a debt … [Read more...]
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