How do I improve my score?

 There are some basic checks you can make to improve your rating:

 

• Make sure all your debts are registered to your correct name and current address. Lenders may wish to see all the evidence of all other credit agreements such as university fees, car loans or furniture loans.
• Apply for credit you are likely to get. Also, ask lenders in the first place to only do a 'quotation search' - asking for a rate first - rather than a 'credit search'. This will ensure that you keep your footprints (which is the number of checks that appear on your history) to a minimum.
• Show lenders you're a responsible borrower by borrowing and paying it back. Only spend small amounts and then keep clearing the balance, thereby not being charged interest. You need to do it for at least six months
• Do everything in your power to keep up all agreed repayments such as setting up direct debits - and ask for smaller repayments if you're finding repayments impossible

How do I protect my Credit Rating

Whilst some people will tell you that in order to look after your credit rating you need to register with expensive credit boost agencies, this is not necessarily the case. There are some simple steps you can take to boost your rating.

1.       Firstly, ensure that you are on the Electoral Role.
By doing this you provide not only a confirmation of your address but one which is confirmed by the government and you cannot get a better guarantor. You can apply to register on the Government website https://www.gov.uk/get-on-electoral-register

2.       Do some cleaning up of your finances.
Check if you have any unused accounts – such one opened for you when you were a baby or a credit card you took out for an emergency but never used - it's time to close them. There are two reasons for this: forgotten cards or accounts can be used fraudulently by others without your knowledge, and if you have numerous accounts with no activity lenders may be dubious of your account activity maybe suspecting money laundering.

3.       Make sure you are not late with payments 
Ensure that you do not allow an account to enter default by making numerous late payments and or missing payments. If you have too many of these it may mean an unlikelihood of any credit being provided to you, unduly affecting your credit score resulting in a lender’s requirement not being met.

4.       Don’t let someone else affect your score! 
If you have a joint financial product such as a joint loan, credit card or current account, the conduct of the joint owner can affect you. When your credit file is looked at, their records will be accessible also via your jointly owned product. Therefore, don’t let someone else’s bad credit history affect you because you once shared an account or had a credit card which you used to pay bills or rent.

5.       Don’t make too many credit applications. 
Use free credit calculators when researching loans, credit cards or mortgages. This will reduce the number of footprints that appear on your history. If there are a large number of footprints recorded on your credit history, especially if this is in a short period, can harm your credit score. This can flag to lenders that you are looking at numerous products and worry them when they assess your applications.

6.       Keep personal records from previous addresses
Lenders will want to see proof of addresses of previous residences especially over past 3 years prior to your application. This is especially important if you frequently moved addresses as a student.

For the past 40 years we have been helping clients look after their financial investments for their requirements.

If you would like independent financial advice please contact us on our Freefone number 0800 193 1066 or click on the mortgage enquiry button.