improve my credit rating???
I have been living and working abroad for the last ten years and have just come back to live in the U.K. I have never had a credit card or obtained credit in any form in the U.K and therefore dont have a credit rating. How can I start to build one up? I was even refused credit by littlewoods!!!
Public Comments
- get a mobile phone contract??
- As many credit cards as you can.....there will be some that accept you!
- Try Capital One first, if no joy try Vanquis Credit Card. They were suggested to me on Yahoo Answers when I had ran out of options. I got a card and am hoping to have my credit limit increased within the year, which should improve my credit rating.
- Go to the bank where your checking account or savings account is at and ask to speak to a loan officer. Ask him/her for a small loan to purchase a CD (Certificate of Deposit) which will be used as collateral for the loan. Structure the loan with affordable payments and for the same term as the CD. Most lenders will approve this type of loan to help build a credit history. The bank has zero risk but if you default or stop making the payments they will cash in the CD to pay off the loan. If you keep making payments at the end of the loan term you will have a small savings built up. It will take more than one loan to build a credit history but it is a good starting point.
- Whatever you do, just make sure that you keep up with the payments for all loans. Credit ratings are not based on how much you borrow or for how long, its all based on how soon you repay the money. Making regular payments gives you a good score. Being late on payments gives you a bad score.
- The person who told you to "Just keep on applying" wasn't doing you any favours! Each time you apply for a credit card or loan a search is done, and this leaves a "footprint" on your credit file. Applying for multiple credit cards and having too many searches on your file may make some lenders think that you're making fraudulent applications. My advice would be to either apply to your bank; if that's unsuccessful, then either Capital One or Vanquis. Their interest rates are exhorbitent, but if you make payments on time you should be able to upgrade to a card with a better rate.
