Perfect Borrower? How Many Black Marks Have You?

So what makes you a perfect borrower?

Here are a few of the gold stars you would need to earn to become a perfect borrower in the eyes of high street lenders.
You must be a homeowner, on the electoral role, married, have your own phone line, no late payments on loans, pay off at least a couple of credit card bills each month, no past financial problems, have full time employment, up to date on your store cards…..

Conversely, which applicants are likely to be refused credit?

Statistics show that 20% of applicants in the UK have had difficulty in obtaining credit. Your past financial history can have a big impact on the amount you will have to pay and whether you will be able obtain credit.

Having no financial history can also be problematic. Lenders are unable to reassure themselves that you have run your financial affairs smoothly in the past.

Many factors are taken into account when calculating your credit rating from the trivial to the very serious. Examples of the latter are CCJs, defaulting on a loan or becoming bankrupt. They can stay on your file for a maximum of six years and make it extremely hard for you to obtain a loan from high street lenders, especially when we are in the middle of a credit crunch. Naturally it will be difficult to obtain a mortgage or re-mortgage if you are already in arrears with your present mortgage repayments.

Late payments on a loan or credit card may not pose a problem, as long as they don’t recurr regularly. Recurring late payments can be interpreted by lenders as a sign of financial weakness.

Summarising, credit problems in the past will prove to be expensive for you in the future. A low credit score will allow you to borrow relatively cheaply, whereas a high score means higher rates.

‘Headline’ rates advertised in the newspapers, which have a low APR figure, are not necessarily the rates you will have to pay in practise. Lenders are required to promote a typical APR. Although this rate may still look attractive, it does not mean that a large proportion of applicants will receive a loan at that rate, as many will fall by the wayside through poor credit ratings.

You may have to approach a sub-prime or specialist lender if your credit rating is poor. Inevitably the rate will be high, as this group of lenders have to cover their costs if you default on your repayments.

A word of caution to consumers, who are looking for a bad credit loan. There are companies in the marketplace, who will ‘guarantee’ you a loan, but in return will request a fee to process your application. Never accept a verbal promise, as once you have paid the fee, suddenly the loan could become harder to get or the APR jumps several points.. In addition your fee may never be refunded.

The sub-prime market has expanded enormously over the past few years, which has created competition between lenders. This competition has led to responsible lenders offering more realistic rates than we have seen in the past.

Underwriters deal with all kinds of problematic loan enquiries, so they will normally handle your enquiry sympathetically.

Sheila Challiner
http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/perfect-borrower-how-many-black-marks-have-you-752376.html

Do you Know your Fico

In todays world of credit the difference between having a good life and just living is a number. What number am I referring to you ask? A FICO score. In other words a credit rating. Or as they put it, your credit risk level. Do you know your FICO score? Most people don’t. It is a number based on your credit history. These numbers range from 300-850, higher is better and most lenders base approval on them. Anything over 700 means you have excellent credit and you can get whatever loan you want with lower interest rates and good terms. While a number lower than 500 means your in some serious need of help. Anything in between means you can most likely get credit but on the financial institutions terms.

You may have an excellent job, gone to a good school but if your credit shows that you don’t pay your bills and that you have alot of dept you’ll have a horrible time trying to get any kind of credit, be it a mortgage, a car loan, a credit card, any kind of insurance, or any line of credit for that matter. Even employers are checking credit ratings to see if you’re responsible or not. Looking to lease an appartment? Chances are the landlord will be pulling your credit report. Pretty intimidating when everything you work for is in a number.

Here’s a look at how lenders rate you:

Credit score:

720 - 800 Superb! You get what you want

700 - 719 Wonderful! You get top rates & terms

680 - 699 Good! You get good rates & terms

660 - 679 All right. You pay higher costs & rates

640 - 659 Okay score if good income

620 - 639 Weak. You need good income & some money

600 - 619 Poor. Pay higher interest and higher loan costs

580 - 599 Almost impossible without a large down payment or a co-signer

Under 580 Work on fixing credit without delay

Now you’re probably wondering who comes up with these numbers. The credit scoring method was created by Fair Isaac Corporation in the 1950’s and is available from the three major credit bureau agencies- Equifax, Experian and Transunion. The three scores are usually a few points different from one another so creditors usually take the middle score as your base line. FICO scores are calculated based on your rating in five general categories:

1. Payment history

2. Amounts owed

3. Length of credit history

4. New credit

5. Types of credit used

If having good credit is important to you and it should be, then knowing your FICO score is essential. Check your credit score once every one to two years or five to six moths before you plan on applying for a loan. If it shows that you have excellent credit, good for you keep up the good work. If your report shows that you have a poor score start taking measures immediately.

The best ways to improve your FICO score is to always pay your bills on time. Have credit cards but manage them responsibly. Having credit cards and making timely payments will raise your FICO score. Lenders see People with no credit cards generally as being higher risk than people who manage credit cards responsibly.

If you haven’t established any credit, here are a few things you can do.

1. Open a bank account. Don’t overdraw your bank account

2. Apply for a credit card. Avoid missing or being late on payments. That is a sure way to damage your credit rating.

3. Consider a secured credit card.

4. Set a budget so you know what you can afford.

5. If declined ask why so that you may fix any errors on your report or work on the reason why they declined you.

Keep in mind that if you have had past credit problems FICO scores don’t let that effect your score forever. Your scores will improve when recent good payment shows up on your credit report. It will show that you’re trying to manage your credit.

Gina Fitzgerald
http://www.articlesbase.com/credit-articles/do-you-know-your-fico-136522.html

Get a Loan With a Poor Credit Rating

Joseph Kenny
http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/get-a-loan-with-a-poor-credit-rating-4051.html

Newbie Credit Repair Advice

You have credit rights and they are likely being violated. The best piece of credit repair advice that should be provided is that you need to be aware of those rights and how they are being violated. The United States credit system is in a state of crisis because people do not take credit repair advice to heart and, instead, make several errors in credit that turn the entire situation into a giant mess for everyone. People that are not all connected to you in any way can suffer from your low credit rating and your poor fiscal habits because it drives the costs and fees up for others. They will end up paying more for credit because you did not pay.

The United States Federal Trade Commission receives more complaints against credit bureaus than against any other type of business. The media has added to this by asserting the faulty notion that you can’t do anything about bad credit, which leaves most of the country in a confused crisis without a clear path to credit repair advice. Nobody wants to help and everybody ends up feeling lost and feeling that their best efforts to repay and refinance their credit card debt will be inherently useless and pointless. This could not be further from the truth as there is no time that is too late for paying back your debts and no end to the second or third chances that you can have with your personal credit.

Retaining Your Credit Privileges

As many Americans know, it is almost impossible to live today without living on some form of credit. If you are said to be “living on cash”, you are almost treated as a second class citizen despite having more than enough money to survive and adequately pay your bills. Credit privileges, however, are constantly revoked by baseless claims from credit bureaus that are often a result of erroneous credit card ratings and reports. A little credit repair advice can help in this situation because your credit rating needs to be repaired and examined by a professional.

For this reason, a piece of credit repair advice is to check your credit reports constantly. You should probably do this every three months. These reports cost about ten dollars each and will tell you what the world of finance is thinking about your finances. You can obtain these from the top credit bureaus in the country and should go over them with a fine tooth comb for errors and mistakes.

Paul Johnson
http://www.articlesbase.com/non-fiction-articles/newbie-credit-repair-advice-61904.html

Unsecured Credit Cards - the Good and the Bad

Unsecured credit cards are specifically for those with good to excellent credit ratings. If you fall into that category you might want to consider getting an unsecured credit card. So what exactly are unsecured credit cards? These are credit cards that are issued without the need for any type of deposit. Another great thing about unsecured credit cards is the fact that in most cases there are usually no required balance minimum.

Most people who have credit cards carry unsecured credit cards of one form or another in their wallet, especially if they have good credit. Those with bad credit are typically denied unsecured credit cards because they pose a high risk of non-payment.

You will find there is no shortage of these types of credit cards available to you. Most often, every time you go to check the mail there is one or two offers waiting for you. This is a convenient way of obtaining unsecured credit cards. All you will have to do is fill the application out with the required information and then in a short time you will have your credit card. Of course, that is not the only way of obtaining unsecured credit cards. You can apply online and receive instant approval or even call them on the telephone to apply.

When searching for unsecured credit cards, you want to look for cards that offer great interest rates and incentives that appeal to you. Some cards offer rewards and rebates as incentives for using their cards. Other cards also come with very appealing introductory interest rates for the first six to twelve months as a cardholder. After the introductory rate has expired, you want to make sure you are getting a great interest rate then as well.

Doing some comparison-shopping on unsecured credit cards is suggested to make sure you get a card with terms and conditions that you can live with. One thing with credit cards is that it is easy to go from having excellent credit to having poor credit in a short time. Make sure you keep your balance paid and never spend more than you can afford.

Author
http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/unsecured-credit-cards-the-good-and-the-bad-81876.html

Repairing Credit Report Is Debt Management Tool

Credit is one of the things in life that can put a great deal of stress into an otherwise okay world. Credit imposes a rating on us that defines who we are. If our credit is flawed with late payments or even bankruptcy, we are treated different than if we have good credit. Good credit ratings open doors in times of hardship and helps garner us the respect we deserve.

If your goal is to repair your credit rating the first step would be to get copies of your credit reports. You can get free reports any time you are turned down for credit by a credit card company, however in light of the ping your credit rating takes to have someone look at your rating as a possible lender, it may be worth just paying for them. Once you receive the reports, look them over very carefully.

If you have anything that looks out of the ordinary or suspicious on them, you should instantly file claims with the three main agencies. These disputes may remain on your record for up to six months while they are investigated. In the meantime, you should identify any delinquencies on your report and being to take care of them as soon as possible. Even making partial reports can keep delinquent payments from showing on the reports so be sure to talk to your creditor and agree upon a repayment plan. Once you establish what is on your report at this time and how you are going to take care of the items that are showing, make a plan to check it again on a regular basis to ensure there are no new unknown charges and to verify your efforts are working! This is the first step toward a lifetime of good debt management habits.

Clinton Maxwell
http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/repairing-credit-report-is-debt-management-tool-114654.html

Preparing for Life With Credit Cards for College Students

One of the best ways to help prepare your young college student for the realities of life concerning finances is to educate them about the perils of personal finance, in particular the use of college student credit cards. Many companies offer them and they do come with a number of benefits. As recently as about 15 years ago, it was nearly impossible to get a credit card as a college student, but now the times have changed. Here are a few things to look for when you go to apply that will help you to get the best.

0% Interest

This feature allows your student to be able to make purchases and not owe any interest for an initial period up to 6 months. This time frame is pretty standard on credit cards for college students. After that time frame, the regular interest on the card comes into effect. Of course, every young person with a credit card also needs to know that by paying the monthly balance when it is due will bring most any card to 0% interest on a continual basis.

Balance Transfers

Most college credit card companies assume that this is the first card that students have ever owned and will not offer a balance transfer option. While there are a few card issuers that offer this card feature, a balance transfer is an undoubtedly rare feature in a college credit card. If they do allow it, then it still would only apply for the 6-month introductory offer period.

Higher Interest

The credit cards for college students do normally have a higher interest rate than your general cards about 16.99% up to 18.99% and beyond. So if the compound interest effect is demonstrated and emphasized to your student, it may help them to realize that they need to be fiscally responsible - or they will pay a steep price. Also, you need to know that it is more than likely that the introductory offer may be forfeited by just a single late payment.

Build Their Credit Rating

Many of the advertisements for college student credit cards emphasize that this is a good way for your student to build their credit. It is a good thing for them to understand too that how they treat this card will have a definite reflection on their credit ratings for the foreseeable future. So they may need some extra instruction on this, as well as knowing the importance of paying their bills on time. Many ads for these cards also point out that their card records may be accessed online and they can make payments electronically, yet another nice feature for internet-savvy students.

Rewards

Here is one of the ways that the card starts to make it worthwhile. For each dollar spent, rewards or points are given that can be redeemed either as cash, or as a gift. The rewards on these rebate credit cards include such things as air miles, concert tickets, gift cards, studio tours, and up to 5% cash back on certain items - usually groceries, gas, and medicine, and then 1% on others. Some college student credit cards even give special rewards for keeping a good GPA!

Another Option

If you think that traditional credit cards for college students might be a little beyond your student’s readiness to be responsible, then there is another way to go when they go off to college. The prepaid debit card can also give them the ease of plastic without having to carry any cash around, or in their dorm rooms. Amounts can be easily transferred to the card, and some cards even permit amounts to be transferred from one family member’s card to another family member’s card.

Getting your student off to college is a big step in their life and yours. Getting the right college student credit cards can sure take a load off of your mind by knowing that they do not have to carry a lot of cash. They are also protected against any wrongful uses of the card, too. And best of all, your favorite student can learn to become fiscally responsible, with time, and get an even better card later on.

Robert Alan
http://www.articlesbase.com/credit-articles/preparing-for-life-with-credit-cards-for-college-students-62621.html

What Everybody Should Know… About How to Repair Credit

Thousands Now Raise Credit Score To Over 700 Who Never Thought They Could

What Everybody Should Know… About How To Repair Credit

Those of you who have the perfect credit score consistently pay your bills on time, keep your overall debt relative to our income, actively and responsibly use your credit cards, and can walk into a bank without any problems in order to secure a loan.

Those of you who do not have the perfect credit score may have a consistent track record of paying bills late, have declared bankruptcy, owe a large amount of non-mortgage related debt, and have a high number of credit cards.

So, how do you fit in to the ever increasing realization of credit scoring?

Are you someone who pays all of your bills on time?

Are you someone who uses their credit responsibly?

Or, are you someone who hit a few rough patches where you fell behind?

Do you have 30, 60, 90 day lates on your accounts?

Achieving credit is not so easy when there are blemishes on your credit record. Trying times have fluctuated your credit card buying. A low credit score has hindered the ability to obtain a car loan with a reasonable payment. High interest on a mortgage is troubling to your financial freedom due to higher payment arrangements.

Well, what is your credit score?

FICO scores range from 350 to 875.

Below a 600 is considered high risk.

Above 800 is considered low risk.

Numerical FICO Score Assists Lenders In Developing A Credit Rating

A+ is a perfect credit rating with a FICO score 750+

A is a credit rating with a FICO score between 680 and 750

A- is a credit rating with a FICO score between 600 and 680

Now, Let’s See How Other Credit Ratings Are Determined

A Slow Decline From A Numerical FICO Score Of 600 Down To 350

B is a credit rating delivered to borrowers who will have 1 or 2 late mortgage payments within 12 months. Several 30 day lates, very few 60 day lates, and no collections or charge offs. Loan to value percentages will range from 80 to 95%.

C is a credit rating delivered to borrowers who will have collections and charge offs on their credit report. Loan to value usually drops to 70% and many of the loans are subsequently given with high interest rates. Mortgage lates are 3 or 4 within a 12 month period and a few 90 day lates have been reported.

D is a credit rating delivered to borrowers who will have a recent bankruptcy or mortgage foreclosure. Loan to value is usually between 60 and 65%.

How Payments Change With Your Credit Score

$20,000 Car Loan Payment w/ a 720 Credit Score = $333
$20,000 Car Loan Payment w/ a 500 Credit Score = $563
Total Difference In Payments = $230 A Month = $2,760 A Year

$300,000 Mortgage Loan Payment w/ a 720 Credit Score = $1,789
$300,000 Mortgage Loan Payment w/ a 500 Credit Score = $2,477
Total Difference In Payments = $688 A Month = $8,256 A Year

What Would You Do With The Extra Money?!?!

Just By Having A Higher Credit Score, You Could Be Saving Hundreds Of Thousands Of Dollars On Your Loans

Find Out How To Raise Your Credit Score NOW!

Discover the ingredients used to determine your level of superiority in the credit world

Get your completely free credit report from the 3 major credit bureaus

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One simple phone call may raise your score by 35 points in 2 weeks

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Make A Small Investment—Receive Huge Rewards

Gina Lembeck
http://www.articlesbase.com/credit-articles/what-everybody-should-know-about-how-to-repair-credit-756688.html

My Credit Rating Is Poor - How Can I Improve It?

When looking to borrow money, all companies will want to know a little bit about your credit history before they decide to do business with you - it’s the norm when two companies deal with one another for them to check each other out first, but for the man on the street it may seem a bit odd. Well it’s all about balancing risk. Before a bank will lend you any money, they want to work out how likely you are to pay them back. If all their customers always paid their loans back on time, there would be no risk, but they don’t! Some people miss a few repayments & some never pay back their loan at all. So the banks do some advance checking and it’s semi-automated to speed things up - here’s where your credit rating or credit history come into effect. Once the bank for example has seen your rating they can decide with more confidence if and how to do business with you.

Is it important? Why?

Your credit rating is important for various reasons - first of all it may be bad enough to stop you getting a loan at all - or more normally, a poor rating will mean that any loan or mortgage you are offered is more expensive, to cover some of the increased risk. So a good credit rating means cheaper loans and mortgages - that’s fairly important I’d say!

What is Credit Scoring - how is that different?

Credit Scoring is a more general term - some companies have their own systems to rate new or existing customers. They may use a combination of credit reference agency information and the information they hold themselves - perhaps from your application form for example.

How is a credit score worked out?

There is no official credit score as such - although Experian have developed something called the National Credit Score which runs from 0 to 1000 and can be accessed for a fee - Credit reference agencies provide a mix of information about you to the companies that use their service and those companies use that information as they see fit to base their decisions on. So you don’t have an official credit score, only a report containing various bits of information.

Who keeps the records and how are they accessed?

There are two main organisations that maintain the credit ratings for the UK population - Equifax and Experian. They keep all this information and provide it,at a cost,to organisations who may wish to see it and also to the individuals themselves who may wish to check their own record.

Can I see my own rating?

Yes of course - legally these companies have to make available to you any personal information they may hold - part of the Data Protection legislation I suppose - but they are allowed to charge a small administration fee for letting you see it - sounds crazy but true.

You can sign up to other services, for example paying a monthly fee to have ongoing access to your record, or even a text alert system that will send a message to you, if anything significant changes on your record - this can be useful for fraud detection.

Another company, CallCredit, offers a one-off online view of your own record for £8.95.

Can anyone see my rating?

No, only certain companies have access to the information and they are carefully screened. They may also be obliged to contribute information back to the system. Also they would be expected to outline exactly why the need to see this information and what they will use it for.

How will a good credit rating help me?

There are two ways of looking at this – the benefit of having a good rating and the downside of having a poor one. Let’s take the downside first - having a bad rating can affect your ability to get a loan or a mortgage - a bad rating may stop you getting one full stop - normally the impact is that the interest rate you may be offered on a loan will increase as your rating goes down - the lender of the money is balancing the risk of getting their money back against the amount of money they will make from providing the loan/mortgage.

People with good credit ratings are seen as less risky and therefore the kind of person a bank or lender would like to be lending money to. In a competitive market everybody wants that type of customer, so they will be offered lower rates of interest to attract them - the lowest rate personal loans for example, will only be offered to people with clean ratings.

Is there anything I can do about getting a good rating?

There are some fairly basic things you can do easily and some things that maybe more difficult for you. First off make sure you are on the electoral roll.This is so that companies can verify your address. Next make sure you don’t miss any repayments on any mortgage, loans or credit cards. For credit cards just paying the minimum amount will make a difference - you need to be seen as a reliable repayer if companies are going to be happy to lend to you.

Some people who have never had a loan or credit card may not have a great credit rating, because there’s no history of how good they are at repaying. Obvious really!

What if the Credit Reference Agency have got something wrong?

If there is something on your credit record that is incorrect you can apply to have it corrected.

There are different ways of doing this. If for example some information about a loan or account is incorrect you can contact the bank or lender directly to have it amended or contact the credit reference agency and ask them to do it for you. You can also ask for a note to be added to your record to help explain something - called a Notice of Correction - this will also be sent to any company that may have accessed your record recently.

Is there anything else to worry about?

There are other factors that will influence things like the rate of interest you may be offered on a loan - are you employed or self-employed - self-employed people are seen as higher risk. Do you have printed payslips from your employer? – handwritten or no payslips are viewed with caution. Do you own your own home and if so how long have you lived there - the longer the better. Does anyone else share the home with you? Are they financially linked to you and if so what is their credit rating? Wow it’s getting complicated now! - Bottom line is it’s all about balancing risk - companies are using all this information to help them decide how risky it is going to be to lend you money or to give you credit on a card. More risk equals less likely to repay and therefore more expensive - you have been warned!

One more thing

Everytime your credit report is accessed it is recorded on the record itself – they call it a footprint - so a company looking at your record can see how many other companies have seen it recently. If there have been a high number of searches on your record they may see this as a bad thing. But no searches can also be a worry to them. The fact that your information is accessed shouldn’t normally be a surprise to you, as a company should ask for your permission before checking your record. Although many don’t make this obvious, it should be in their general terms and conditions. Shop around by all means, but keep a close eye on how many credit searches are being carried out - normally a search should only be carried out if you have made a proper application not just an initial enquiry.

Marcus Brooks
http://www.articlesbase.com/advice-articles/my-credit-rating-is-poor-how-can-i-improve-it-55915.html

My Credit Rating Is Poor - How Can I Improve It?

When looking to borrow money, all companies will want to know a little bit about your credit history before they decide to do business with you - it’s the norm when two companies deal with one another for them to check each other out first, but for the man on the street it may seem a bit odd. Well it’s all about balancing risk. Before a bank will lend you any money, they want to work out how likely you are to pay them back. If all their customers always paid their loans back on time, there would be no risk, but they don’t! Some people miss a few repayments & some never pay back their loan at all. So the banks do some advance checking and it’s semi-automated to speed things up - here’s where your credit rating or credit history come into effect. Once the bank for example has seen your rating they can decide with more confidence if and how to do business with you.

Is it important? Why?

Your credit rating is important for various reasons - first of all it may be bad enough to stop you getting a loan at all - or more normally, a poor rating will mean that any loan or mortgage you are offered is more expensive, to cover some of the increased risk. So a good credit rating means cheaper loans and mortgages - that’s fairly important I’d say!

What is Credit Scoring - how is that different?

Credit Scoring is a more general term - some companies have their own systems to rate new or existing customers. They may use a combination of credit reference agency information and the information they hold themselves - perhaps from your application form for example.

How is a credit score worked out?

There is no official credit score as such - although Experian have developed something called the National Credit Score which runs from 0 to 1000 and can be accessed for a fee - Credit reference agencies provide a mix of information about you to the companies that use their service and those companies use that information as they see fit to base their decisions on. So you don’t have an official credit score, only a report containing various bits of information.

Who keeps the records and how are they accessed?

There are two main organisations that maintain the credit ratings for the UK population - Equifax and Experian. They keep all this information and provide it,at a cost,to organisations who may wish to see it and also to the individuals themselves who may wish to check their own record.

Can I see my own rating?

Yes of course - legally these companies have to make available to you any personal information they may hold - part of the Data Protection legislation I suppose - but they are allowed to charge a small administration fee for letting you see it - sounds crazy but true.

You can sign up to other services, for example paying a monthly fee to have ongoing access to your record, or even a text alert system that will send a message to you, if anything significant changes on your record - this can be useful for fraud detection.

Another company, CallCredit, offers a one-off online view of your own record for £8.95.

Can anyone see my rating?

No, only certain companies have access to the information and they are carefully screened. They may also be obliged to contribute information back to the system. Also they would be expected to outline exactly why the need to see this information and what they will use it for.

How will a good credit rating help me?

There are two ways of looking at this – the benefit of having a good rating and the downside of having a poor one. Let’s take the downside first - having a bad rating can affect your ability to get a loan or a mortgage - a bad rating may stop you getting one full stop - normally the impact is that the interest rate you may be offered on a loan will increase as your rating goes down - the lender of the money is balancing the risk of getting their money back against the amount of money they will make from providing the loan/mortgage.

People with good credit ratings are seen as less risky and therefore the kind of person a bank or lender would like to be lending money to. In a competitive market everybody wants that type of customer, so they will be offered lower rates of interest to attract them - the lowest rate personal loans for example, will only be offered to people with clean ratings.

Is there anything I can do about getting a good rating?

There are some fairly basic things you can do easily and some things that maybe more difficult for you. First off make sure you are on the electoral roll.This is so that companies can verify your address. Next make sure you don’t miss any repayments on any mortgage, loans or credit cards. For credit cards just paying the minimum amount will make a difference - you need to be seen as a reliable repayer if companies are going to be happy to lend to you.

Some people who have never had a loan or credit card may not have a great credit rating, because there’s no history of how good they are at repaying. Obvious really!

What if the Credit Reference Agency have got something wrong?

If there is something on your credit record that is incorrect you can apply to have it corrected.

There are different ways of doing this. If for example some information about a loan or account is incorrect you can contact the bank or lender directly to have it amended or contact the credit reference agency and ask them to do it for you. You can also ask for a note to be added to your record to help explain something - called a Notice of Correction - this will also be sent to any company that may have accessed your record recently.

Is there anything else to worry about?

There are other factors that will influence things like the rate of interest you may be offered on a loan - are you employed or self-employed - self-employed people are seen as higher risk. Do you have printed payslips from your employer? – handwritten or no payslips are viewed with caution. Do you own your own home and if so how long have you lived there - the longer the better. Does anyone else share the home with you? Are they financially linked to you and if so what is their credit rating? Wow it’s getting complicated now! - Bottom line is it’s all about balancing risk - companies are using all this information to help them decide how risky it is going to be to lend you money or to give you credit on a card. More risk equals less likely to repay and therefore more expensive - you have been warned!

One more thing

Everytime your credit report is accessed it is recorded on the record itself – they call it a footprint - so a company looking at your record can see how many other companies have seen it recently. If there have been a high number of searches on your record they may see this as a bad thing. But no searches can also be a worry to them. The fact that your information is accessed shouldn’t normally be a surprise to you, as a company should ask for your permission before checking your record. Although many don’t make this obvious, it should be in their general terms and conditions. Shop around by all means, but keep a close eye on how many credit searches are being carried out - normally a search should only be carried out if you have made a proper application not just an initial enquiry.

Marcus Brooks
http://www.articlesbase.com/advice-articles/my-credit-rating-is-poor-how-can-i-improve-it-55915.html