Out of curiosity, I recently checked my own credit rating, just to make sure there was nothing nasty on there (and why should there be?!). What it did tell me was that having moved house within the past year could cause me problems if I applied to get more credt.
If think you may be suffering from a poor credit rating, Thrifty Scot has some tips on how you can improve it:
- Monitor your credit report -it’s difficult to know if you’ve got problems without seeing your credit report. Although it’s not free, it only costs a couple of pounds to get a copy of your report.
- Don’t keep applying for credit if you’ve been refused – the more times you’re refused, the worse your credit rating gets. It is suggested that you wait 3 months between credit applications. In the meantime, get a copy of your report and see if there are other ways you can improve it.
- Pay your bills and debts on time – this is crucial for a good credit rating, as every time you miss a bill payment, you’ll get a black mark.
- Use credit cards to repair your rating – you have to be careful with this one, as getting your hands on a credit card might not seem like the best idea. But if you can show some responsibility with a credit card, use it wisely, and you can improve your credit score. Use it stupidly, and you could do it a lot more damage.
Have you managed to repair a bad credit rating? If so, let us know in the comments.