I pay my bills on time..and have poor credit.?

Question

I am on the electoral role, pay my bills on time and have checked Credit Expert. I am at a blank? Does anyone know what else could affect this?

Answer 1

If you have checked a credit reference agency then what they have told you is indeed correct, you are at a blank, and that is the problem. Banks, credit cards etc use credit scoring to asses every different application that comes their way. They apply a series of criteria to each person that applies for credit. The only way to get around this is to go for credit with one of the firms that really offer quite poor rates of interest to get your feet in the door. VANQUIS are good for this as are provident

Answer 2

If you only have poor credit due to paying bills late, this is not a big problem. Just start paying your bills on time - all of them. Make sure you pay at least the minimum due on all of your credit cards each month (more if you can afford it). Have at least one credit card to your name, as this shows that you can handle having credit, and have a bank account. Your poor credit will be off the records in 1-3 years! However, one slip up and it will take the 1-3 years to get back in great standing again.

Answer 3

Is it bad or just non-existent? If you don't carry credit (cards or other purchases that you pay monthly), then your credit would be considered low because you have no history. If you have cards and your balances are over 25% of the allowable amount, then you are considered a credit risk. You can have a great beginning interest rate, but new purchases after a period of time may be at a higher rate. Thus it takes longer to pay them off. Not sure about your address causing an issue because I've never heard that before.

Answer 4

Your address should not affect your credit rating that much. I know that certain areas are considered less favourably than others.
If the area where you live has a high proportion of unemployment and social housing, this can mark you down.
If you are on a low income, it will go against you.
Like you, I was in this position, living in an inner city area with high unemployment. The bank would only give me a basic bank account and no credit.
Last year I moved to a village. The bank has upped my bank account to a full current account with cheque book, £100 debit card, offers of credit cards and a £250 overdraft which I didn't ask for. It's amazing.
The only downside is, I can't draw money out of the Post Office for free like I used to with a Solo card.
My advice, move to another area. Worked for me.

Answer 5

Lots of reasons Hun. It could well be the address that is blacklisted if it is you can pay a small fee and have that removed and problem is solved. However other reasons are if you are not working but on benefits even though your income on benefits is higher than a lot of peoples wages they see that as a risk. If you have never had a loan or a credit card this will also go against you as you have nothing for them to compare ti with.
My advice is to build up your credit with your bank. Thye have their own scoring system within the bank when you apply for a loan. They score you on 1 to 10 ten been the highest. If you are after a loan then pop along to your bank and ask them what your score is with them. In a lot of cases they charge less interest. To build up your credit with the bank all they look at is money going in and money coming out and a bit that is left over. So lets say you get your wages/benefit on a monday you pay it in on a monday then you draw most of it all out on a tuesday this is ok, as long as there is money going in and coming out on a regular basis this is all they look for. They look for turnover. If its a credit card you are after then start off with one like capital one, its high interest but it gets you on the ladder they specialize in people with no credit or bad credit.They usually start you off with a £200 limit, once you are established with them, then apply for one with a lower interest rate and you should have no trouble.

Answer 6

Check out this list and it might help you to understand why...

Top 10 Strategies that Will Improve A FICO Score

Ensure credit bureau data is accurate and dispute legitimate errors.
Focus on bringing currently delinquent loan accounts current. Do not allow current trade lines to go further delinquent while using cash flow to pay on old collection accounts.
Comparison shop for mortgage and auto loans within a 14-day period of time to minimize the impact of hard inquiries.
Pay off and close second-tier finance company trade lines.
Pay down the credit cards first that are near their limits (assuming interest rates are close to the same).
Pay down total revolving balances, but do not close these accounts. (i.e. keep balances low and limits high).
Move revolving balances to installment debt; but again, do not close the revolving accounts.
Minimize new accounts.
If you are transferring balances, a better strategy than getting a new credit card is to ask your current credit card lenders if they have any existing offers. Always ask for as much limit as you qualify for.
If you have closed some revolving accounts recently, a better strategy than opening up new accounts would be to call the lenders where he or she closed the account and see if they can re-open the same accounts and are able to keep the original open date.

Answer 7

For over a year I have been attacking the FICO score as a bogus measure of winning. All it measures is your interaction with debt. It is composed of 35 percent payment history, 30 percent amount of debt, 15 percent length of credit history, 10 percent type of debt, 10 percent applying for new credit.

So it really is the “I love debt” score because there is no way to have a great FICO score without getting into debt and staying in debt. If you make $1 million per year and have $10 million in the bank, you can have a low FICO score simply because you don’t borrow. So we tell people they can get a mortgage with a manual underwritten loan if they never borrow by paying their landlord early or on time and being on the job for two years.

The FICO score people are mad, oh darn.

Answer 8

It could be because you have never been in debt. If you always pay your bills in full, have never had a loan or gone into overdraft then you wouldn't have a credit history.

It's silly but the people who borrow money and pay it back on time, while paying plenty of interest on it have the best credit rating. Those who do not have to borrow, therefore paying no interest to the banks and other companies do not!

Answer 9

You cant just pay your bills on time. Usually they will only report to a credit bureau if you are late on your payments. You have to have atleast 3 or 4 good standing open accounts(Credit Cards & Loans) to bring your credit score up. And you cant have alot of bad accounts or inquiries because that can bring it down as well. Anyways I hope this helps! Good Luck :)

Answer 10

Do you have a credit history? If you've never had a loan or credit card this can also count against you. The credit companies will not be able to obtain information on you (as there isn't any) and will therefore consider you a risk automatically. Once you have a credit history you'll be inundated with offers. (I know, it's crazy)