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How To Improve Your Credit Rating - How To Improve Your Credit Score

Your Credit Rating is More Important Than You Know!
Your credit rating is what almost all lenders will take into consideration when you apply for any type of credit. This can be when you apply for a personal loan, a mortgage, right down to simple things like pay monthly mobile phone contracts. If your credit rating is poor then this may affect their decision and result in your being declined for the credit you were looking for. In the current economic climate, your credit rating is most important than ever, so making sure it is in the best possible shape is vital to ensuring you secure credit where and when you need it. Follow our below tips to help keep your credit file in shape:

Check your current credit rating
Use a well known credit ratings agency such as Experian to check your credit file for free. Many of these credit reference companies offer free access to your credit report for a limited time and then you have to pay if you want further information of longer access to it. This information will show you all the times when a company has checked you out for your credit rating. It will also show any negative remarks against your credit file that may be stopping you from securing future credit. If there are bad comments or ratings against your credit file, you should find out the source of them and see what steps need to be taken to remove them from your file.

Make sure all your bills are settled on time and in full
If you regularly miss your monthly payments, this will eventually be picked up and added to your credit file. This then shows potential lenders in the future that you may not be a very good payer, meaning there is more chance they will have trouble with you paying back the credit they have given you. This could then lead to a decline, simply because they may feel you a too great a risk for them. By paying all your bills on time you are sending a message via your credit report to new lenders basically saying you're a good payer, and if you lend me money i'll pay it back on time and without any issues. This often means the lender will then see you as a low risk and therefore accept you for the requested credit, as well as possibly consider lending you more credit, over a greater period of time, and at a lower APR.

Make sure you are registered at your current address to vote
Being on the voters roll actually plays a major part in keeping a good credit history file. Through being on the voters roll it means that you can be traced at your current address. Through registering to vote at each address you have resided at in the past it will leave a trail in your credit file showing exactly where you have lived over the past years, how long, when you moved house, and so on. This is, in essence, a trail for potential lenders to view. And it is extremely important that the lenders can clearly see this trail because it shows them that you can easily be traced, and you are not hiding away trying to avoid being located at any time. Registering to vote is very easy, you should automatically receive the papers through the post each year, if not simply speak to your local council for the correct contact details to have the voting forms sent out. Remember, you should register at each address even if you are just a tenant, not just a homeowner.

Close any old bank accounts and credit card accounts you are not using
Whilst you may think having several bank accounts and credit cards sitting there not being used is useful, it can actually have an effect on your credit file and whether a lender chooses to accept you for creidt or not. A lender will often consider not just what you currently owe to others, but also what you can potentially still borrow through your existing facilities on top of what they may also be lending you. If they feel you may not be able to service this debt then you may be declined. So to avoid any potential issues, simply close down any old accounts you no longer require or use.

Watch out for ID Fraud
Identity theft is larger than ever currently, and one wrong slip could see your credit rating take a large tumble as someone else pretnds to be you and takes out credit and loans under your name. Check your credit file regularly to make sure nothing suspicious is going on within your file and that you haven't received any new checks that you are unaware of lately. It is advised that you check your credit rating regularly using a service such as experian to stay right up to date with all things going on with your credit rating.

 

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