Credit report question

[firehawk]

Hey.

so, I did my first credit report from Experian 2 months ago. all was "Excellent" with the score being more than 950. cool. I always pay my bills on time and in full. never had a debt or outstanding payment.

I then subscribed again today and saw it went to "Good" with a rating of around 890?

um... how come?! All it says is that the negitive factor is that I have opened a credit account? I opened an HSBC bank account sure recently but never used it at all and thinking about closing it down.

i cannot see anything else that is red or anything.

thoughts?

 

[[TW]Fox]

Firstly the 'score' is meaningless and exists only to provide them with £6 each time you request it. Stop requesting the score and stop wasting £6 on it.

If everything else on your account looks fine - no missed payments etc etc, then I wouldn't worry.

 

[firehawk]

i wasnt aware of that? how am I requesting the score? All I go to is the my report tab and gives me all the details.

still though, I want my score to be upped and back to where it was! going from Excellent to Good is worrying for me!

 

[Theophany]

More credit available to you can cause your credit score to fall.

 

[firehawk]

interesting. thanks. and that sucks even though you have an "excellent" standing report.
so if I close the HSBC account, will that increase the score again?
what about credit checks from companies?

 

[Theophany]

interesting. thanks. and that sucks even though you have an "excellent" standing report.
so if I close the HSBC account, will that increase the score again?
what about credit checks from companies?

Possibly. As Fox says, it's a number that justifies the fee that they charge. If you need credit for something and you're approved for it, does the score really matter?

 

[firehawk]

true. But then I like to make sure I am "high up" there and have no dust or anything to get me/put me down you know? A clean record. who knows what can happen in the future and what things may require certain credit score/rating or in a certain band.

things like a mortgage. she needed to look at my credit score and it was excellent and was giving me praise for that and pretty much giving me the mortgage!

IMHO - the higher the rating and band, the better it is.

so how can I up that rating/band?

 

[Theophany]

true. But then I like to make sure I am "high up" there and have no dust or anything to get me/put me down you know? A clean record. who knows what can happen in the future and what things may require certain credit score/rating or in a certain band.

I see your point, but it's just one agency's view of you. Whilst there is a certain amount of quantitative reasoning behind credit scores, there is also a certain amount of subjectivity. At the end of the day, there is no hard and fast formula for determining your creditworthiness to lenders. If you pay your bills on time, don't have an inordinate amount of credit and stay employed you'll be just fine.

 

[firehawk]

thanks. I appreciate that
just never knew about this so im kinda panicking... as you would when you learn that and learn that in 2 months it went from excellent to good!

 

[Theophany]

thanks. I appreciate that
just never knew about this so im kinda panicking... as you would when you learn that and learn that in 2 months it went from excellent to good!

I wouldn't worry about it - mine went from ~950 down to ~700 and I still got approved for a £20,000 unsecured loan. Take them at face value, lenders will decide for themselves what kind of credit risk you are.

 

[firehawk]

thanks again.

moving on, and I understand the whole "dont worry" thing, but how does one improve their score or band? what should I do?

 

[[TW]Fox]

Why do you want to improve the 'score'? Are you being refused credit?

things like a mortgage. she needed to look at my credit score and it was excellent and was giving me praise for that and pretty much giving me the mortgage!

She was not looking at the same number you got.

 

[firehawk]

well she looked at the report I printed out

 

[[TW]Fox]

Probably to make you feel better, they've got proper access to the information on your credit report for the purposes of offering mortgages, a printout of your experian account is not required

 

[firehawk]

thanks....

still ****es me off

 

[piggeh]

interesting. thanks. and that sucks even though you have an "excellent" standing report.
so if I close the HSBC account, will that increase the score again?
what about credit checks from companies?

From what I understand, they cannot see the results of any credit application, only that you applied for credit, so possibly the fact you applied and opened a HSBC account means there's an additional search on your file and so maybe a slightly lower score.

 

[firehawk]

thanks piggeh.
going to ring experian tomorrow and also arrange an appt to close my hsbc account.

 

[Russinating]

www.noddle.co.uk

 

[firehawk]

thanks!

well it says 4/5. hmm... how to get 5/5

 

[mrmoose]

thanks!

well it says 4/5. hmm... how to get 5/5

Wear more expensive clothes