How to improve your credit rating

There's no quick fix to boosting your credit rating, but by modifying your spending habits and learning more about how your rating is determined, you could soon be finding it easier to get accepted for credit and enjoying reduced rates when applying for everything from mortgages to credit cards.



The first step to improving your credit rating is to carefully analyse your current situation, which can be achieved quite simply by obtaining a copy of your credit report. You will then be in the best position to start making positive changes to your financial situation so that you can try to boost your credit rating.



Make sure that you check that all of the information listed in your credit report is accurate and up to date. Any wrongly listed late payments, charges or collections that appear on it could be having a negative impact on your credit rating. If you notice any credit applications that you don’t recognise or any unfamiliar transactions on your credit report, it’s important to look into these. Errors on your credit report could be genuine mistakes. However, they could indicate that you have been the victim of I.D. fraud, and this could be seriously damaging your credit rating. You should also ensure that the credit limits reported for your various accounts are accurate. If you find any errors on your credit report, contact the credit reference agency that provided it as soon as possible and ask them to amend the details.

The most effective way in which to make sure your credit rating stays high is to pay bills on time, which can sometimes be easier said than done. Remember that’s it not just outstanding mortgages, loans and credit cards that appear on your credit report. Whenever you sign a credit agreement for a product or service, the details and payment history will be added to your credit report. The sort of products that you may have signed credit agreements for could include mobile phone contracts or contracts with shopping catalogues,



However, if you're concerned about boosting your rating as quickly as possible, you may want to consider paying off some of your outstanding debts. Once you have paid each debt off, you can then use the money that you were paying towards this debt to help to pay off the next debt that you want to settle. If your credit report includes details of old accounts, such as credit cards that you no longer use, it could be worth closing these accounts, as this could help to boost your credit rating.
Other things to do if you want to try to improve your credit rating include checking that you appear on the electoral roll and that the address listed for you on this is correct. Lenders check this to ensure that you are living where you say that you are, so if you don’t appear on the electoral roll, you may find it difficult to obtain credit.



By doing some of these things and making sure that you make payments on your current credit accounts on time, you should be able to start to boost your credit rating.