What is “Credit History”?
Although many advertisements would have you believe otherwise, there is no such thing as one list on which your “credit score” is stored.
There is no such thing as a “black list” and nobody wanders around with some secret number attached to them in a central database.
There are records kept by the two main credit agencies - Experian and Equifax. These consist of all sorts of information - credit applied for, payments made, payments missed and all sorts of other information.
Different lenders use different agencies and in each case they use the information on your record, plus things such as a voters roll search and information on your application to credit score you.
You can improve your chances by ensuring, for example, that you are listed on the voters roll, making sure you have a land line for the telephone, don’t miss or make any late repayments on cards.
It can be the case that if you have no credit cards, loans or mortgages then this can count against you as lenders have no proof that you have a track record.
Before you apply for a mortgage it is worthwhile obtaining a copy of your credit record. This will only cost £2 and is available here. You can get your report for “free”, but this will involve signing up to a monthly plan to get free access to your (own!) records that is only free for the first 30 days then costs much more than £2 after that. Needless to say, many people forget to cancel the “free trial” and end up paying a lot more than £2 for a “free” service.
Lenders talk about “Adverse” and this can mean one of many things:
The above is our opinion of the effects and “your mileage may vary”.
As with all other aspects, advice is vital if you wish to find the best mortgage for your circumstances.
If you feel that you may be experiencing financial difficulty, please speak to the CCCS - a government backed charity that help people find the right way out of debt.
Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
There will be a fee for mortgage advice. The precise amount will depend
upon your circumstances, but we estimate that it will be £500.
DTE Risk & Financial Management Limited is Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority
Registered office: DTE House, Hollins Mount, Bury BL9 8AT Company number 01967512 (England)