What have you just bought?

[SnoopZ]

Originally Posted by thenry

NatWest says fair. The report says I may occasionally be rejected for credit. It then says I'm not on electoral system lol I get cards through the post at every opportunity. I have no credit cards. I have not missed any payments.

As previously said yesterday having a Credit Card is one of the best ways of building a credit score, you just need to trust yourself and pay off the monthly statement by the due date in full, you also get more consumer protection when using one.

[GrimUpNorth]

Originally Posted by SnoopZ

As previously said yesterday having a Credit Card is one of the best ways of building a credit score, you just need to trust yourself and pay off the monthly statement by the due date in full, you also get more consumer protection when using one.

Couldn't agree more. A few years ago we wanted to make sure Mrs G's score was good as my health wasn't good and we didn't know what the prognosis was. Anyway, because she'd not had any credit in her name for years, she decided to apply for a loan with the Halifax and they accepted but at a ridiculous APR. They did lower the APR when she called them and pointed out the money in her savings accounts and asked to make arrangements to withdraw it all and close all her accounts.

She didn't take the loan because she wasn't impressed with them, and ever since she's had a credit card that gets used and paid off regularly and her score is good. My health issues turned out to be nothing more than a bad case of nothing.

[joglynne]

I never even knew about Credit scores until June 2022 when I received a credit card from a bank I didn't, and had never, used. I contacted that bank and found that someone else had applied for it and that I was a victim of an Identity Theft attempt and was advised to contact CIFAS.

Very worrying when I contacted CIFAS and, few days later, they provided details of several other identity theft attempts. Most had been denied by the institutions involved as the person targeting me didn't have the right information.

Even with a 2 year Protective, red flag, Registration monitored by CIFA I still felt the need to check in case it happened again and was introduced to the Credit Rating companies TransUnion and Credit Karma by my son. Lately MSE have developed a combined overall Credit Eligibility Rating site which gives a more comprehensive insight and this now lets me know what's been happening each month by email.

I do check my bank and investment apps regularly ....(errrr weekly) but that's because I'm elderly. ��

[SnoopZ]

Originally Posted by joglynne

I never even knew about Credit scores until June 2022 when I received a credit card from a bank I didn't, and had never, used. I contacted that bank and found that someone else had applied for it and that I was a victim of an Identity Theft attempt and was advised to contact CIFAS.

Very worrying when I contacted CIFAS and, few days later, they provided details of several other identity theft attempts. Most had been denied by the institutions involved as the person targeting me didn't have the right information.

Even with a 2 year Protective, red flag, Registration monitored by CIFA I still felt the need to check in case it happened again and was introduced to the Credit Rating companies TransUnion and Credit Karma by my son. Lately MSE have developed a combined overall Credit Eligibility Rating site which gives a more comprehensive insight and this now lets me know what's been happening each month by email.

I do check my bank and investment apps regularly ....(errrr weekly) but that's because I'm elderly. ��

I sometimes check my apps daily, it only takes seconds with a fingerprint login.

Since I signed up to TransUnion via my banking app I've had a few insurance search notifications which did concern me until I realised it was related to my up coming car or house insurance renewals.

[papa smurf]

fireworks lots of fireworks for the grandkids, people don't realise when you close the bank of dad the bank of grandad opens soon after

[SnoopZ]

400 Floss Harps and 1 of those garden light lantern things which may prove to be a waste of money.

[Jaymoss]

Originally Posted by joglynne

I never even knew about Credit scores until June 2022 when I received a credit card from a bank I didn't, and had never, used. I contacted that bank and found that someone else had applied for it and that I was a victim of an Identity Theft attempt and was advised to contact CIFAS.

Very worrying when I contacted CIFAS and, few days later, they provided details of several other identity theft attempts. Most had been denied by the institutions involved as the person targeting me didn't have the right information.

Even with a 2 year Protective, red flag, Registration monitored by CIFA I still felt the need to check in case it happened again and was introduced to the Credit Rating companies TransUnion and Credit Karma by my son. Lately MSE have developed a combined overall Credit Eligibility Rating site which gives a more comprehensive insight and this now lets me know what's been happening each month by email.

I do check my bank and investment apps regularly ....(errrr weekly) but that's because I'm elderly. ��

MSE used to have access to your Experian but now switched to TransUnion. As far as I am aware the only way to get full Experian access is through them and it costs . You ideally need to know all 3 scores and monitor them Clearscore shows you Equifax MSE and CreditKarma gives Transunion and Experian gives you experian . Not all credit all applications/payments/updates/etc report to all 3

[papa smurf]

Originally Posted by Jaymoss

MSE used to have access to your Experian but now switched to TransUnion. As far as I am aware the only way to get full Experian access is through them and it costs . You ideally need to know all 3 scores and monitor them Clearscore shows you Equifax MSE and CreditKarma gives Transunion and Experian gives you experian . Not all credit all applications/payments/updates/etc report to all 3

does anyone have a savings account anymore

[Jaymoss]

Originally Posted by papa smurf

does anyone have a savings account anymore

Most banks still try to push them on customers so one would assume so

[Carth]

Originally Posted by papa smurf

does anyone have a savings account anymore

We have 2 savings accounts.
One has about £20 in it, the other varies between £10 and £400 ish

We aren't the richest folk in N. Lincs by a long way

[papa smurf]

Originally Posted by Carth

We have 2 savings accounts.
One has about £20 in it, the other varies between £10 and £400 ish

We aren't the richest folk in N. Lincs by a long way

trying to get my head around the obsession with credit, if i buy something it's because i have the money in the bank

[Dingbat]

Originally Posted by SnoopZ

If you have a banking app on your phone then it is often in the options to check and it takes seconds, it lets me check mine once a month although I don't really need to, I just decided to take a look for the first time a few months back.

Good tip.

Nationwide tells me mine is 604, which is negatively impacted by having no mortgage, credit card, or unsecured loans in my name. So it seems that the better you manage your finances, the worse your score becomes?

[papa smurf]

Originally Posted by Dingbat

Good tip.

Nationwide tells me mine is 604, which is negatively impacted by having no mortgage, credit card, or unsecured loans in my name. So it seems that the better you manage your finances, the worse your score becomes?

and the deeper you get into debt the better your score,what a racket

it's the financial equivalent of rope a dope

Originally Posted by papa smurf

trying to get my head around the obsession with credit, if i buy something it's because i have the money in the bank

And if I buy things on interest-free credit*, or put them on my credit card and pay it off in full when the bill is due, the money stays in my bank/savings accounts longer...


*which is easier to get with a good credit score

---------- Post added at 16:24 ---------- Previous post was at 16:23 ----------

Originally Posted by Dingbat

Good tip.

Nationwide tells me mine is 604, which is negatively impacted by having no mortgage, credit card, or unsecured loans in my name. So it seems that the better you manage your finances, the worse your score becomes?

Not really - We have no mortgage (paid off in full a while back), I pay the balances on my credit cards in full each month, pay my utilities by direct debit, and my score is good...

The scoring companies give good scores for regular payments on things, no defaults, no missed payments - they can't give a positive score if people don't have any history of regular payments on things, especially credit deals.

[Jaymoss]

Originally Posted by papa smurf

and the deeper you get into debt the better your score,what a racket

it's the financial equivalent of rope a dope

and here is someone with a clear misunderstanding of how it works

---------- Post added at 16:33 ---------- Previous post was at 16:29 ----------

Originally Posted by Dingbat

Good tip.

Nationwide tells me mine is 604, which is negatively impacted by having no mortgage, credit card, or unsecured loans in my name. So it seems that the better you manage your finances, the worse your score becomes?

It is only negative because it does not show you have the ability to make regular payments over a prolonged period and can be negated by using a credit source and paying it back regularly

I have no loans or debt on a credit card but I use paypal credit all the time and pay it off all the time and all 3 of my scores are excellent and I was on an IVA with 16K defaulted debt that did not close till November 2018