Credit Score

[Fuellady]

My DD has just been rejected for a phone contract because of low credit score. Not surprising really, as she is a 19 year old student and her phone contract to date has always been paid by either me or her dad. She wants to upgrade, and as she said, she can afford it so she wants a new contract in her own name. She has a permanent part time job and is financially independent.

My other DD applied for a credit card a few months ago and was rejected because of address issues. She has moved house 5 times in just over 4 years due to being a student. She has now graduated and has a permanent job and wants to get her ducks in a row, so to speak, so that she can buy her own home in a couple of years. She is completely financially independent.

She is registered on the electoral roll at her current address, all bank accounts have her current address, she pays council tax at her current address.

Sorry if too much info, just wanted to give a bit of background. Looking for any advice on how my young people can improve their credit scores. It's such a vital thing these days if you want to get on it seems.

[Dan's Mum]

It is a difficult one because it is a never ending circle.

Have you downloaded one of the free apps, clear score, totally money, Experian etc to check credit histories and any hard searches? Shouldn’t be anything but worth checking. Also a lot of these apps have suggestions on how to improve credit score as well as credit facilities that either will or likely to approve you.

D x

[Guest]

The first thing just to note is that the 'credit scores' you see on the apps from credit reference agencies are NOT the scores that banks and lenders use when deciding to give you credit. They are a general guide to show you if you are moving in the right direction - but the only person to see that score is you.

Banks have their own scoring criteria and they all use different ones and they keep their cards very close to their chests in terms of what the actual criteria is.

Therefore when checking your credit report - stick to looking at the data itself, not the score given. So for example check the information is all correct and up to date and there is nothing missing.

In terms of improving your chances of getting credit a good idea is to approach your own bank who already know you and apply for a credit card. As they have history on how you bank with them they are more likely to accept you than a bank that hasn't dealt with you before.

With this card use it for everyday spending (i.e. things you would have purchased anyway, perhaps fuel or food shopping) - always pay it off in full each month so you aren't paying any interest.

The good use of that card will be reported to the credit reference agencies and will start to build a picture of good credit history in terms of managing credit well.

Regarding the mobile phone contract - you may find applying for a 30 day rolling contract will get more success than a 12/18/24 month contract since the risk is less for the mobile company - so their acceptance criteria is often lower for these products.

Hope that helps.

[Leggibone]

If she’s with Barclays - (and want an iPhone) the Apple finance options are with Barclays partner finance - she might have decent luck.

Also try the banks the girls are with for credit card (and use them for something easy and pay off in full - maybe just the monthly fuel, or food?) Experian has a little tool on there credit score stuff to show what credit cards your more likely to be accepted for based on your credit score (the likes of Barclays, cap one, the supermarkets, all have initial card offers?)

[wanye]

get one of the crappy credit cards... the cap1 card at 30% apr or whatever it is. use it constantly instead of your debit card. pay it off in full every month. repeat for at least 6 months

check experian/equifax/etc, make sure all the info they hold on you is correct. get it corrected if not

dont apply for a card, get rejected, then apply for another and another until you get one. repeated attempts for credit (and denial) will hurt your score

[JediMuM]

One of the best pieces of advice I can give is to tell her to save and buy cash, then just get a sim only deal.
And then keep as far away from credit cards and debt as possible ... buy her the total money makeover book as a present and set her up for financial freedom 😉 xx

[britishgirl]

phone companies seem to be a law unto them selves I have a near perfect credit record,a couple of years ago I wanted to buy and that is buy a phone,I think it was car phone warehouse and was told they could't sell me one because their computer said no,I said I am buying the phone not a contract phone you wont be owed any money at all and he still couldn't put it through on their system so I went elsewhere

[dubletrub]

Three told us to carry on getting DDs new iPhone contract in my name and after a couple of months let her start paying out of her bank account for the remainder of the contract. They didn’t do a credit search as the girl said she definitely wouldn’t be accepted being a student.
She has been paying herself for about 6 months so hopefully it will be helping

[tspill]

Credit scores are generally only a very rough guide to your credit.
Most companies dont use these at all. When doing a credit check, they will get loads of details about you from the credit agency. They will then have their own rules that they apply to this information to make their decision.
We used Experian and Equifax in my old company and the rules were regularly tweaked and differing fraud techniques arose.
It is very difficult to get the details of how they assess credit for people. Maybe ask them?

[Guest]

Originally Posted by dubletrub

Three told us to carry on getting DDs new iPhone contract in my name and after a couple of months let her start paying out of her bank account for the remainder of the contract. They didn’t do a credit search as the girl said she definitely wouldn’t be accepted being a student.
She has been paying herself for about 6 months so hopefully it will be helping

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This seems a bit confusing and you might have been given duff advice by the phone company. If the phone contract continues to be in your name then it will be reported on your credit file. The fact the payment comes from your daughters account will be no benefit to her when it comes to her credit files as this won't be reported.

However if she does happen to miss payments, that will go on your credit file since the agreement is in your name.