April 1, 2006

By Peter Kenny

We all want to take advantage of the latest and best credit card deals available in the UK market, however, for some of us these offers are continually out of our reach.

Some of these zero per cent deals can save hundreds on interest charges, so it is advantageous to be able to apply for them

When credit card companies look over our application for a credit card, one of the most important aspects of our application is our credit rating or score.

Companies like Experian and Equifax keep your credit rating on file. Every time you apply for any sort of credit it is recorded. Any time you are late with a payment it is recorded. This information is then used by credit card companies to ascertain if you are a potential debt risk.

Anyone can ask to see what information is kept in his or her credit card rating file. To do this you send a £2 payment to Experian or Equifax, I have listed their contact details below.

You can improve your credit rating by taking simple steps and in doing so you will be able to be accepted for some of those tempting 0% balance transfer and purchase deals currently available.

Electoral Roll – First thing to do is make sure you are registered on the electoral roll. Credit companies will not lend to a person with no electoral records.

Stability – Lenders are more likely to accept your applications if you can show you are stable in your life. For example use a landline telephone number in your application rather than a mobile.

Cancel Old – Do not just put an old credit card away in a drawer and forget about it. You must cancel old in writing. Once this is done the details are taken off your credit report. There is also the issue here of identity fraud, see our other article click here

Timing – Do not apply for too many lines of credit in a short space of time. This can cause problems with your credit report

Payments – Always make your payments on time, even if it is only the minimum required

Credit History – Some of you may be surprised to find out you can be turned down for a credit application simply because you have no credit history.

Joint Applications – If you and your partner applies for credit be aware that both your credit reports are taken into consideration. If one of you has hap credit problems in the past it will probably be better to make a single person application rather than a joint.

Here are the contact details for Experian and Equifax:

Experian
PO BOX 7710
Nottingham
NG80 7WE
Tel - 0800 656 9000 (Mon-Fr 9am-6pm, Sat 9am-1pm)

Equifax Credit File Advice Centre
P.O. Box 1140
Bradford
BD1 5US