With many borrowers now falling fowl of credit scoring it’s as good a time as any to take simple steps to improve you’re credit score: here’s some tips on how to do it.

Improve payment history – Simple budgeting steps can greatly improve your credit score, make sure you always make your minimum payments by setting up direct debits.

Work to a budget – It can be a lot easier to stay on budget if you work out your fixed monthly bills (mortgage, car insurance, gas etc) and transfer your spending money by standing order to another account. It makes it much simpler to know where you are when you come to the cash machine, just make sure you always leave a little extra in the bill account in case they are higher than expected.

Update your information – Make sure all your important information is up to date, human underwriters still make a lot of decisions so it’s always good to make sure everything ties together such as driving license, bank details and electoral roll etc are at your current address.

Limit credit applications – Every time you apply for credit a search imprint is left on your credit file. If these start appearing in quick succession a lender may think you’re in difficulty so if you’re looking at a new phone and a store card it may be best left till after the mortgage application.

Check your credit report – It’s now possible to check your own credit report so make sure that the information they have is correct, particularly with regards to public record information about CCj’s, Repossessions and bankruptcies and the financial connections section.

If there’s anything on a credit report you dont understand or particularly if you are regularly refused credit for no apparent reason it may be worth speaking to a mortgage broker or advisor to find out more.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 6th, 2009 at 4:35 pm and is filed under Money Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.