Unfortunately, reviewing and checking our credit scores is often something that we leave on the back burner, and we don’t realise the importance of this small task until it’s too late. Yet, you will need to provide evidence of your credit score throughout life, from major purchases like a house to seemingly insignificant assets like a television.
If you happen to have a poor credit score (typically 720 or below), it can hold you back from buying or doing the things that you want, whether that is a brand-new television or buying the apartment of your dreams. Since when you make these purchases, your credit score will be assessed to determine whether you are a suitable candidate for these investments and if the findings are less than satisfactory, you may find that you’ll be turned away.
Fortunately, all hope is not lost for those with poor credit, as there are many ways to improve your credit score until you are no longer held back by it. So, suppose you’d like to make yourself look more appealing to lenders, increase your chance of being approved for specific credit cards, or achieve rental approval. In that case, we outline several pieces of tips and advice that’ll help you improve your credit score below:
Check Your Score Once A Month
Mistakes can happen across all industries, and the credit industry is no exception. No matter how simple or complex a system is, human error is inevitable regardless of how much training, attention, or punishment is given. Thousands of credit companies have fallen victim to it in the past, and as a result, some UK citizens have received inaccurate credit reports that make them look like risker candidates than they are.
Due to this, it is essential that you check your credit score once a month so that it remains consistent with the amount that you’re spending. Errors and inaccuracies can dramatically affect your credit score, which is why checking your report once a month is crucial so that you can be sure no mistakes have been made and that you don’t suffer repercussions.
Checking your score once a month can also highlight any suspicious activity, so you can identify anything that isn’t quite right and report it to the relevant authority if you suspect fraudulent activity.
Consolidate Any Existing Debt
If it seems that you have credit card bills coming out of your ears, it might be time to consider consolidating all your existing debts. If you have multiple credit cards with varying amounts across each, consolidating your debts on all of them will put you in a more favourable position when enlisting the services of brokers, lenders, or banks.
Fortunately, there are various ways that individuals with poor credit can consolidate their existing debt, depending on how much they owe and the timescale in which they wish to eliminate it. Therefore, before you decide to consolidate your debt, it is essential that you understand all options available to you and which one is best for your circumstances.
An increasingly popular way of consolidating debts is by taking out bad credit payday loans through a broker or bank. These loans enable you to borrow the amount you owe, pay off all your credit cards at once, and leave you with one loan to repay instead of multiple. Doing so allows you to understand your debt better and gives you a timescale of when you’ll be debt-free.
If you’d like to learn more about bad credit payday loans, consider visiting providers’ websites like New Horizons, a broker specialising in poor credit loans. Visit their website to apply for a bad credit loan, get more information about their bad credit payday loans, read client testimonials, and take advantage of their other helpful resources. Contact them today to learn more and see how enlisting their services could help you become debt-free and improve your poor credit score.
Correct Or Dispute Any Errors
Your credit report will show how you’ve used credit in the past decade, which is how your overall score will be calculated. Using credit scoring websites or credit card providers, you can check your credit score for free, and since it is only a soft credit inquiry, it won’t affect your score at all. Once you’ve obtained a copy of your credit report, it is essential that you correct or dispute any errors that you find, no matter how insignificant they might seem.
Even the slightest error can affect your credit score and lead to difficulties further down the line if unidentified, such as being chased by debt collectors, higher interest rates on your mortgage, and being turned away from lenders, brokers, or banks for loans. As you check your report, ensure that no errors are affecting the following information:
- Incorrect personal details, such as your name, address etc.
- Missing accounts.
- Suspicious activity.
- Accounts that are in the wrong name.
- Duplicate accounts.
It would be best if you aimed to check your credit score at least once a month so that you can correct or dispute any errors promptly. If you notice any errors in your report, it is vital that you report them to the relevant authority as soon as possible, as failure to do so can reflect poorly on you. Not to mention, if errors aren’t reported promptly, some credit companies may try to weasel out of their duties, leaving you to fix these issues yourself.
Pay Your Bills On Time
Since your credit score is made up of 35% of your payment history, it is essential that you always aim to pay your bills on time. Taking care of your monthly outgoings is arguably one of the simplest ways to improve your poor credit score on this list; however, if you’re struggling financially, you might be wondering how you could go about doing this.
Fortunately, it is relatively easy to start by automating all your monthly outgoings. Automating your bills boasts many benefits, from knowing how much will come out of your current account on a particular day to removing the temptation to overspend. For the best results possible, schedule your bills to come out on the same day you get paid so that your accounts are out of the way and the rest of your paycheck is yours to spend.
On the other hand, in the unlikely instance that your bill providers do not offer automated payments, it is best if you aim to pay the bill on the day you receive it so that it doesn’t end up getting forgotten amid your other household bills.
Don’t Apply For Any More Credit
Another way to improve your poor credit score is by avoiding applying for any more credit unless it is an emergency. Every time you apply for credit, you will have to go through a hard credit check which will reduce your credit score and the age of your account by a few points each time you have one done. Therefore it is best to avoid applying for any more credit unless it is an emergency so that you don’t suffer any repercussions that may affect your credit score and cause limitations in the future.
