SiDHEaD

With regards to credit cards - is it best to have a few, but keep the balance low, or a single card which is 2/3 max'd. Does it make a difference to your credit rating.


Andy

MarkO

The biggest difference comes from whether you pay off what you should, or not.

Your best bet is to get as many cards as possible, and go and fill them all to the max by buying consumer electronics. Then you won't care a jot about your credit rating.

TomM

lol @ MarkO - sounds like what I did when I got my first cards!!

You need to show that you make regualr payments, ie - your a good paying customer. Get a couple and pay them reguarly, when a credit search is done the report shows the credit limit of the car, how much is currently owing and the payment history since obtained, I work in finance and see Experian/Exquifax reports all day long.

But you do need them, if you havnt got any other forms of credit then you will need Credit Cards - sad isnt it!!, you need to have credit in order to get credit!!. Iam talking things over £1k here.

Just dont miss payments or run the card at its limit, niether look good.

SiDHEaD

i've currently got just one which i always pay off about what i put on it per month (which is loads more than the minimum). Its running at 2/3 its limit atm, but i will be buying a Scoob next Sept (), with HP or possibly a loan, so i need to make sure i get my rating as preferable as possible.

MattN

if your bying a car on HP the loan is secured so your credit rating isn't as relevant as if you were getting a personal loan.

SiDHEaD

but being 20 (well 21 by the time i get it) i need all the help i can get !!

thnx for info guys

marty_t3

Matt,

I tried for HP on a car a few years ago when my credit rating wasn't so hot and got knocked back. Was ok when i went for my mortgage and a mobile phone about the same time though. I checked my credit history with Experian and Equifax. Experian shows up bad and Equifax shows up good. I think it depends more on which company is used for the credit check.

TomM

Quote Matt N :

if your bying a car on HP the loan is secured so your credit rating isn't as relevant as if you were getting a personal loan.
----

Sorry but that simply isnt true, I work for a very large car finance house and have done for 3 years, if your applying for HP then your credit rating is VERY important, we lend to the sub prime market and to normal everyday people and we check deep into finacial backgrounds. So if you were to get HP from AN-Other, would they just say, yep - you can afford it, heres 10 grand - of course not, ANYONE who lends money does a search on you - end of.

With the market as it is at the moment anyone can get finance, the APR may well be horrific but lenders are far more relaxed now than a few years ago, companies take more risk with sub prime.

Good luck with the car mate, if you havnt got any adverse history then you should have no bother getting a decent rate, although have you thought about a loan??, that way if you want a new car you can sell yours, with HP you cant do this, the car isnt yours until the debt is settled, I know lots of people in 4 year agreements who want a new car but with doing a contra deal they are stuck with the motor until the end of the policy.