Rebuilding Your Credit

Nobody is entitled to credit, but there is a lot you can do to help improve your chances - but remember there’s no overnight fix. Clearly lenders want to minimise their risk.

If you can see no reason for being repeatedly declined credit then you should request your credit file immediately. You could be a victim of identity theft.

This page summarises common credit problems. Use the menu on the left to navigate through to more detailed information.

Before attempting to rebuild your credit you should be confident of your financial situation. Borrowing further, other than in some cases to consolidate or move credit, when you are in a difficult situation is rarely a good idea. There are Income and Expenditure forms on the site which will help you determine the amount of disposable income to service your debts. We strongly recommend you use these first.

There is a general rule of thumb that says if you are unable to obtain credit, 2 years of ‘good behaviour’ should enable you to get ‘simple’ credit (mobile phones, utilities, satellite TV etc) again. Good behaviour would generally mean maintaining payments on existing credit arrangements and settling defaults and CCJs.

There are 3 steps to getting back on the ladder:

• Repair your Credit File
• Maintain & Reduce existing credit
• Applying for the right types of New Credit

No ‘credit repair’ agencies work miracles – please don’t waste your money on scams like these. Anything they can do you can do yourself very easily. ...