Credit Score Mortgage Advice in Nottingham

A credit score is a number that represents a person’s creditworthiness. Your credit score will be used to calculate your affordability for a mortgage, loan, credit card, etc. Your score will be listed on your credit file, so anyone that does a credit search on you will be able to see your score.

Credit score criteria

  • 300-580 – This is a ‘poor‘ credit score. Having a credit score within this range could lower your chances of being accepted by a lender.
  • 580-670 – Having a score like this would slightly increase your chances of being accepted. This is considered to be a ‘fair‘ credit score.
  • 670-740 – If you have a score that’s within this credit score criteria, you have a ‘good‘ credit score. On average, this is the most common credit score range.
  • 740-800 – This credit score is ‘very good‘. If you have a score in the category, your chances of getting accepted will be high.
  • 800+ – This is the ‘best‘ credit score category; having a credit score greater than 800 is ‘excellent‘. Your chances of being accepted by a lender are well above the average.

If your credit score is above 670, a lender will likely see no problem lending to you. On the flip side, if your score is less than 670, you may find it a little harder to get a mortgage and access the competitive deals that high credit scoring applicants are being offered.

If you want to access these types of rates, you may need to start thinking about trying to improve your credit score in Nottingham.

Reasons why your credit score may be lower

As a Mortgage Broker in Nottingham, we come across applicants in all different kinds of credit situations, some more specialist than others. There are lots of different reasons why your credit score may be low, some reasons are more common than you would realise.

We’ve seen a lot of customers suffering from a county court judgement (CCJ), a CCJ can severely impact your credit rating. If you fail to pay back a loan/lent money, you’ll be issued with a CCJ that won’t disappear from your credit file for 6 years or more.

This is why we always recommend that you pay off your debt before applying for credit; your lender will be able to see your ongoing finances and balances left to pay off. If a CCJ pops up during a credit search on your file, you will undoubtedly start getting asked questions.

Little things can cause damage too. For example, if you fail to keep up with your mobile phone contract payments and you end up with frequent bounced direct debits, your score will get harmed. Any sort of missed payments and bounced direct debits will appear badly on your credit file.

Even maximising into your overdraft every month could cause long term damage to your credit, without you even knowing. Your lender needs to know that you can manage your finances and not overspend. A lender will never accept an applicant who never has any money remaining at the end of the month, they need to know you have enough for your monthly payments.

This is just mentioning a few things that could negatively impact your credit rating, there are lots of other reasons why your credit score may be lower; some factors will cause more damage than others too. If you have a bad credit score and need some tips on how to improve it, feel free to get in touch with our team for Specialist Mortgage Advice in Nottingham. Whether you are a first time buyer in Nottingham, Home Mover or Self Employed, we are sure that you’ll benefit from our mortgage services.

Way to improve your credit score | moneymanTV

Improving your credit score in Nottingham

Trying to improve your credit score can be hard, but hopefully, with the help of this handy guide, you can be nudged in the right direction towards improvement. You should know that every lender has different lending criteria, so you’ll never qualify for every mortgage deal, no matter how high your score is.

This means that you may still be able to access some specialist deals, even if you have a low score. Every lender and their criteria are different, so look out for their requirements before submitting your application. If you need help in finding a competitive mortgage product, speak to your Mortgage Broker in Nottingham today and we can recommend the best deal for you based on your personal and financial situation.

Ways to improve your credit score in Nottingham

Keep credit searches to a reasonable amount

Multiple credit searches can have adverse effects on your credit score. Be careful when using price comparison websites that are known to be major culprits of credit searching on individuals. If you are applying for a mortgage soon it may be wise to apply for additional credit afterwards.  Whilst having some credit and paying it back is a good thing for your score in the long run. Lenders prefer to see you leverage your borrowings right before setting up a mortgage application.

Check you are on the Voter’s Roll

Making sure you’re enlisted on the electoral roll really increases your credit score. It indicates stability which lenders like. Ensure your name is spelt correctly and that it’s your current address which is registered online. If you aren’t registered, it’s straightforward and easy enough to do this online.

Know your maximum limit

If you max out your card each month, your score will be reduced. Using a credit card to keep on top of your payments each month is a preferred method. This will be a good indicator to your lender that you are good at managing your money. The main red flag in a lender’s eyes is if you exceed an agreed card limit or overdraft. The reason lenders watch over this is because they want to know you’re able to take your finances responsibly.

Check your address history is keyed correctly

Sometimes it can be perceived on your credit report that you are living in two places at the same time if providers have yet to be told that you have moved houses. It is pivotal that the addresses which you’re updating are spelt correctly; If you have been residing in a flat this can be a bit more complex as the address can be formatted in different ways.

Keep up to date with credit accounts

If you no longer use certain store/credit cards you should get into contact with the providers to close the account for extra security. In the short term, this could be seen as having a brief impact on your score as the lender can’t tell who’s closing the account e.g. you or the provider but this will be for the better and an advantage to you in the long run. This is a good thing to do to reduce your chance of becoming a victim of fraud if you don’t notice you have a lost a card that you may use regularly.

Having family members or ex-partners connected to you financially could mean that they’re affecting your credit score unknowingly. Although you won’t be able to get the financial association removed if the account is still active though. To remove the links between you and another individual you should contact the reference agencies and make a request. The sooner you do this, the more beneficial it will be.

Many consumers feel that credit scoring is an unfair way of applications being assessed though lenders themselves are indifferent to this idea as it makes their overall job easier. It is more cost-effective for them to operate this way and computers give more consistent outcomes. On the other hand, some lenders do still do it the old-fashioned way but still apply the same rules about the number of defaults and CCJ’s they will allow.

When setting up your application, be sure your report is up to date to increase your chances of being accepted the first time. The more in-depth information which your specialist mortgage advisor in Nottingham has at hand, the better.

Date Last Edited: November 21, 2023