Improve my credit record

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Fuma

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Suppose I have a bad credit record (rating or worthiness?) and I want to improve it. I intend closing my cc, personal loan, car loan, and hopefully pay off my flat in 5 yrs time. Will my record suddenly improve?

How far back do companies look at your record? Months, years?
 
You should actually have a very good credit rating unless you forgot to mention that you defaulted on payments for one for those credit facilities .

If not then maybe you borrowed as much as you can pay back per month calculated according to your income , lenders actually now know this unlike the past.
 
Got some more info on FAQs
Q: I have paid all my arrears account up in full to improve my risk status. Why has my Risk Rating remained unchanged?

A: Once your accounts have been paid up and are up-to-date, it may take a couple of months for the lender(s) to submit new information to Experian. Once Experian has updated or corrected any information related to your credit profile, this update will immediately affect your Credit Risk Rating.
Click to expand...
Link
 
They can only "look back" 24months on ITC and Experian. The credit supplier's own system may keep it longer...

And having NO debt is not a way to improve your credit worthiness...
 
jhart said:
And having NO debt is not a way to improve your credit worthiness...
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That's one farked-up system we have in the planet.
So it means I'll have to wait at least 24 months to get my my house in order. Eish
 
To improve your credit record you should have a few open accounts, and they need to be paid upto date. Preferably no payments missed.
No judgements, defaults, blacklisted nor Fraud listed on your name. You can obtain a free creditreport from Compuscan once a year
 
Fuma said:
Suppose I have a bad credit record (rating or worthiness?) and I want to improve it. I intend closing my cc, personal loan, car loan, and hopefully pay off my flat in 5 yrs time. Will my record suddenly improve?

How far back do companies look at your record? Months, years?
Click to expand...

Paying off debt isn't a way to get a better credit rating.

blaaislaai said:
To improve your credit record you should have a few open accounts, and they need to be paid upto date. Preferably no payments missed.
No judgements, defaults, blacklisted nor Fraud listed on your name. You can obtain a free creditreport from Compuscan once a year
Click to expand...

This is good advice.

You need to have accounts that are up to date to have a good credit rating. Don't miss payments. Most places check that you haven't missed payments over the last 3 months. So if you need to apply for more debt make sure all your accounts have been paid on time for the last 3 months.
 
Fuma said:
That's one farked-up system we have in the planet.
So it means I'll have to wait at least 24 months to get my my house in order. Eish
Click to expand...

No. Just try again in 3-6 months. In that time pay your accounts ON TIME!
 
What i did not know at first was that each time a credit check was done it impacts your rating negatively. I mean really? When buying my first car i had like 6 dealers on the line looking for good deals and they all asked to do checks, which i said fine, go ahead. Got a call later saying my credit rating has just gone down X or whatever and it was only then i heard about this. So from now on when you're on a website or applying for something beware when they want to 'check' it.
 
TheRidDlerX said:
What i did not know at first was that each time a credit check was done it impacts your rating negatively. I mean really? When buying my first car i had like 6 dealers on the line looking for good deals and they all asked to do checks, which i said fine, go ahead. Got a call later saying my credit rating has just gone down X or whatever and it was only then i heard about this. So from now on when you're on a website or applying for something beware when they want to 'check' it.
Click to expand...
I heard that was not true?
 
This is indeed the case, I have never heard anything to the contrary. I get a regular report from Credithealth, and each time they have the little disclaimer stating that it does impact your credit record when they do checks, and you should try and keep it to a minimal.

Don't know why, it just is.
 
Well this is very interesting news. Shows a) my Premier Banker doesnt know whats going on and b) I can stop declining unnessecary credit checks out of worry it will affect my record. Thx!
 
Telkom can dig back as far as they like. I found out in 2010 that someone unknown to me had applied for a Telkom line using my ID number back in 1996 in a house that I had never owned or visited and did a duck leaving a R 16000 odd unpaid phone bill. Telling Telkom that I had never heard of the house and did not live there made no difference. I went along to the Telkom shop and asked them to provide a copy of the signed order. They could not find it, but said it made no difference. They declined to install a new ADSL line until such time the outstanding account was paid.
 
I think the way credit checks affect you rating is based on the the bank/credit providing doing the check, i.e. if they see that a lot of credit checks were done recently, it may mean that you trying to take out the credit from multiple parties and thus may not have the required funds to pay all the debt
 
The best way to improve your credit record, besides the obvious one of not defaulting on debts, is to not change address and/or bank accounts too often. This raises red-flags on credit checks. This is usually why people with no record of defaulting on debts dont get credit.

Most credit checking systems regard a stable address of 5years as starting to be a lower credit risk. Some use 3, but not too many. They will usually not worry about a recent change if you have just bought a property. But if you flipping from one rental to another, then... bad risk.
 
Mmm. Thats kinda disturbing news. My wife and i before we got married used to rent a apartment in a complex for a year, then after if we didnt like it there, or something else kept us from staying there move on to the next. Ive always been spot on paying my rent for 4 years now. Do you update your address with them or do you think they pull it from accounts at various places you have open?
 
One of the things they use is your unused credit, for instance if you get approved for a loan but never actually draw any money from it or you have a R100000 credit card limit but only use R10000 of it .

So they look at what percentage of credit your using of you total possible credit profile.

This seems odd to me as I like to keep my credit card limit small in case it gets stolen.
 
zippy said:
The best way to improve your credit record, besides the obvious one of not defaulting on debts, is to not change address and/or bank accounts too often. This raises red-flags on credit checks. This is usually why people with no record of defaulting on debts dont get credit.

Most credit checking systems regard a stable address of 5years as starting to be a lower credit risk. Some use 3, but not too many. They will usually not worry about a recent change if you have just bought a property. But if you flipping from one rental to another, then... bad risk.
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Eish. I have been a nomad for the past 10 years due to changing jobs. The longest residence has been almost 3 years in one place. I'll be moving around for the next 5 years.

Eish.
 
Beachless said:
One of the things they use is your unused credit, for instance if you get approved for a loan but never actually draw any money from it or you have a R100000 credit card limit but only use R10000 of it .

So they look at what percentage of credit your using of you total possible credit profile.

This seems odd to me as I like to keep my credit card limit small in case it gets stolen.
Click to expand...

How do they gauge your credit worthiness if you don't make use of your credit facility?

No need to worry about if your credit card gets stolen. It's all insured, and if the physical card gets stolen just report it. It's really the most secure way to pay.
 
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