Having a good credit score can be really important in adult life as they assist you in getting loans. Loans are really important to most big purchases in life – be it a house, a car or a mobile phone, so it’s crucial that you understand your credit rating. But what can you do if your credit rating isn’t as good as it could be?
There can be so many reasons that you have a bad credit score and often they aren’t in your control or your fault necessarily – so don’t kick yourself just yet! If you’re from a low income household, have been left in bad credit, or simply have no credit history, you could be looking for ways to improve your credit rating. If that sounds like you, here are some sure-fire ways that you can improve your credit rating quickly and easily.
Register to vote
Most people don’t know that you can improve your credit score by registering to vote – but it’s true. Lenders really value this information as it helps them verify that you live where you say you do, thereby making you a more reliable and safe candidate for a loan. If you’ve lived at your current address for less than 3 years, it’s important to tell your lender so that they can verify your address easily.
If you want to improve your credit rating, registering to vote is the perfect way to up your chances of being accepted for a loan.
Check your credit file for any errors
It’s common for credit reports to have errors on, and this isn’t ideal when you need to maintain a good credit rating. A quick win when trying to improve your credit rating is checking that the information that the credit report has on you is actually correct.
If you haven’t checked it in a while, or know that your circumstances have changed then it’s crucial that you tell your lender so that they can offer you the best deal based on your circumstances. Getting rid of any errors can be an easy way to improve your credit rating without any stress, hassle or added admin.
Agree a payment arrangement
Making repayments in a way that suits you can be a really easy way to build up a good credit rating, even if you’ve struggled to pay your loan in the past. If you have taken out a loan and have realised that you can’t pay it back in the way you agreed, don’t panic.
The worst thing to do in that situation is ignore your debt, instead, you should look to agree a payment arrangement that you can afford. Ideally, you should only ever take on debt that you can afford to pay, but if your circumstances have changed then this is the only way to move forward and maintain your credit rating. By using a flexible payment option you will be able to budget and will continue to improve your credit rather than making it worse.
It can be really crucial that you improve your credit rating in order to get a loan, so if you’re looking for more tips on how to improve your credit rating browse our site, or watch our video on what to do if your loan was declined to learn more.