How to manage your credit score
A credit score is very important, and how you manage your credit contributes to this score and can affect a lot in the future. If you want to apply for a mortgage, credit card, loan, or car finance, just to name a few; you will be judged by your credit score.
What if I have a bad credit score?
There are a few things you can do to ensure your credit score improves. Here are 5 tips on how to manage and improve your credit score.
1) Pay off any debts
If you have credit card debts, or loans including student loans; sit down, write out what you owe and put them into a list of lowest to highest amounts. If there is something you can pay off as quickly as possible, prioritise this debt and get it paid off; it’s a quick win. We also have another blog about consolidating your debt here.
2) Only apply for credit once every 3 months
If you’ve been shopping for credit cards, or a mortgage then this actually gets recorded on to your credit history. If you search for credit more than 3 times a month, this may go against you; if you apply for credit more than once every 3 months, this definitely goes against you. The credit company will think you’re desperate for money and they will think you’re a higher risk to lend to. The less you search and apply, the more your credit score will stabilise and the more you’ll get approved.
3) Sort any late payments
If you’ve missed a couple of late payments on a credit card or you have defaults on your accounts, you can get rid of these. You would need to contact a credit score company such as Experian, and they will be able to contact the business you have late payments on and ask they be removed at the company’s discretion. It’s not certain that they will agree, but if they’re old enough and you haven’t had too many, they will most certainly consider it.
4) Stay out of your overdraft
We know that an overdraft is an easy access to extra money, but if you can, stay out of it. At the end of the day, it’s still a loan. Banks and credit lending companies want to see that you’re not already living in debt, so this will help your credit score improve and stay healthy.


