Your Credit Score Is Dependent On Many Things

When it comes to obtaining finance, you want to have as good a credit score as possible. This is something that an increasing number of people are coming to terms with and this is why so many people are taking positive steps to ensure that they have a credit score that doesn’t limit the things they want to do in life.

This means that it is vital that you know what is important when aiming to build your credit score and Equifax have released some timely reminders for people who want to know how to building a better credit score.

It seems as though a lot of people in the United Kingdom are not sure on how they can develop a credit score and Equifax have uncovered the fact that a third of people in the country don’t realise the impact of not being on the electoral roll when it comes to your credit score. The findings indicate that 33% of all consumers in the United Kingdom think that being on the electoral roll will have no impact on their credit score or that they are unaware of what impact it will have on their credit score.

More than half of the respondents felt that using all of most of the credit that is available to them has no impact on their credit score or they are unaware of what impact it has on them. 22% of respondents actually believe that suffering from a CCJ will have no impact on your credit rating or that they are unaware of the impact it will have on them.

It is clear that a lot of people are unaware of the impact everyday things have on their credit rating or of the negative impact these elements can have. This is why it is important to share information on these topics and to make people aware of how their credit rating can be impacted upon.

Lisa Hardstaff is an Equifax Credit Information Expert and she said; “There are certain elements on a credit file that will always have a positive impact on a credit score, such as being registered on the electoral roll. However, surprisingly, a third of UK consumers believe electoral roll registration either has no impact or they don’t know the impact it has on their score.  Nearly a third of respondents to our survey also didn’t believe that having a record of prompt payments on short-term debt would have a positive impact on their credit score, they thought it would have no impact or a negative impact or simply didn’t know what difference this information would make. And what would seem like obvious factors that could have a negative impact on a credit score, such as using a significant proportion or all of their available credit and even having a CCJ, were also things that at least 1 in 10 consumers thought wouldn’t affect their credit score. “

Lisa continued by saying; “We were quite surprised by these findings, when considering that nearly half of people questioned had applied for credit in the last five years, and over half thought it was important to have a good credit score. Clearly consumers understand that having a good credit score is important but they don’t seem to realise what will contribute to that.”

The information found by Equifax suggests that people aged between 25 and 34 have the smallest amount of knowledge with respect to what impacts on credit scores while people aged 55 or over have the best level of knowledge of what impacts on their credit rating.

If you have a poor credit rating and you are struggling to obtain finance, help is at hand. While you should be looking to improve your credit rating in the long term, there is a lot to be said for taking out a guarantor loan for any short term financial issues you may have. This will help you to get on your feet and a guarantor loan is not based on your credit rating, so a poor credit rating isn’t going to be an issue for you.

Andrew Reilly is a freelance writer with a focus on news stories and consumer interest articles. He has been writing professionally for 9 years but has been writing for as long as he can care to remember. When Andrew isn’t sat behind a laptop or researching a story, he will be found watching a gig or a game of football.