Does anyone else not care about credit report?

[Treamcea]

Morning everyone,

DH is driving me mad with his obsession over credit scores. We are in our late 40s, And almost mortgage free. If we do move in the future it will be to downsize so no need for another mortgage. We drive secondhand cars that we pay for outright. I have got a credit card but if I use it I always pay the balance in full at the end of the month so I suppose I use it like a debit card really.

I’ve got another empty credit card with a high limit that I want to close down. Dh sats I shouldnt as it will be bad for my credit score! He also said the same when I decided to move my phone to a different network provider.

no I know that if you are a younger person looking for a mortgage or to get credit for a car et lc then your credit score is important. I understand that. But for me I can’t envisage a time when I will ever need to apply for any more credit, so it doesn’t really enter my head whatsoever.

I am certainly not rich or well off or anything like that, I suppose I have just been a bit careful with money and prefer to save up for things rather than use credit. Before anyone gets annoyed by me saying that, I totally appreciate that some people are being forced to rely on credit for the basics and I really feel for them

does anybody else share my husband‘s views and stress over their credit score, or are any of you like me and really don’t give me any thought whatsoever?

I’ve never given it any thought. Don’t let him tell you what you can and can’t do though.

Well it does have an impact on lots of things so its worth keeping an eye in. Closing off a credit card is OK but will drop a couple of points off. Having at least one card, a phone account and something else is a good idea. As is being registered to vote.

You say you wouldn't do credit, but why shut down your options? Sometimes there is a money off incentive to take credit on, which you can then pay off immediately, but you still need to pass a credit check.

I wouldn't be obsessed though.

I never think about. It's a weird thing to obsess about, particularly in your circumstances.

The points the credit report companies assign to you are largely meaningless. You can use them as a very loose guideline but lenders do not care about them, they use their own criteria for assessing if you are an attractive borrower for them. It's bad enough that your DH is being obsessive and controlling. That his behaviour is based on ignorance makes it even worse.

I know of somebody recently widowed who is mortgage free and didn't have a credit card in her own name who is now having to build her credit score in her seventies so it's worth keeping an eye on.

It's almost more important for women than for men. A lot of men tend to have important bills or credit accounts in their own names and women don't. Then if anything happens to him and she needs liquid cash - for example, to pay for a funeral before any pension or insurance pays out - she has no credit history worth a damn, and in some cases especially where caring responsibilities are involved, no current or full time employment either.

If you're both jointly named on the mortgage and your current rate is low, I'd suggest not rushing to pay that off. An active mortgage on your credit report is one of the marks of stability and good creditworthiness, so it would be good evidence for your credit history to keep it on there. We paid ours off just as the deal ended and the rate was about to jump up, thank goodness, but it's dropped a few points off the score now.

What for though. Why does she need a credit score?

Because she isn't wealthy and doesn't have access to large amounts of cash. She only has a bank card. The credit card she was using was on her late husband's account. Being able to buy things using credit can be helpful. HTH.

And of course buying goods and services with a credit card gets you extra protection.

A lot of people don't realise that when two people have cards for the same credit card account, it isn't in joint names like a bank account. It will be in one person's name only.

I don't think about it, have never thought about it.

I no longer have a mortgage. I do have three credit cards, though only really use one, have a mobile phone contract etc etc. Why would I care about a credit score?

I wouldn’t let it stop me changing providers of anything, but I am a bit reluctant to close cards. But that’s less credit score related and more if the worst happens and we both lost our jobs I like that we have a lot of credit available that would mean we wouldn’t need to starve while looking for a new job.

And actually it protected me from ID fraud as when my ID was stolen and they tried to open a new card in my name, the bank my dormant credit card was with emailed me to say they’d declined as I used the wrong address — which I then flagged I hadn’t made an application and then I spotted 10 other fraudulent credit applications!

But no, I’m mindful of my credit score but not ruled by it!

I wouldn’t say I was obsessed and I do think your OH sounds a bit over the top over it. But I do think it’s important. I’m encouraging my daughter to get hers and see what she can do to improve it as she’s 20 and may need credit before long.

That said, I’ve just taken a small finance agreement out and it was hassle free because I have a good credit score.

Never given it a moments thought, in fact while I am writing this I am spending more time thinking about credit score than I ever have in real life.

There was absolutely no need to use the passive agressive ‘HTH’ in your post. A pp asked a very relevant question

I have friends currently divorcing, three in total. Each through careers and choices made and also stuff that just happened are all very much at different levels of comfort money wise. One has just had her car fail, she needed to borrow money and buy another as needs it for work. She could at least borrow from a reputable bank. Everything is currently in a state of flux due to the divorce. One could have probably just bought a brand new car without a second thought and the other would have possibly had enough in savings to buy a runabout.

Life chucks curveballs, two years ago none of them were divorcing.

Because if it plummets; you won’t get another phone contract? And your credit cards could be closed. You likely wouldn’t get more.

You use credit quite a bit, so you should look after your credit score.

Although really it’s looking after your credit report; because the score is a random assessment by whatever company you pay for one, and bares no resemblance to what actual companies use to score you.

I'm not bothered. Unless I win the lottery I'll never be a homeowner, I have a housing association property so I can live here forever so I'll never need to rent privately. I don't ever buy things on credit either. I do have a credit card but I rarely use it.

It's good to have a second credit card in case the first card is declined for some reason. This has happened to me more than once when a text code the bank was supposed to send never came through.

Some cards get better rates than others when used abroad. Others may give you cash back or Avios points, etc.

Checking one's credit report every few months is a good idea. Fraudsters have been known to take out CCs and loans in other people's names. Some betrayed wives only find out that their husband's did this when creditors' letters start to arrive.

I'm with you OP. I have never used credit cards except for the odd holiday and purchase for protection but instantly repay them as hate being in debt. I am lucky enough to have saved 5k which would cover a funeral/ boiler breakdown. Plus my credit card of up to 5k.
I always save for things before buying them unless an emergency which has happened once (boiler).

If you buy anything costing >£100 use your credit card, even if you're only paying a deposit which is less than that. It gets you extra protection in the event something goes wrong. The credit card company will step in to get your money back. You can pay it off straightaway. If you use a contractor you can pay by card, use your credit card for the same reason.

A good credit report is important if you:

• are applying for a mortgage
• want to rent a flat
• want to apply for credit (credit card, loan)
• want a mobile phone contract
• want a job that requires high security clearance (the employer might want to check there is no history of bankruptcy)

For the above the companies will do a search of your credit report.

It is also helpful to keep an eye on it to make sure you are not a victim of ID fraud and no one is using your name and details to apply for credit...

So I would not be obsessive about it, but for many people it is a good idea to keep an eye on it.

I know mine

It's data on you, so interesting to know

If it suddenly changed I might check there wasn't some dodgy loan in my name (not mine) out there or something.

Good credit scores do make an amazing difference to what kind of loan/mortgage interest rate you can get. Unless I was doing that, I wouldn’t be at all interested

I keep an eye on mine and get a monthly update through the bank.

I just briefly check the email though, I don't obsess over it anymore than that, though I've also never had anything that needs checking either.

Can you back that up? A mortgage deal recently approved was based on their credit score as well as their salary. They were given a higher multiple based on that score. So I’m interested to understand how they have no value.