I'm 28, disabled with crippling MH issues to the point i didn't even finish highschool, have never worked.
Only income is ESA and PIP, and my only living parent is my full time carer, so his only income is carers allowance, plus maybe £2k a year max from my mums pension (he died young).
I'd been debating getting one for a few years, ever since one of my friends mentioned when she was starting UNI she was advised to get one to build a credit rating.
So 3ish years ago, having started getting flyers addressed to me in the post that i'd been "selected" to be offered one, i applied to either 2 or 3 of them online, got rejected. (ignore those flyers, they send them out to everyone, they don't actually check your circumstances beforehand).
Gave up on getting one til my dad birthday was coming up. He used to collect those bloody Meerkat teddies, and if you got a credit card through them you could get one, so since i wanted one ideally anyway, i applied through the compare the market website, specifically in the section for people with poor credit rating.
Being on benefits and not employed wasn't an issue, all they really asked was how much money do i have access to annually.
I was approved for a £500 limit, and the card itself has a shockingly high 34.9% or there abouts APR but i didnt actually intend to use it.
It has been such a lifeline! my statement date is between the 2nd and 4th of each month, anything i put on right after the new statement is issued (quarterly electricity bill im looking at you!) i get almost 2 full months to pay off as it goes on the statement for the month after and doesn't need paying til the 27th-29th. I do try to go some months without putting anything on it at all, and it's usually only bigger things like the electricity bill and the occasional tank of petrol unless we're having a bad month.
My credit score at the time of getting it, was the lower end of "fair", mid 500's or something i think. Up until that point i'd only ever had a mobile contract, which has always been paid direct debit on time.
Last i checked a few weeks ago (did just try to check but browser is reporting an error in the experian site security atm) my credit score was somewhere between 960 and 980, i cant remember exactly, but right at the top end of "excellent".
Maybe i could now switch and get a credit card with a lower APR, i don't know, i've never had to pay interest, but that doesn't mean i might not have to put more on it than i can pay off in future in an emergency. Still, my unemployment will probably be a major red flag and auto no to most lenders, and i don't want to trash the score by them checking it and rejecting applications. Might be safer/easier to just stay with the lender im currently with, or see if they might have a different card to switch to.