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Has your credit score dropped over the last few months?

33 replies

Thatbitchcarolebaskin · 22/06/2020 10:03

Hey

Has anyone else had a recent significant drop in their credit score without having much change in their circumstances due to coronavirus?! Mine has dropped 31 points over the last 2 months, taking my score from excellent to good.

The amount I’ve been paying myself via my company has been the same, so my current account has noticed no drop in income. I haven’t used my credit cards in about a year, I’m out of my overdraft after 2 years stuck in it, I recently used my next account and paid it off before interest would accrue and I recently made a chunk of payment off towards my loan. I can’t imagine that sort of activity would warrant such a drop?

Anyone else?

OP posts:
moveandmove · 22/06/2020 10:04

No mine has stayed the same. Have you checked that nobody has applied for something in your name? Have you checked there's nothing on there that shouldn't be?

Orangeblossom78 · 22/06/2020 10:06

No oddly it has risen and getting offered more deals now, that at start of this

Hoppinggreen · 22/06/2020 10:07

Mine has dropped slightly, the only things that have changed are a loan I had ended and I paid off a credit card. I would have thought this would make it go up but it seems I’m wrong

notangelinajolie · 22/06/2020 10:10

No, strangely mine has gone up.

juneisbustingout · 22/06/2020 10:15

Mine has gone up

Jrobhatch29 · 22/06/2020 10:15

No mines gone up and finally out of my overdraft Grin realised how much pointless crap I was buying before popping into shops all the time

RedCatBlueCat · 22/06/2020 10:28

Generally the more access to credit you have, the more your score increases. So, if you no longer have access to, say, £500 of overdraft, that could affect things?
Could you use your credit card once, just to reactivate that account, and then pay in full?

31 point drop is pretty small in the scheme of the 850/1000 credit scores seem to generally be out of.

OnlyFoolsnMothers · 22/06/2020 10:31

Nope- but I have paid off most of my credit card due to covid savings (2 months no nursery, no train fares) and my score hasn’t gone up at all! Swines

notheragain4 · 22/06/2020 10:35

I don't check mine but we got a mortgage offer this month no issues so I assume not!

Judystilldreamsofhorses · 22/06/2020 10:37

Mine also dropped from excellent to good - as far as I could see it was because we switched broadband providers which counted as opening a new credit account.

Waxonwaxoff0 · 22/06/2020 10:37

Bizarrely mine has gone up 50 points.

LaurieFairyCake · 22/06/2020 12:30

Gone down as I've paid off overdraft plus credit card Hmm

WatchingFromTheWings · 22/06/2020 12:34

Mine has gone up. Ive saved a fortune on petrol and not spending on stuff I don't really need. I've paid off 2 credit cards and a couple of online catalogue accounts during the last 13 weeks.

Hoppinggreen · 22/06/2020 12:48

Actually I have paid off 2 credit cards, who responded by upping my limits! Overall score is down though

Thatbitchcarolebaskin · 22/06/2020 17:18

Ok this is interesting then- sounds like there isn’t much rhyme or reason why some have gone down and some up!

I’m hoping it goes back up again soon!

OP posts:
Dadnotamum72 · 22/06/2020 17:30

Think redcatblue cat is right, it's not using your credit card that is the issue.

Can remember when I was younger never being in debt or having cards but having a poor score, the system needs to see you actually in debt but also reliably paying it back.

mintich · 22/06/2020 17:32

Mine went up too....not sure why!

Skyliner001 · 22/06/2020 17:34

No

Devlesko · 22/06/2020 17:34

I haven't a clue what mine was tbh, I think it would be low as only ever had the mortgage on credit.
Mine is probably zero now, I always find it funny how it works.
You can be up to your neck in debt, and because of this have an excellent score.
Pay for everything with cash/upfront and you are low.
I can't see how it would reduce, unless there's an element of risk they are assessing, like redundancy, furlough at only 80%?

GimmeAy · 22/06/2020 17:37

Mine went up - only thing I've done differently in the past few months is not paying off one of my credit cards in full (but paying well over the minimum due) and reducing a Next a/c balance allowance from 3.5k to £500 (never used - but I thought that having access to that much credit might have reduced the amount of credit available to me from other sources).

IwishIhadaMargarita · 22/06/2020 17:42

Mine has increased

GimmeAy · 22/06/2020 18:07

@Devlesko

I've just checked mine and the following are the criteria they mention.

Court data
There are no County Court Judgments (CCJs) or bankruptcies on your Experian Credit Report.

Missed payments
You have no missed payments – well done.

Debt to income ratio
Your debts are a relatively low proportion of your annual income, so you're in good shape. Lenders are likely to be confident in your ability to repay them if they lend to you.

Credit utilisation
You're using quite a low proportion of the credit available to you. This is usually good, as lenders are likely to be reasonably confident you'd be able to pay them back if they lent to you.

Credit applications
Too many credit applications in a short space of time can make it look like you're desperate for cash. You've made none or very few in the past six months, which is likely to be seen as positive.

(Do note using Credit Club is not the same as applying for a product. We use a soft search - even though you will see it on your report, lenders usually don't – and where they do they can't use it - so it doesn't impact your ability to get credit.)

Account stability
How long you've a bank a/c and/or credit history

Employment status
They don't like it if you're unemployed

How to boost your creditworthiness
Well done. You’ve a good Experian Credit Score, meaning you’ll be attractive to most lenders (see how credit scoring works for more). To take those extra steps to get an excellent score, see our 37 Credit Boosting Tips. Here are some top tips to start...
Register to vote. If you're not on the electoral roll, it's unlikely you'll get any credit, so sign up immediately. Don't wait for the annual reminder. See a full explanation, and how to get on the electoral roll.

Be accurate and consistent when entering your income. Lenders may verify this, and if it's wrong, you may be auto-declined.

Beware joint mortgages, loans & bank accounts. If your credit report is linked to someone else, lenders can see their history when you're assessed, so be careful if they've a bad history. Linking isn't about whether you snog or live together, it's simply from joint mortgages, loans, bank accounts and sometimes utility bills (not credit cards, they're second cardholders not joint).

If you've split with someone you were once linked to, see how to delink your finances.

Don't withdraw cash on credit cards. It's expensive & lenders see it as evidence of poor money management. See Is it different for special overseas cards?

Check for address errors. Sounds trivial but isn't. An old, technically active but unused mobile registered to your old address has been known to trigger a mortgage rejection.

Beware payday loans - they kill mortgage applications. Some mortgage underwriters simply won't lend to anyone who's had one. See our free First-Time Buyers' or Remortgage Booklets for more help.

Be consistent. Fraud scoring is credit scoring's secret cousin. If you've a couple of mobiles or job titles, use the same one every time you apply or it can be flagged up as odd. See fraud scoring info.

Get unfair defaults removed. If there's one on your report (e.g. you didn't pay a catalogue loan as it failed to deliver the goods), get it removed or it can be a killer. For how, see Remove unfair defaults help , and even if it's fair, see how to mitigate the damage from defaults.

For more help read our 37 Credit Boosting Tips guide

The above is from Money Saving Expert.
You can also use Experian.

Be consistent about your addresses and when you moved - if you're not sure - check tenancy agreements/mortgage etc.,

Devlesko · 22/06/2020 18:22

That's very interesting thank you.
I've never checked ours but it might not be that bad, except for lack of income atm.
Never missed a mortgage payment, no ccj's, outstanding debt, both in our 50's so good record with banks etc.
I might do it now, just to find out Grin
Obviously, if we were the type for credit cards, I'd be more aware of what we were classed as but it's never been anything to think about in our case.

sanityisamyth · 22/06/2020 18:25

Mine's in the gutter anyway so I can't imagine it's got any worse!

StartingGrid · 22/06/2020 18:45

Mines gone from excellent to poor, but then as I've taken on a 350k mortgage and a 30k loan in the space of two months I'm not surprised, and to be honest not even going to fret!