Can I speak to an actual person about improving my credit?

[kindereggs]

I am looking to improve my credit score, bad few years of MH and family issues has also affected my management of finances and I have ended up with some missed DDs , planned overdraft being cancelled, a defaulted phone contract (long story but no fault of my own and I didn't actually know about it for a very long time) and a default on a v small loan due to completely forgetting about its existence (I know).

I'm now in a much better place, in FT permanent employment and would like to be able to get a mortgage sometime in the next couple of years with my DP but worried it's just not feasible with my credit history.

Is there somebody I can speak to who can advise the best course of action to get myself back on track? I just don't get on with tips on clear score and the like and would really love to be able to speak to someone who can run me through the options and advise me on what the best course of action would be as well as maybe help me work out how quickly I could potentially reach my goal.

Money advice service?
Citizens advice?
Money saving expert?

Hey,

Step change maybe a good place to start 🙂

www.stepchange.org/how-we-help/debt-advice.aspx

Xx

Moneysavingexpert forums. You’ll get tons of great advice there.

Have you paid off all your debt now?

Would a Money Coach help?

You seem to be focusing on credit score but that is affected more generally to do with how you handle finances. So I would focus on the general and a consequence of that is the credit score will improve over time.
A credit score is not a big factor in a mortgage application. Affordability is more important and lenders have their own scoring criteria so sites like ClearScore are useless (they are just marketing sites really).

You could try contacting Catherine Morgan and having a some coaching sessions with her or another money coach.
themoneypanel.co.uk/

Your credit score is one company’s assessment of how you manage your financial affairs and in reality means very little. Banks will use one of the larger providers to check how you manage your other accounts and then apply their own internal scoring. Best way of managing your money is to set up a spreadsheet listing all of your income and outgoings - see moneysavingexpert.co.uk and use the statement of affairs for starters. Join their free credit club which will regularly update your score with equivalent so you can see the information held by them. Make sure all bills are paid on time and don’t go into your overdraft. If you have any debts then make arrangements to get them paid and stick to the plans. Try to save every month and live within your budget. That way the banks will be able to see that you can actually manager your money. And don’t pay any fees to be taught good money management - you can easily learn by following a few basic rules.

Equifax not equivalent!

How long ago were your defaults on the loan and the phone contract and the overdraft?

Have you paid off your debts now and are you paying all your bills on time?

Banks will forgive you if they see that your circumstances have changed, you have a regular and bigger income and that everything now gets paid on time/you aren't using an overdraft.

Defaults were all within the last 3-4 years. All have been paid apart from the phone contract I had no idea about which I am aiming to pay within the next month or two.

Bills get paid on time and always have.
I have applied for a vanquis cc and got 500, will use it for one out of 4 food shops which is about 80-100 a month and religiously make sure I pay it off in full every month.

So the next thing is have you got money for a deposit?

If you are paying your bills, paid off your loans, not in overdraft and not in lots of credit card debt bank will be happy. However to get a mortgage you are going to need to save like crazy for a deposit.

Not sure about that @AnnaMagnani the broker told DP it's better off if we try to get a mortgage without me on it - I can barely get one of those special vanquis cards for people with bad credit.

I just don't have much credit history at the moment and the history I do have isn't great. I have never been in huge amounts of debt (£400 at its peak) but its probably just the fact I couldn't manage what I had.
Building / maintaining good credit never really something I've been taught about which is a bit embarrassing to admit.

We have a deposit ready. A very significant one actually.

Is the deposit from you or DP? If it's all DP I can see broker would think you are dragging him down and he looks better without you.

If some of it is you, then maybe give it time - each month that passes your defaults are further in the past.