Can anyone explain credit ratings to me please?

[BBYIgotYourMoney]

So in 2014 I had a CCJ rannup by ex partner in my name, catalogue shopping.
I assume that's gone off my file now as it was 2014.

I've never had credit really. Bad credit from partner when young then avoided it after 2015.

I guess avoiding it is just as bad. I've never had a loan or anything.

My bank is a basic bank account, no over draft

I decided to check my credit file for the first time since 2015.

One says 750ish out of 1000
Other days 250ish out of 1000.

Drastically different?

I see that a communications company are saying I owe them money (even though I left their services and they continued to bill be for the month after and add charges!)
And a few small amounts for mobile companies, I don't even know what these are from. My kids phones maybe.

Total is about £300 which I could clear relatively easily.

Does anyone know why the 2 scores are so different and how I can build my rating going forwards?

My ultimate goal would be to be able to get a car on finance.

Also it's telling me to get a credit card to improve my rating. Should I clear the debts first?

They are pretty low scores . Any derogatory factors banish after 6 years from the default date providing you don’t acknowledge the debt by paying or interacting with the creditor . It does look like you need to run some credit accounts to build up your score . apply through credit karma and you won’t harm your score while they check your eligibility . Also , make sure your details are up to date and you’re on the electoral roll first as that’s a big deal to most credit providers. Capital one and Zable are very easy to get and start with just a £200 limit each. The ideal utilisation is 25% so if you use the cards spend £50 on each per month then pay it off it’ll nudge your score up. Mobile phones are really bad for your score. Also I found that having a second current account with a different bank created a credit record and I literally move all my money there and back each month which looks like I have more income and because it’s in credit is another example of using things responsibly. I had £30k worth of bad debt because I was left up shit creek by HMRC when they screwed up my tax credits and I had to use loans to pay my rent get to work ( London) and feed my child . All those are just all dropping off this year and I have 6 accounts in good standing so will hopefully get my mortgage in 2 years time .

I did the 756 one first and thought that was quite good 😳

I'm going to pay off the debt first then try and get a current bank account and then a credit card.

I tried to get a current bank account a few years ago though and they wouldn't let me have one.
Hence the basic.

Nobody other than you can see the scores. They are arbitrary amounts that credit score companies make up to help you understand the important bit: your credit history.

Lenders only see the history, not the score itself. They rate your credit history against their own internal measuring criteria to determine whether you do or don't qualify for their product (loan, credit card, mortgage etc).

What you need to do is look at the credit reports, not the score. See if there are differences that aren't reported on one of the agencies report, or if there's something showing on one that's incorrect.

You need to work out what the debts are - you should be aware of everything that shows ('maybe the kids phones' just isn't good enough) and if you dispute them get them removed. Managing debt properly is the key to getting a decent credit rating (clue is in the name...) and knowing what debt you have is a pretty basic requirement.

I know what they are. They're debts to mobile companies spanning a few years. What I meant was I don't know which specific phone

You also said you had a communication company continue to bill you even though you'd terminated their services. If this was an error you need to get it removed. If it wasn't then pay it - it'll end up as a CCJ if you ignore.

My contract ended on say 16th July but they continued to bill me from 17thbjuly to 16th Aug

I emailed them and phoned them a million times and said they would give me credit. But I'd left, so what good was credit.

So I ignored them and then seen this on my file.

I'll just pay it because I've already emailed and phoned them half a dozen times and got nowhere