my credit score has decreased

[WillowTit]

i dont normally check but this month my stepchange is complete, no more debt
and now my credit score has gone down because i have no credit cards
i mean to me that is ridiculous.
my application to borrow is unlikely to be accepted

i dont want a credit card. i havent used one for years but obviously i was paying off a debt.

how does this even make sense? my credit score should have improved surely?

Mine went down significantly recently when one account I have decided to significantly reduce my credit limit to below my current balance ! I’ve paid every single bill on time and always either in full or way over min payment but they just cut the limit ? Now a sudden score drop so really I don’t understand how it’s all worked out but it seems odd m.

Its odd, once tanked my whole credit score so years later when it improved I kept a CC open. I spend like £10 on it a month if I need milk from the local shop or something, and just pay it off immediately. Pain in the bum but it does the trick.

I thought a credit score measured the ability how how we manage credit. If there’s no cards or loans there isn’t a way to measure this. Mine has gone down because I don’t really use my credit cards, it also went down when I moved house a few years ago. I don’t know how much credit scores do make that much of a difference to financial institutions. Some say they don’t mean anything at all 🤨

Money Saving Expert say they are meaningless as each application is based on a variety of facts and what they require.

I’ve never had a credit card and my score is excellent. It will partly be the sudden change that has caused a drop.
Lenders look at the information behind the score rather than the score itself… have you got any missed payments on file etc. They also look at affordability. The number itself is meaningless.

Mine goes up and down a bit, I put everything on my credit card and pay it off each month, I was also advised to get a mortgage to make my score even better, paid that off ages ago, I'm not getting another. My score is in the excellent range though anyway

The actual score is completely irrelevant. Your recent history is what applications will be based on. I really wouldn't pay attention to the number itself

It's weird, isn't it? My credit score decreased when I paid my mortgage off. The only debt I have now is my car which is a PCP loan. I do also have student loan debt, but that doesn't count as an actual debt seeing as it will get written off. In the meantime it's a graduate tax where the interest on it's own is outstripping the repayments 😂

Credit scores always make me feel as though unless I'm in debt, I can't be trusted with money, despite having a history of paying everything off early or on time. You'd think being good with money is what they like. It's very strange.

It's a meaningless number that serves no purpose except to try and encourage you to pay for a pointless service to watch the number go up and down each month.

You may think you don't want a credit card, but they have loads of advantages that have nothing to do with borrowing money so unless you've thrown away the important life lesson of sticking to a budget while you got out of debt, you should probably look to get a credit builder card as soon as you can (apply and if you're rejected, just apply every 6-12 months until you are accepted).

Then you can just use it for some of your normal expenditure each month (eg petrol or other travel) and pay it off in full every month and this earns you a good credit history should you ever need one. Or being able to spread the cost of larger purchases, earn cashback, cheaper and easier hire cars, purchase protection etc etc.