Bad credit score - how long will it take to build up and some advice on how please.

[Biosblbay]

Just out of curiosity does anyone know how long it takes to build up your credit score. Mine is so bad, it’s classed as very poor and would love to get it back up to 7/800. I am only in £7900 of debt now, but one card was defaulted back in 2023 due to missing payments on it which I think is my biggest issue and I have also missed payments on some other credit cards in the past. A lot of this was due to being on statutory maternity pay which was a struggle and not being able to keep up with minimum payments when I had priority bills to pay.

Would anyone also know if I would benefit clearing the defaulted debt first which is £2300 or clearing all my other debts like credit cards first? Just want to know how I can build up my credit score as quickly as possible!

Following

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/credit-rating-credit-score/

Pay off the most expensive debt (interest rate) first. Look up snowballing to maximise this.

We follow the Dave Ramsey approach. You only need a credit score if you’re going to get into debt (credit card application, mortgage etc). If you aren’t planning this then don’t worry about it.

@pinkbackground so me and my husband have a property together (deposit was from my inheritance), but due to my bad credit score the mortgage is under his name only. Due to an unexpected pregnancy we now have a second child so we do need to look at moving and I want to go on the mortgage next time so I need to build up my credit score. Does the Dave Ramsey approach apply in this situation? I do need to build my credit score asap! Thank you

Your defaults will show on your file for the next few years irrespective of your actual score. You are unlikely to get a decent mortgage until they no longer show. Whatever you do now make sure you do not default on any more payments.

So, the Ramsey approach says no to all debt apart from a mortgage. It might be worth looking at manual underwriting from a mortgage company to have a human (rather than just a computer programme) looking at your circumstances to see what they can offer. A good broker should be able to advise on this.