Does anyone know how long you'd have to have a good credit history, before getting HP again?

[Jenijo]

We've been very much in the black for about 2 weeks short of a year, with two regular salaries going in of a decent amount every month.

We need to make a big purchase and will need to get it on HP, but we haven't had any for years, other than the mortgage. (Before that, we had a very poor credit rating, with CCJ's, summonds etc).

Just wondering, if there is a standard length of time for creditors to work on or is it done on your handling and other commitments?

TIA

I am a volunteer loan officer for a local credit union. Your CCJs and other credit problems will show up for a long time on your credit record. Different finance firms use different credit scoring methods. It is impossible to say how each indvidual firm would look at your credit history - however all finance firms have sharply tightened their credit scoring systems in the last year so getting credit is much harder than it was.

Depending on how much surplus income you have above your normal outgoings and how much you were looking to borrow it might well not be a problem in the organisation I work for though.

Thankyou. Well, I know the CCJ has been lifted, because I have a CreditExpert account and they e-mailed me to tell me. I also know that no-one has done a credit check on me or DH for the last year, so that's a bonus too, I suppose.

I'm so nervous about it! We certainly have enough disposable income to make repayments, because DH's firm will be paying him extra to pay for it. (DH opting out of company car and firm giving him a monthly bonus for doing so.) We have made sure the repayments are significantly lower, than the amount he'll receive.

Is there any possibility that DHs firm will be willing to pay partof his pay directly to the finance company if you are really that nervous? If DH's firm has a good credit position (and better than your credit position) then that would be better for all concerned.

I've just got my credit score on Experian and it's 900. It states it as good, with only 29% of people getting an excellent rating? It also says nothing to suggest we would be declined and we would be classed as a good risk.

Almost home and dry do you think?

DH's firm won't add anything to the pot, other than a monthly bonus for opting out, unfortuantely.

At the end of the day, if we are rejected, it just means DH will have to stick with the company car for a bit longer, so no harm done really. We haven't been credit checked for anything else for over 18 mths, so it won't effect our rating that much, I assume.

Jenijo - that all sounds good and the fact that you ave not been looking for credit for 18 months is very good. That is very important. When people apply to our organisation for loans we put a lot of weight on how often and for how long people have been looking for credit. Someone who is constantly 'shopping' for credit and constantly being turned down is a bad sign.

As I said in my earlier post, with my loan officer hat on, based on what you say we would probably be happy to lend to you and we only charge 12% per annum for unsecured loans which is a heck of a lot less than credit cards and door step lenders and even some car loan companies. We also lend to far worse credits at slightly higher rates than that, although the maximum amount we lend is quite restricted.

I think you should be fine - sounds like a good deal on the car too.