Whether for personal or business reasons there are many people that are needing to improve their credit rating. Whether your score only needs a small boost or a complete overhaul, these tips can help you get your credit score where you want it to be.
Remember that business creditors also report the conduct of your account to the credit reference agencies, so if your agreement says 30 days you may find that anything beyond that is reported as a late payment.
Start by getting a copy of your credit report. There are many agencies where you can get this information. Look out for the “monitoring” products. All you need is your statutory report which costs £2. You can now get the report by post or email. The only way that you can fix any credit report issues is to get the report, and work out each item.
If you are the director of a limited company, or a sole trader you will need a business credit report too. It is vital to understand that if you are trying to raise commercial finance you will still be checked as an individual. Forget trying to hide behind a limited company name.
If you are having difficulty be sure to get in touch with your creditors to determine which bills you can postpone and which you can pay a little at a time. You can save yourself a lot of money if you learn what you need to do to avoid paying interest penalties. As you learn what leeway certain creditors will give you, then you will be able to focus the bills that need taking care of immediately.
Be sure to study your credit report carefully, as it could contain mistakes. Read through every mark against your credit score, and insure each is accurate. In the event that you do discover something suspect, immediately bring it into question with whomever reported it. When you do this, you may be able to have fraudulent or incorrect items removed. That will give you a better credit rating.
Be aware that you have rights when communicating with collection agencies. For example, you will not be imprisoned because of an inability to pay a debt, and a collection agency cannot legally make threats toward you. The more you know about your rights, the more you’ll be able to stand up for yourself.
You should never use more than one third of your credit limit on any card. Keeping your balance in this range also keeps your payments reasonable. Anything over this is not good for your personal financial situation.
You can try to see if you can set up a payment plan for the bills that are already in collections. Not taking the call of a debt collector can exacerbate the problem. Often, collection agencies will actually work with you to come up with a payment plan that is realistic.
If you are behind with your bills try to be more honest you are about your situation. Don’t start applying for loans before you have set up payment plans, you will just be wasting your time and damaging your credit report.
These techniques can help you get back on the road to good credit. If you start today, you will be well on the way to getting your credit back in good shape. It is possible to bet bad credit commercial mortgages, but you need to be ready to answer all the difficult questions!