How to Improve Your Credit Rating

As a result of the current economic climate, borrowing money has become extremely difficult, and to improve your chance of being approved for credit and not needing to take out a cash advance, you need to ensure that you maintain a good credit record. Whenever you fill out an application to borrow, or apply for loans online, the lender you are borrowing from will perform a credit check on you to make sure you are an appropriate applicant for finances.

The better your credit score appears to lenders, the more chance you have of being approved, also, the better the score the better the chance of receiving a lower interest rate. If you are worried about your credit rating or you want to improve your credit score, then here are a few tips to consider.

Find out Your Credit Score

When you are trying to improve your credit rating, knowledge is power, and understanding what your credit report means can be half the battle. There are many credit reference agencies such as Experian that will provide you with an up to date credit report for a small fee. It’s important to know the ins and outs of a detailed credit report, as the smallest error can see you rejected.

Be Well Organized

When you apply for credit, lenders automatically check your credit history and they also check the total amount of credit available to you. Your total credit takes into account everything that you have available to you, hence the more credit cards you hold, the more adverse the affect on your credit score, whether you’re actually using the cards or not doesn’t matter. It is believed that having around 3 credit cards is an ideal number.

Pay Your Bills On Time Every Time

When you’re dealing with your finances, you should always ensure that you make any payments that you are required to make on time. An easy way to ensure that you do this is to set up a direct-debit for your payments, doing it this way means that your payments will be made automatically. If you fail to make a payment, or if you make a late payment, this will have a harmful effect on your credit rating.

Be as Honest as Possible

When applying for credit you will have to fill in an application form specific to the lender. When filling in your application form it’s incredibly important that you are always honest. The smallest hole in your application will earn you a rejection, so you should remember to never lie.