Revitalise your credit rating with these top ten tips

Jeff Meek, Edinburgh managing partner of accountants French Duncan, shares his top tips on maintaining and improving your credit report. 1 GETTING YOUR REPORT Obtaining a copy of your credit report is straightforward and inexpensive. The starting point is to find out what your credit report is saying about you by getting hold of a copy from Callcredit, Equifax or Experian. You simply need to write to any one of these three organisations and for 2 they will send you a copy of the report. It is also possible to access the information online and you can easily sign up to free monthly trials, which allow you access to the same information. Once you have seen your report, you can either cancel your free trial or sign up to a paid monthly service, which enables you to track changes to your credit reference. 2 WHAT TO CHECK When you get your report scrutinise it carefully to make sure that there are no incorrect entries and that your address is recorded correctly. Identity theft is an increasingly common problem so make sure that you have a full understanding of all the credit agreements recorded in your report. If you do spot what you believe to be an error, contact the lender concerned and ask them for further information. 3 KEEP SEARCHES TO A MINIMUM Searches on your credit report can affect your credit score as they are recorded and can count against you in a lender's credit scoring, so avoid applying for any more credit than you need to. Ideally leave at least three months between each application. If you are seeking a mortgage, consider using a broker to approach prospective lenders on your behalf and so avoid multiple footprints on your own file. 4 UPDATE IT If you have moved house recently make sure that you have updated your record on the voters' roll. Consider making any applications for credit before you move as it will take time for your credit report to settle down. 5 CREDIT MEASURES If you have credit cards make sure you arrange to pay the minimum balance by direct debit so you never miss a payment, which will lose you points and can even lead to you being denied a mortgage. Similarly, if you have had any court judgments against you for unpaid debts in the past, see if you can get these dealt with by paying them and applying to the court to remove the court reference. 6 MANAGE YOUR DEBTS Reports now show outstanding balances of credit cards and overdrafts so it is preferable to be seen to owe no more than 30 per cent of the credit card's limit. To achieve this it may be worth balancing cards out to ensure none of them have permanent large balances. 7 KEEP YOUR ACCOUNTS SEPARATE Although being married does not lead to bad credit, joint bank accounts can. If your spouse has a bad credit history then a joint account will mean that you do too. Keep accounts separate so at least one of you can get a mortgage. 8 SEPARATION If you separate, even if you were not married but had joint finances, it may be worth contacting all of the credit agencies to ask for notice of dissociation to prevent your ex-partner's credit problems affecting your credit score. 9 DORMANT ACCOUNTS Close any old unused accounts, such as those opened to take advantage of an interest free scheme for consumer goods but never used again. Look at paying off small loan balances with your savings to reduce the number of loans that you have. 10 IMPROVING YOUR RECORD If you have an unattractive credit scoring consider embarking on a six- to nine-month programme of making every credit card and other loan payment on time. This will go a long way to persuading new prospective lenders that you are a worthwhile customer.