Bad Credit History? Apply for Credit Card

Bad Credit Quick links:

Capital One Classic Card - Apply even with poor credit history

Vanquis Abacus Card - Apply even with CCJ's

Not only in UK, but across the globe lots of people at some point in their lives struggle with their bills and can miss payments, whether it be on loans, credit cards, utility bills -you name it! The problem is that when this happens, sometimes through no fault of your own, you end up with a poor credit record. Maybe you even have a County Court Judgement (CCJ) against you. This can often mean that getting credit is difficult, be it a credit card or a loan or even signing up for a mobile phone or book club.
So is there anything you can do? Fortunately yes - and here are the steps to follow:

1. Pay your bills on time

It is often easy to miss payments on loans or cards but if you simply make the monthly minimum payment this will ensure your credit record is without blemish. Whenever you apply for any form of credit this payment history is examined by the finance provider and any missed payments will count against you. Easy? yes but what if you have already missed lots of payments and your credit record is already poor?

2. Assess your situation

If your looking to take out a finance product make sure you can afford the repayments. The reason banks look at your past history is that they do not want to lend money to people who do not pay them back - irregular payments make a bad risk. So why not check your credit record? Banks, like everyone else make mistakes, so its well worth checking your credit record to make sure any information held is accurate. It could be that the bad history is from a spouse or relative who you no longer have a financial connection with or they have simply got their details wrong.

You can get a free30 day trial of the credit expert monitoring service provided by Experian. This lets you access and keeps you updated of all the information on your credit file - the same credit file that lenders and other institutions use to evaluate your credit applications. Its provided in a simple easy to read format and allows you to make sure that decisions are made by correct information about you.

If you don't want to check your credit report online I suggest you contact Equifax or Experian - these are the two main credit scoring bureaux. It costs £2 to get a copy of your record and this will list all the credit information banks use to evaluate credit applications. You should write with your details and a cheque or postal order for £2 to Equifax, Experian or both of the following:

Equifax Credit File Advice Centre PO Box 1140 Bradford BD1 5US Tel: 08705 143700 or Experian Ltd Consumer Help Service PO Box 8000 NOTTINGHAM NG1 5GX Tel: 0870 241 6212 Once you have this information you should know whether you have good or bad credit history. If its good then you should have few problems. If it's really that bad, then read on... Continue to Part II

Link to previous articles: MasterCard v/s or Visa Card Lloyds TSB Platinum Card Cahoot Credit Card Halifax Credit Card Post Office Credit Card Goldfish Credit Card