Anybody know their credit score?

[propita]

I've never needed to check what it actually is. I run a couple of mortgages (one a buy-to-let), but apart from that debt, my credit cards are paid off monthly, I only use under a tenth of a high limit, and since I never fall behind on payments, there's nothing really to knock it down, I'm guessing.

Less than 1/10 of a high limit? They didn't like the 4% use on ours--and supposedly our total available revolving credit was $100K! I have no idea how it's that much with only 3 cards and none anywhere near that. And, as I and another posted, they don't care about your paying off every month, just how much you owe compared to available credit. And they may not like your 2 mortgages.

Someone posted a website that gives you a rough--really rough--idea. Mine said "765 to 815." That's pretty rough, I think. (We're at the highest end of that.)

 

[Bears Discover Fire]

Mine's high but I doubt will get much higher because I'm a cash-and-carry sort. I've never been late on rent, I pay my utilities on time, car's paid off and I have one credit card that gets used maybe once a year. Credit agencies like it when you put yourself in debt, but I don't play that game, leaving my credit stagnating in the high 700's.

I haven't tried to buy a house yet or finance a car, but I've qualified for almost every apartment I've ever applied to rent, usually with a bit of a surprised remark from the landlord concerning my highish credit score.

 

[Holdfast]

I've never needed to check what it actually is. I run a couple of mortgages (one a buy-to-let), but apart from that debt, my credit cards are paid off monthly, I only use under a tenth of a high limit, and since I never fall behind on payments, there's nothing really to knock it down, I'm guessing.

Less than 1/10 of a high limit? They didn't like the 4% use on ours--and supposedly our total available revolving credit was $100K! I have no idea how it's that much with only 3 cards and none anywhere near that. And, as I and another posted, they don't care about your paying off every month, just how much you owe compared to available credit. And they may not like your 2 mortgages.

Interesting. You may be right, I guess. Well, whatever the actual score is, I can't say it matters all that much since they OK'ed what I needed and I've never been turned down.

I mean, I can't imagine ever needing more credit than I already have. Since I only use about at most a tenth (usually a fair bit less) of my card's limit per month and it's always paid in full, I clearly don't need a higher credit card limit. And since my mortgages are extremely manageable, and I have about 35% equity on one house and about 65% in the other, I can't see myself ever needing to get a bigger mortgage either (I'd just sell one and use the proceeds to help fund a bigger house if I need one in the future).

 

[RoJoHen]

I've never needed to check what it actually is. I run a couple of mortgages (one a buy-to-let), but apart from that debt, my credit cards are paid off monthly, I only use under a tenth of a high limit, and since I never fall behind on payments, there's nothing really to knock it down, I'm guessing.

Less than 1/10 of a high limit? They didn't like the 4% use on ours--and supposedly our total available revolving credit was $100K! I have no idea how it's that much with only 3 cards and none anywhere near that. And, as I and another posted, they don't care about your paying off every month, just how much you owe compared to available credit. And they may not like your 2 mortgages.

Interesting. You may be right, I guess. Well, whatever the actual score is, I can't say it matters all that much since they OK'ed what I needed and I've never been turned down.

You may not be turned down, but your credit score can definitely have an impact on your interest rate.

 

[Holdfast]

You may not be turned down, but your credit score can definitely have an impact on your interest rate.

Well, sure, but considering I never run an ongoing balance on the card and the mortgages are locked to Bank of England base rates for the lifetime of the mortgage (one is 0.9% above, and the other 1.9% above), even that doesn't seem to be coming through.

This discussion makes me wonder if UK lenders use scores in quite the same way as US ones?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

And, as I and another posted, they don't care about your paying off every month, just how much you owe compared to available credit.

So if all my balances are zero, they should really like that, right?

Right?

 

[thestrangequark]

Mine was neither great nor terrible when I had it checked. I pay my credit cards each month but have some medical debt and a large student loan that bring down the score somewhat.

 

[propita]

And, as I and another posted, they don't care about your paying off every month, just how much you owe compared to available credit.

So if all my balances are zero, they should really like that, right?

Right?

You'd think so, huh? I've no idea. But if that's true, I guess that if you're going for a mortgage, don't use your cards for a while before applying and make sure they're paid off.

Anybody know?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ That's probably right, yeah.

Also if you have a card you don't use, and are thinking of cancelling it, I don't think it will hurt your score - as long as you typically keep your balances at zero. If not, then your utilization ratio (outstanding balances / credit limits) will go up, and they don't like that. (OTOH, with your balances at zero, the ratio will also be zero, so they probably don't care in that case.)

 

[Gil T.Azell]

No

 

[RoJoHen]

When applying for a mortgage, they care less about your credit score (assuming it isn't super low) and care more about your debt-to-income ratio.

If you have a lot of outstanding debt, even if you're making regular payments, it can really hurt you. My credit score is fine, but I have too much student loan debt to qualify for a decent mortgage.

 

[Lindley]

I tried to get my free annual credit report from Experian or TransUnion today. (Already did Equifax in March.) TransUnion simply told me it couldn't do it online today; maybe their server is busted or something. Experian asked me some "identity verification" questions to which I had to answer "None of the above" a lot because they were asking about which bank I hold a credit card with (none), then told me it was unable to verify my identity. I had a similar experience with Equifax a few months back. I'll probably have to request the thing by phone or mail.

*Something* is screwed up in my credit file, but the free report I eventually got from Equifax offered no clues; it corresponds to reality, and shows nothing to be particularly upset about. No credit cards at all since I canceled Capital One about 8 years ago, and only one loan; and everything paid in full.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ How about annualcreditreport.com? Have you tried that?

 

[Mr Awe]

Mine is really high. I pay all of my bills on time, but I have obscenely high student loan debt. (Law school...) The strange thing when I pulled my credit report last time was that the report said my score was lowered because I don't have a car loan. I paid cash for my (old clunker) car. In my book, that's responsible, not cause for lowering a credit score.

I doubt if you score was actually lowered. As in, you bought the car with cash and your score went down. However, when you use different types of credit (credit card, car loan, HELOC, mortgage, etc) responsibly, your score goes up. So, more accurately, your score didn't rise when you bought the car with cash. It probably remained the same.

Mr Awe

 

[TheBrew]

Since I've been rebuilding my credit for the last year, I get monthly statements through BofA. I've been able to get it from 600-650 (I had a debt go into collections because I moved around so much that it slipped my mind. Payed it off in full, though). I should be able to break 700 soon as I am getting close to 7 years after that incident.

 

[Mr Awe]

I've never needed to check what it actually is. I run a couple of mortgages (one a buy-to-let), but apart from that debt, my credit cards are paid off monthly, I only use under a tenth of a high limit, and since I never fall behind on payments, there's nothing really to knock it down, I'm guessing.

Less than 1/10 of a high limit? They didn't like the 4% use on ours--and supposedly our total available revolving credit was $100K! I have no idea how it's that much with only 3 cards and none anywhere near that. And, as I and another posted, they don't care about your paying off every month, just how much you owe compared to available credit. And they may not like your 2 mortgages.

Someone posted a website that gives you a rough--really rough--idea. Mine said "765 to 815." That's pretty rough, I think. (We're at the highest end of that.)

Obviously, I don't know your specifics but here is a possibility. There are several ratios that you can be too high on. So, if you have a 100k total limit and you're using 4%, or $4000. You are definitely fine on that ratio. It may be another ratio that is the problem, like to debt to income. It's possible that the $4k is too much debt given your income.

That's just one possibility. But, no way is the 4% by itself a problem. So, look at one of the other possibilities, such as the one I mentioned.

Mr Awe

 

[Lindley]

^ How about annualcreditreport.com? Have you tried that?

That's what I was trying. It just redirects you to the other firms' websites though.

 

[propita]

I've never needed to check what it actually is. I run a couple of mortgages (one a buy-to-let), but apart from that debt, my credit cards are paid off monthly, I only use under a tenth of a high limit, and since I never fall behind on payments, there's nothing really to knock it down, I'm guessing.

Less than 1/10 of a high limit? They didn't like the 4% use on ours--and supposedly our total available revolving credit was $100K! I have no idea how it's that much with only 3 cards and none anywhere near that. And, as I and another posted, they don't care about your paying off every month, just how much you owe compared to available credit. And they may not like your 2 mortgages.

Someone posted a website that gives you a rough--really rough--idea. Mine said "765 to 815." That's pretty rough, I think. (We're at the highest end of that.)

Obviously, I don't know your specifics but here is a possibility. There are several ratios that you can be too high on. So, if you have a 100k total limit and you're using 4%, or $4000. You are definitely fine on that ratio. It may be another ratio that is the problem, like to debt to income. It's possible that the $4k is too much debt given your income.

That's just one possibility. But, no way is the 4% by itself a problem. So, look at one of the other possibilities, such as the one I mentioned.

Mr Awe

Income is fine--Hubby is a pharmacist, making the debt-to-income ratio < 4%.

But there was an inquiry: an ill-timed application for a gas card. Because we applied online and it didn't take (or so we thought), we figured we'd apply after the re-financing was done. Oops! It took and there was an inquiry on Hubby's credit.

 

[Lindley]

I'm not entirely sure why inquiries would negatively impact your credit rating.

 

[Mr Awe]

Less than 1/10 of a high limit? They didn't like the 4% use on ours--and supposedly our total available revolving credit was $100K! I have no idea how it's that much with only 3 cards and none anywhere near that. And, as I and another posted, they don't care about your paying off every month, just how much you owe compared to available credit. And they may not like your 2 mortgages.

Someone posted a website that gives you a rough--really rough--idea. Mine said "765 to 815." That's pretty rough, I think. (We're at the highest end of that.)

Obviously, I don't know your specifics but here is a possibility. There are several ratios that you can be too high on. So, if you have a 100k total limit and you're using 4%, or $4000. You are definitely fine on that ratio. It may be another ratio that is the problem, like to debt to income. It's possible that the $4k is too much debt given your income.

That's just one possibility. But, no way is the 4% by itself a problem. So, look at one of the other possibilities, such as the one I mentioned.

Mr Awe

Income is fine--Hubby is a pharmacist, making the debt-to-income ratio < 4%.

But there was an inquiry: an ill-timed application for a gas card. Because we applied online and it didn't take (or so we thought), we figured we'd apply after the re-financing was done. Oops! It took and there was an inquiry on Hubby's credit.

I wasn't trying to suggest that his income wasn't good! Maybe student loans are pushing the debt part up? Just an idea. The 4% isn't a problem so there must be something else.

The application could impact the score a bit but it's not related to the ratio thing.

Mr Awe