One Week Left To Improve Your Credit Record

You have until the 10th of October to make possibly the most significant change on your credit record. Read about this and other ways to improve your credit rating.

Once a year, councils update the electoral register. This year, we have until the 10th October to ensure that our details are correct. If we don't, it means we could be left off for another year.

"Who cares?" asks the jaded public. "We don't want to vote!" But being on the electoral roll will improve your chances of getting a decent personal loan or credit card. Some lenders will flatly reject your application if you're not on it and others will deduct points from your score. Registering for the electoral roll could be the most significant thing you do to improve your credit record.

If you're not eligible to vote in UK or EU elections you could add a 'notice of correction' to your report explaining this. You could also add that you have documents proving where you live and how long you've lived there for. This could be council tax or utility company documents, for example. Hopefully, lenders will take this into account.

What you shouldn't do is pay for credit repair agencies to fix your record! If information can be added, removed or changed, the credit agencies will do it for free.

There are other things you can do to improve your chances of getting a loan. The obvious one is: don't miss any payments! For this reason, it's advisable to pay bills by direct debit. It's Foolish to pay this way anyway, because many companies, such as utilities companies, tend offer you more discounts.

You should read up on what else affects your credit rating. Some oft-repeated, but unhelpful, advice is that if your application is turned down you should find out why, but that is easier said than done. Usually lenders who have rejected you will simply say that you didn't fit their criteria. So you have to do your own research. Get a credit report and read about what affects it. Our article on 'How Credit Reports Work' is a good place to start.

Finally, this is what I'd do if I was searching for credit. It's a little subjective, but I'd try to categorise myself as an excellent, good, fair, poor or abysmal credit risk and apply for appropriate products. The reason for this is that many lenders mark you down if you apply for credit several times in a short period, so you want try and aim for a lender that will accept you straight away.

If you think you have an excellent rating, go for the lenders with the lowest interest rates. If you have a good rating, you might want to apply for loans, say, 1-2% off the top rate. You'll also want to avoid any products which are advertised for 'best customers only'. If you have a fair record, you might want to aim at products that are 2-4% off the top rate. Don't forget to take into account the rest of the small print, as it's not only about the interest rate!

If you rate your credit file as poor or abysmal, or perhaps even fair, I'd say don't just apply for the worst loans. Instead, sign up anonymously to our Dealing with Debt discussion board and get some free advice from fellow Fools on your specific circumstances.

> Get a free credit report with CreditExpert.
> Compare personal loans through The Fool.