Spin off thread - credit scores

[AsterixTG]

I thought I'd/we'd have had a shit/non-existent credit score having lived away for so long and the missus was new to the country. Everything is paid direct debit, not missed anything, no phone contracts, cars paid in cash etc...

No issues when renting and not long ago we got a new telly, we were going to pay cash but John Lewis had a 0% finance thing going... OK, for a test as much as anything... I was expecting it to be torpedoed but it went through fine.

Did have a mortgage on a UK house a while back, but it was quite a long time ago - maybe that helped.

(Cash=debit card)

 

[bobthebuilder]

In the US it is fairly common to employers to do a credit check when hiring. They can’t see the credit score but they do get a summary of outstanding debt and payment history. The person being hired must give consent, not that they have much choice if they want to be hired.

Do British employers do this?

Yes. For at least 20 years. Depends on the job.

 

[Ecosse]

You'll find a lot of these so called Zero Int deals are complete hogwash.
Make or import summat at X price, figure retail % plus vat, then front load that price say 5-7-10-12% whatever, then divide THAT figure by 36 months or whatever term equal payments of Non Compound but Simple Interest.
Hey presto! Zero %. Bargain eh?
Hold me beer......
No such thing as a totally free lunch.

 

[Londo]

What, you don’t use postal orders?

flash git.

Not for many a year . Do they still do them ?

 

[bobthebuilder]

Not quite.
Go online and check the difference between an Interest Only loan, and a Capital and Interest Loan.
These Interest Only mortgages were the darlings of the insurance companies during the 80's into the 90's.
Over 25 years...you never paid for one brick or tile. Your maturing policy was supposed to...or rather....they failed.
They left millions of people not enough funds in their matured policies to pay for the house at end of term.
There was a mass warning for people to switch to a Cap Int loan...some did..some were trapped and could not given the short term nature of the payments required. In a word? Phucked.
Selling up and bankruptcies were legion...and there are more coming through the pipeline if they remortgaged to get capital...to pay off arrears etc.

Edit.
The Duke explained it rather better.

Nothing wrong with an interest only mortgage as long as you know the risks and potential rewards. I’ve got seven years left on an interest only mortgage which I can’t pay off. Couldn’t GAF; the house has more nearly tripled in value and the profit will pay for a home to retire to. For most of the mortgage period, I’ve never paid a penny towards the mortgage; that’s what tenants are for.

Debt is good.

 

[stacker1]

John Lewis had a 0% finance thing going.

They usually sell the debt to a lending company who have already added the interest to the initial price.

 

[Speedy]

When I left in 2000 I got my resettlement grant, paid off a small amount remaining on a loan and my credit card and got on with life.
A year later, looking for a mortgage found myself listed as having no credit history (many changes of address over the past few years and no debts) and getting a mortgage proved a very long winded process>
I now have an excellent credit rating (20 year old Speedy would have been proud) but it's a fact now that the credit ratings industry is big business and you have to play the game if you need access to financial services these days. Not that I agree with it, but since the credit crunch I can totally understand why banks are a lot more fussy about these things.

 

[TamH70]

My current credit score is 947 out of 999, according to Experian. This is a "Good" rating. Can I get a decent credit card? Can I monkeys.

Biggest stumbling blocks? No credit held, and short-term relationships with broadband providers and twats like them.

 

[Lardbeast]

No credit cards, no debt and I pay cash for what I want. Pretty sure my credit rating stinks.

Doesn't stop the high end property shills trying to sell me buildings in London or apartment blocks in Spain, or Amex and other card vendors trying to sign me up for their soopa-doopa all singing, all dancing platinum diamond encrusted debt traps.

What I want to know is how they got my details and what makes them think I have the kind of money they're bandying about for these things?

 

[Joshua Slocum]

Many mortgages in the 80s and early 90s were interest only and paid off by endowment policies at the end of the term, as @The_Duke set out upthread. Nothing to do with Gordon Brown.

Yes we had one of those with the C and G
We were promised a decent lump sum at the end to pay off our mortgage and leave enough for a nice car
But they sold out to a bank, all of the staff trousered a large wedge and we found ourselves needing to pay lots of money
Luckily I had a policy that matured, so went into the office and asked to pay a big wodge off, I nearly lost my temper, I kept getting all this patter about investing this lump sum, interest rates and returns etc
Until at closing time I very bluntly said, take this cheque, and pay off a lump of my mortgage or you will be late leaving

Bloody glad I did
Workmates kept telling me I should have bought a decent car, which now would be scrap,
4 months later my employer is subject to a fraud investigation
Guess what, reduntant
It made it easier to go self emoyed and not have to worry about the house being repoed
I got sick of the greedy attitude of them
I could now afford a brand new car
But I am keeping my old one, instead I will be spending a vast amount on my classic car, at least I can drive and enjoy that, and earn money with it

 

[Joshua Slocum]

No credit cards, no debt and I pay cash for what I want. Pretty sure my credit rating stinks.

Doesn't stop the high end property shills trying to sell me buildings in London or apartment blocks in Spain, or Amex and other card vendors trying to sign me up for their soopa-doopa all singing, all dancing platinum diamond encrusted debt traps.

What I want to know is how they got my details and what makes them think I have the kind of money they're bandying about for these things?

Maybe some one has cloned your ID
And is now living it up somewhere classy
Like Lagos

 

[buggrit]

I've got 975/999 with Experian. It took a while to get to that. I came back from 16 years in Germany with no credit history and was told by the bank when I tried to get a loan to buy a car that having bad credit history is better than having none!
I have no debt now and the mortgage is paid off, but it's very nice having an excellent credit score.

 

[endure]

Not for many a year . Do they still do them ?

They certainly do. They're quite popular with the relatives of those in prison. It gives them a way to send a bit of cash in.

 

[endure]

You can check your credit score for free with a number of outfits

Check Your Credit Score | It's Free Forever With Experian®
ClearScore | Your credit score & report. For free. Forever., GB
Free Credit Score & Free Credit Reports With Monitoring | Credit Karma UK

 

[AsterixTG]

They usually sell the debt to a lending company who have already added the interest to the initial price.

Was the best price in the country at the time...

 

[stacker1]

Was the best price in the country at the time...

Probably other stores running the same scheme.
It usually says in the small print that you owe the money to a credit firm not the original shop.

 

[Tappet]

My current credit score is 947 out of 999, according to Experian. This is a "Good" rating. Can I get a decent credit card? Can I monkeys.

947? Pikey.

 

[Portree Kid]

My Bold .... I am sure Interest Only Mortgages were introduced during the reign of Gordon Brown as Chancellor of the Exchequer when again house prices ran out of control

Interest only Mortgages with Endowment Policy were getting thrown around like confetti at a wedding in the 80's

 

[wheel]

Interest only Mortgages with Endowment Policy were getting thrown around like confetti at a wedding in the 80's

Yes and just like the confetti lots of people ended up in the gutter.

 

[Border_Reiver]

Interest only Mortgages with Endowment Policy were getting thrown around like confetti at a wedding in the 80's

When I took out the Mortgage for my house in the 60's there were essentially two options ... traditional repayment and an endowment which on maturing paid off the mortgage with the possibility of an additional lump sum . I know for a fact endowments did well during the 60's to 90's because we took many out for ourselves and son and daughter as 21st birthday presents which was then the norm .then The returns we had were impressive . We were indeed fortunate to enjoy the good times before any major financial crash like 2008 although there were some international problems in that period .

I have no debt and no need to borrow ... I can remember a quote from a Geordie Working Men Club entertainer .... " Well the committee members of wives have so much credit they are up to their eyes in debt " . For may people the use of credit is the norm and thus having a good rating is critical