You may think that it would take months or years to improve your credit score and for some people that may be true. Especially if youâve made some serious financial mistakes in the past. But there are things you can do that could help improve your credit score in just 30 days.
Here, weâll give you tips that can help you increase your credit score quickly. Theyâre unlikely to take it from poor to excellent overnight, but if you do these things, it will improve it. And a good credit score is always better than a poor one because not all lenders might be like Lending Stream, who might consider you even for bad credit loans.
Tips to Increase Your Credit Score in 30 Days:
Table of Contents
1. Get To Know Your Credit File
To understand whatâs affecting your credit score you need to know whatâs on your credit file. There are three main credit reference agencies in the UK â Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. Any financial products that you have will be reported on at least one of these agencies.
Thatâs why itâs important that you check what all three agencies are reporting about you. If you see any errors, get them amended. It could be that you had an issue, and it was resolved but your credit file wasnât updated to reflect this. Or your name and address could be incorrect. But itâs these small errors that could be keeping your credit score low.
By making sure everything on your credit file is accurate, itâll help your credit score show a true rating.
2. Understand What Impacts Your Credit Score and Avoid It
One of the biggest ways to affect your credit score is with your payment history. If youâre missing repayments on your debts, this will have a big effect on how youâre rated. By missing just one month’s repayment itâll bring your credit score down.
Avoid this from happening by keeping on top of your repayments and setting up a direct debit. Try to arrange for the payment to go out on the day your wages go in. That way youâre more likely to have the money in your bank account to cover them.
If you have a genuine reason for missing a repayment, then contact your lender. Once you explain why your repayment was late you can ask them to remove it from your credit file. They may do it as a gesture of goodwill.
3. Reduce Your Debts
Another key area is how much your debt repayments are. But donât just look at your credit card repayments. Include payments on your car loans, your mortgage, short term and payday loans. If your total repayments are more than a round 30-40% of your income, then that could impact your credit score.
Bringing down your debts as much as you can and keeping them below your credit limit helps. Try to move credit card debt to 0% interest so that you can pay it off quicker. If this isnât an option, take out a loan to pay off your credit cards instead. Using a loan which has less interest and lower repayments will help you keep on top of your repayments. Itâll also help improve your credit score.
4. Keep Your Lines of Credit Going
The longer your credit history the better it is for your credit score. This means that if you have a credit card that youâve paid off, donât close the account. You can spend on it but then pay it off in full each month.
If youâve got more than one card, try to keep one of them with a zero balance. That way you can transfer other credit card balances to it and pay 0% interest. By shifting your debt back and for between cards is a good way of avoiding paying interest. The advantage is that it builds up a long history with your credit card companies. And this is good for your credit score.
5. Consider Using âExperian Boostâ
This is quite a new tool that Experian have added, and itâs free to use. It allows you to add household payments to whatâs being reported on your Experian credit file. It can include things like your utility and phone bills, as well as your streaming services.
These payments would have to be verified through your bank. But if youâre up to date with them, this can quickly give your credit score a boost.
As you can see, there are ways you can improve your credit score in a short space of time. Cutting back on unnecessary spending to reduce your debts will help. Setting financial goals will give you something to aim for when youâre trying to cut back on expenses. But to give your credit score a boost try some of these tips weâve given you here. Theyâll not only help you improve your credit score, but theyâll get you closer to financial stability too.
Disclaimer: We are not providing financial advice, these are just tips for informational purposes. Also, we are not affiliated to any of the external parties linked in this article. They are provided only for reference.