That's great Scotland1, however that score is just something Experian make up to sell their fifteen quid a month product. Equifax and Call Credit do the same.

It's a good product if you wish to constantly monitor what is on your credit record. As for an indication to a lender giving you credit, it isn't that great.

Sure, if you have a score of 500 or 600 then, there's work to be done. In the 900's it definitely says something is getting better.

961 is excellent and so is getting so much marked as settled.

There's plenty of folk with 999 Excellent being rejected for credit day in, day out. Credit Reference Agencies can list what is on your record, but that can't say what Credit Card Company, Loan Company or Mortgage Company want in a customer.

Each company has a list of criteria they require.

In basic terms, it is common sense.

Go on to a company who will do an application on-line. Put in Mickey Mouse's details. See what questions they ask.

They ask each question for a reason. Not just for fun. Personal details. Employment. Income and Expenditure.

Ask yourself - if you were lending, what would you require? You'll probably come up with similar ideas.

Michael Mouse. EH11 1AA. 17/4/1937. That's the start. That tells you who he is, what age is he and how the Agency can figure out which M Mouse he is.

What does he do? How much does he earn? How much does he spend?

What would you want Michael Mouse's details to be like in order to for you to lend to him?

Would you take a score from a company that doesn't know your business? Or would you work out your own decision from a combination of their data and what you want?

And then you decide to lend to him.

Of course, you might change your mind tomorrow, next month, next year. One day you will be harsh, the next you will be quite generous.

You may not wish to lend to anyone with a TD on their record. Maybe you'll change your mind and make it a TD within a recent period of time.

Maybe it's Christmas, you know all your staff are on holiday and you don't want too many applications to process.

It's brilliant things are looking better. Just don't get too obsessed by that number from the CRA's.

Welcome to the trust deed forum Scotland1. I'm glad that you have found the forum to be useful over the years and that you've now chosen to contribute to it yourself.

I think Bert Rudge's answer to your post is superb. If we had a "post of the month" award it would be in prime place for the November award already.

People commonly assume that a credit rating is how lenders decide whether to lend or not. Perhaps this isn't surprising, after all the credit reference agencies have a vested interest in creating that perception.

The reality is that it's just one part of a much wider range of criteria used by a lender to make a commercial lending decision. So can a really bad credit rating stop you from getting credit? Yes. Will a really good credit rating ensure that you can get credit? No.

The difficulty is that every company has their own acceptance criteria which will vary from their competitors, and their own criteria will change from time to time. One might not take account of a completed trust deed at all, another might make a completed trust deed appearing on a credit file an absolute barrier to any lending whatsoever.

Having said all of this, the fact that your credit rating is strong and improving, and the fact that you are actively taking steps to improve it further, will go a long way to helping you to re-establish access to mainstream credit facilities now and in the future.

Thanks a lot for the replies! Very intereting 🙂