The coronavirus pandemic has affected people’s personal finances in the past year, with unemployment records reaching a high. 

Unfortunately, if people struggle to make payments, this could impact credit scores for as long as six years. This means it may be harder to get accepted for mortgages and credit, including everything from car finance to mobile phones. 

15 Clever Ways to Boost Your Credit Score

However, all is not at a loss. Sarah Neate, Editor in Chief of Ocean Finance, has pulled together her top tips for those wanting to improve their credit score. Read on to discover a range of things you can do to improve your score quickly or for more long-term solutions.

1. Add your name to your household bills. Even if you’re in a house share, you should have your name on some household bills, as this proves to credit reference agencies that you can make payments on time. This also applies to couples – don’t let one person pay for the bills, even if the other person sends over their half of the payment. 
2. Get on the electoral roll. This is one of the easiest ways in which you can boost your credit score. Credit lenders appreciate stability and responsibility so showing that you’re on the electoral roll, is a great way of highlighting this. 
3. Add a landline. Again, this simple tip shows credit lenders that you have stability. 
4. Try to keep a fixed address as credit lenders see as this stability and are more likely to favour future credit requests. 3-5 years is considered a good minimum amount of time. 
5. Check your credit report for mistakes. Mistakes can happen, even on your credit report, so it’s worth setting some time aside to go over your credit report and check that everything is correct. Having the wrong details on your file could potentially harm any credit requests you make in the future, so it’s important to rectify these mistakes as soon as possible. You should look out for the wrong addresses or names, including the middle name, duplicate accounts or accounts that you don’t recognise. In addition, you should look for closed accounts that are still marked as open. Should you spot anything that is incorrect, contact the credit reference agency to rectify this. 
6. Don’t withdraw cash on a credit card. Whilst you may be struggling for cash, you should still try to refrain from withdrawing cash on a credit card, as this comes with steep interest fees.
7. When paying your credit card, pay more than the minimum (if you can). Naturally, the quicker you pay off your balance, the less interest you will end paying in the long run.
8. If you have high-interest debts that you’re struggling to pay off, consider a debt consolation loan. Essentially, this is a loan that pays off your existing debt and could help you reduce your monthly repayment each month. Naturally, this could also leave you with more disposable income for essentials such as bills and food.
9. Use calendar reminders to stay on top of your finances. If you struggle to pay your bills on time, or are generally not very organised, consider placing your money for bills in a separate bank account. You should then set up calendar reminders on your phone, which notify you the working day before a bill is to be taken out, and you can then transfer the money into the account.
10. Alternatively, you could set up Direct Debits to ensure you never miss a bill and your payments are always made on time. This shows lenders that you can reliably and comfortably pay your bills.
11. Before applying for credit, make sure you use a free eligibility checker as this ‘soft search’ tool can uncover how likely you are to be approved, without impacting your credit score.
12. Try to stay below 25% of your credit limit. So, if you had a credit limit of £1,000, by spending less than £250 each month, you’ll stay under 25% of your overall limit, and make it easier to pay off your balance, whilst improving your score.
13. Don’t open a new credit account for six months. This is one of the easiest ways to boost your score, as it requires you doing absolutely nothing.
14. If you’re applying for credit, choose the timing carefully as you may have some credit ready to expire on your report. For example, default accounts stay on your record for six years, so if they are close to expiring, it may be worth waiting until afterwards. Not only will this increase your chances of the credit being approved, but you may get a better interest rate too (depending on the rest of your report).
15. Think twice before agreeing to be financially linked to those with bad credit. It’s also important to reflect on other people’s credit scores, should you consider being linked to them. Before you enter any form of joint finance – whether it’s a bank account or a utility bill – you should have a conversation about their credit score to see where you stand. If they have a bad credit rating, it could potentially impact yours and, therefore, any future credit checks.

However, the most important tip is to give your credit score time. Whilst there are quick wins you can make, these only help you head in the right direction. The only way to maintain a high credit score is through consistently good behaviour.