Why Is My Credit Score So Low?

tallmantim on 18/02/2019 - 23:32

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone has any insight into how to up ones credit rating?

My score is 721 with one provider - 794 with another.

I have checked the sites and I have zero bad marks against me.

I have a credit card (commbank) that is paid off every month, I had a car loan up to a couple of years ago that I paid out one year early (after making every payment).

I have two investment properties with loans that are paid every month.

Pay all my bills.

Conversely, was talking with a friend - he came out of voluntary bankruptcy 2 years ago and has a credit score over 800.

The only things on the report are for credit cards (that weren't taken up - just queries) and telecoms queries for opening new accounts.

Or is my credit score good?

Or is it all just a black art and you get what you're given?

Financial Credit Report

Comments

  • DingoBilly on 18/02/2019 - 23:37
    +4

    As far as I'm aware - those credit card queries are what kills the score a fair bit.

    I was fairly low for a while after applying for a string of Credit Cards for point harvesting - more along the 500 mark than 700. It does come off with time the fewer enquiries you have, but they do seem to have a pretty large impact as far as I'm aware.

    • madreece on 19/02/2019 - 13:42

      I've applied for seven credit cards in the last two years. Credit score dropped about 60 points at one stage and is now back up to where I started from. I have no idea how it works.

  • TheMindsetTraveller on 19/02/2019 - 00:09
    +2

    Don't worry too much about your score …. a lot of people fall into that 'trap' thinking a low(er) score will affect their chances of gaining credit. Personally, I don't care what my score is ;) If I go to a bank and ask for money, I know I have X amount of savings, Y amount of equity and my income of $Z … is more than enough to service your loan, and also have enough equity and assets to secure the loan for the bank's protection.

    From the sounds of it - even I would lend you money (with your 700ish score - mine's in that range too). You have investments, and from that I will deduce that you have some (decent) equity in them, you have the sufficient income to service your loan after your regular outgoings.

    The credit card enquiries (even if you don't take up the credit offers) will wack off about 25-40 points per enquiry, so I have seen that happen for myself.

    • tomsco on 19/02/2019 - 11:43

      This.

      When a bank contacts a reporting entity, they won't look at the actual score - they will have their own internal score.

      They will query things like credit enquiries, but if you are able to answer that they are not actual credit accounts, and as Drunk said, if you have a good ratio between debt/assets and income/expenses, the banks will be more than happy to lend.

  • Samsungnote10 on 19/02/2019 - 01:20
    +3

    721 aint low!

  • p1 ama on 19/02/2019 - 02:07
    +3

    Conversely, was talking with a friend - he came out of voluntary bankruptcy 2 years ago and has a credit score over 800.

    Trust me, you'll have a much easier time getting a loan.

  • sw0rdy on 19/02/2019 - 08:06
    +2

    Credit enquiries stay on your credit report for 5 years, so there could be some fairly old enquiries still on your report? Once these drop off you'll notice your score increase.

    Which score is the higher/lower? Generally, Equifax score (used by getcreditscore) is the most comprehensive and therefore have more data on you, whereas the others may have less data on you and may show an inflated score.

    • tallmantim on 19/02/2019 - 10:29

      Credit Simple is 721, Credit Savvy is 794.

      • sw0rdy on 19/02/2019 - 12:48

        try GetCreditScore and see how different your score is as it's likely to have a bit more info behind it. Credit simple use Illion data and savvy use Experian.

  • Topdog on 19/02/2019 - 08:50
    +1

    I don't know how it works, but I had over 800, When my bank started reporting on my credit cards on time payments etc. Never missed always pay my statement the day I get it etc, dont wait to the due date. and my score dropped to 670 and has stayed there ever since. I guess when they loaded up that credit card data I had credit which I would be more of a risk to lend to as they can see I have a open credit line. however it has not moved in the months since and enquires have dropped off my report since then as well.

    • Ughhh on 19/02/2019 - 11:39

      Surprisingly, mine went up from mid 700s to low 800s. Same as you, always paid mine on time.

      • Topdog on 19/02/2019 - 11:49

        yeah, I know other people's that went up as well, I am not sure why it went down, I dont really care cause im not looking for credit etc, but there has been no new enquires etc, and enquires have dropped off!

  • kolorijo on 19/02/2019 - 09:42

    814 is my score

    • bohn on 19/02/2019 - 13:31

      I'm 956 - not sure how to break 1000 ;)

  • mreddie on 19/02/2019 - 10:55

    Where is a free place to check your score, without getting bombarded with marketing for 12 months after checking?

  • madreece on 19/02/2019 - 13:37

    https://www.wisrcredit.com.au/ Looks good. Gets both Equifax and Experian scores.

  • HardQuiz on 19/02/2019 - 14:08

    You’re good. These scores are just an indication for the bank to make a decision.

  • mini2 on 19/02/2019 - 14:38

    Much of a muchness really, my score ranges from 750 to over 1k depending on the provider. I wouldn't get so worked up about the score, pay more attention to the number of inquiries instead.

  • MitchyD1989 on 19/02/2019 - 16:24

    Sorry to hijack the thread but has anyone had any luck with [GetCreditScore(https://www.getcreditscore.com.au)]? I've checked my details are correct countless times, but I always get an error about not being able to get my score from Equifax. Their support team claims the issue isn't on their end, but WisrCredit, which also uses Equifax, works fine with the exact same details, so I have no idea what's going on.

    • madreece on 19/02/2019 - 16:37

      Why worry about it then? Just use WisrCredit.

      • MitchyD1989 on 19/02/2019 - 16:58

        Because WisrCredit only shows the score itself; no breakdown of what contributes to that score. That and you can't make an account to save your details there; you have to redo all of your information each time you want to check your score.

        WisrCredit is fine and I do use it, just would prefer to use GetCreditScore if it actually worked for me.

        • madreece on 19/02/2019 - 17:06

          Yeah that makes sense, didn't realise you couldn't make an account. I've only just found the site as I've been using Creditsavvy.

    • Dismissed23 on 21/02/2019 - 14:58

      Oh my gosh MitchyD1989, I had the same problem!! I ended up having to get my report from Equifax to check it all out.

      Turns out I’d stuffed up when entering my licence number. Once I changed everything to match the details on my report I got my score no worries. Maybe you could try getting your report from Equifax to make sure all the details match. It was pretty easy, and you can get it for free from the Equifax Australia website.

  • iand on 21/02/2019 - 20:58

    I know a guy who took out a car loan ( business reasons for loan)and his credit score dropped funny thing is in the 2 months before the score drop he had also inherited over 500k,paid of his mortgage and had $300k in the bank

  • dtwtl92 on 22/02/2019 - 19:52

    I think that 721 is a relatively average score?

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