www.iva.co.uk

we completed our 6 year IVA early, approximately 2 years ago. The 6 year term is now complete but we still have a poor credit rating. We still have a mortgage a high interest loan and a catalogue bill which is never in any arrears. We do not want to take out a credit card, how can we improve our rating when it can be seen that we are paying on time or before always. We wish to get a lower interest mortgage but looks unlikely at the moment.

A credit card will give lenders an idea of how you handle credit now. I would have a chat with Ryan and / or Shaun. Their details can be found under the "quick links" tab ( top left) and the "The Team" on the drop down menu.

Check if your names come off the inslovency register. My IVA finished after 6yrs and my credit score was pretty low. 3 months later my name was off the register and i had received my completion cert. My credit score flew up then

Hi Julie,

To be honest the actual score isn't too important for us, it's more important that all 3 credit reports (Experian, Equifax and Callcredit/Noddle) are all clear and up to date. As you are over 6 years from the IVA start date I'm sure that we would be able to assist you, if you were to contact us, as fortunately we have been able to do for many others in similar situations.

Regards

You might find this quick video I made about cleaning up your credit record useful:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV4RzUY4BRM

Noddle and Clearscore are also free credit agencies to consider using:

https://www.noddle.co.uk/
https://www.clearscore.com/

I agree with Ryan, the score provided by the credit reference agencies is fairly meaningless to lenders who all have their own unique ways of assessing your credit-worthiness. A Mortgage Adviser with specific experience in this area should be more than happy to have a look at your credit file for you and give you a good indication of whether an application is likely to be accepted. If not then at least they can tell you what you need to do to get to where you want to be. There should be some decent options out there for you by now if it is handled correctly.

Got a question here. Can I take a mortgage with floating rate after I completed my IVA 1 year ago? These mortgage tips https://tranio.com/traniopedia/tips/for ... -pitfalls/ suggest that floating rate is more risky. Is it connected to my profile in any way at all? I'd like to stick to floating rate only if it is safe and really worth doing

Hi JazzyKo. The 'Floating Rates' described are more risky by definition because any change in rates will impact directly on your repayments. Fixed rates offer a far more secure option but the rate you will be offered will generally be higher than the current floating rate. Depending on your situation you may have either option so it's really just a case of weighing up whether you want to 'gamble' on rates staying low. Personally I prefer to know what I will be paying for a certain period, even if it costs me more in the long run.

Hi Jazzy,

It would depend on your personal situation as to what may be best for you and we can't really offer any advice in this regards unless we had gone through a fact-find, etc to truly know your circumstances, future planes, etc. Most Mortgage calculators that are available on-line don't really take into account such things as IVAs when they say who may lend and even go so far as quoting interest rates - they can be very mis-leading unfortunately.

JazzyKo wrote:

Got a question here. Can I take a mortgage with floating rate after I completed my IVA 1 year ago? These mortgage tips https://tranio.com/traniopedia/tips/for ... -pitfalls/ suggest that floating rate is more risky. Is it connected to my profile in any way at all? I'd like to stick to floating rate only if it is safe and really worth doing

I am not sure that UK lenders will offer a floating rate on a domestic mortgage --- the nearest you will get would be their variable rates. If you could I, personally, wouldn't go for it unless I could afford the repayment if it doubled. The interest rate any lender will offer will depend upon the risk they are taking ( higher risk = higher interest). This is calculated using many criteria, includd in which are loan to value ratios (higher deposit = lower risk) as well as your credit profile (dodgy profile = higher risk).

Thank you so much for the advice and comments! now it's a bit easier to work it out

You are welcome JazzyKo, just for clarity I have interpreted floating rates for the purposes of my response as Variable, Bank base rate trackers or LIBOR linked rates ie. those which may fluctuate.