Hi, I'm woodiepicker12! I have a bad credit score, where can I get a loan?

Hello @woodiepicker12 and a warm welcome to our online community. I'm glad you found us.

Before looking at getting a loan, I'd be inclined to contact a debt management organisation too (as @chiarieds recommended). They'll be able to help you manage your existing credit and could work with your creditors to come to an affordable repayment plan. In addition to Step Change, you could try contacting:

If you're struggling with energy bills, then Scope's Disability Energy Support could be another useful port of call. The team are super friendly and can offer free advice in a 45 minute appointment with a specialist advisor. Please visit the website linked for more details.

Lastly, this Money Advice Service article on 'Getting a loan if you're ill or disabled' has robust advice on how to avoid risky loans and expensive credit.

Just to add - I've moved your thread to our Finances and extra costs category and tweaked the title slightly to help others better anticipate what it's about.

Wishing you well and please let us know how you get on

woodiepicker12

Hi both.

Thank you very much for the warm welcomes.

also thank you for the support you’ve offered along with the advice.
I will do some homework and contact step change on Monday.

just a quick question would it be worth ringing my bank and explaining I have become permanently disabled and see if there is anything they can do?

thanks again means a lot

Hi @woodiepicker12

It might be worth contacting your bank to explain your circumstances - that you are disabled and are struggling with repayments - to see if they can provide support. Although it's not something I have particular expertise in, I can see some banks will ask customers to fill in an income and expenditure form and then get back to them with a plan on how to help.

It's great that you're being proactive about this and good luck

@woodbine you say that the credit score doesn't matter but when I apply for credit they tell me my credit score needs to be over 200 to get credit and that the average credit in my area is 450

I also have letters thst state I can either hsve credit becsuse my credit score has gone up or I can't becsuse it's gone down

If they went on my credit file I would never get credit I have 6 County Court judgements frim the 80s on my file

Also becsuse my credit score has gone up three months in a row my credit limit has been raised

Si I dint understand why you say the credit score doesn't matter

Hello @woodbine @lisathomas50

Credit scores are used by creditors to determine how much of a risk it is to lend money to people. Taken from the Citizens Advice webpage about this:

When you apply for credit, you complete an application form which tells the lender lots of things about you. Each fact about you is given points. All the points are added together to give a score. The higher your score, the more credit worthy you are. Creditors set a threshold level for credit scoring. If your score is below the threshold they may decide not to lend to you or to charge you more if they do agree to lend.

Different lenders use different systems for working out your score. They won't tell you what your score is but if you ask them, they must tell you which credit reference agency they used to get the information about you. You can then check whether the information they used is right.

Because creditors have different systems to work out credit scores, even if you’re refused by one creditor, you might not be refused by others.

You may be able to improve your credit score by correcting anything that is wrong on your credit reference file.

It's clearly wise to avoid taking loans where possible though and excellent suggestion about money-saving forums by the way, it's surprising how saving bits here and there can make a difference.

Sandy_123

@woodiepicker12 hi there have you done a check on benefits checker to see if your getting benefits all your entitled to? Might be worth a try

@Cher_Scope it's better to seek other ways to get help financially I was just correcting thst credit scores do affect your credit score and do exist as @woodbine gave incorrect information

@lisathomas50 woodbine did not give incorrect information. The credit scores that the credit reference agencies use are not seen by anyone but you.

Each credit reference agency give you a made up number and they are different for each agency.

When you are told about a “score” it will be an internal score each financial organisation has allocated to you based on information you have provided and information from your credit files.

Btw, CCJs and defaults only stay on your credit file for 6 years, any from the 80s won’t be there anymore.

Cher_Scope said:

Hello @woodbine @lisathomas50

Credit scores are used by creditors to determine how much of a risk it is to lend money to people. Taken from the Citizens Advice webpage about this:
When you apply for credit, you complete an application form which tells the lender lots of things about you. Each fact about you is given points. All the points are added together to give a score. The higher your score, the more credit worthy you are. Creditors set a threshold level for credit scoring. If your score is below the threshold they may decide not to lend to you or to charge you more if they do agree to lend.

Different lenders use different systems for working out your score. They won't tell you what your score is but if you ask them, they must tell you which credit reference agency they used to get the information about you. You can then check whether the information they used is right.

Because creditors have different systems to work out credit scores, even if you’re refused by one creditor, you might not be refused by others.

You may be able to improve your credit score by correcting anything that is wrong on your credit reference file.
It's clearly wise to avoid taking loans where possible though and excellent suggestion about money-saving forums by the way, it's surprising how saving bits here and there can make a difference.

Exactly this! It’s a score the creditor determines, not taken from your credit file. There’s a difference!

@MarkN88 Thanks for that added clarification.

Just a general note - Let's keep this thread productive for the OP and in the friendly spirit underpinning our community

I hope the replies have helped @woodiepicker12

As cher said and as a person who has worked in that type of industry credit scores determibe wether you get credit

Things don't get taken off your credit file unless you have settled it and lenders can see your credit score

They don't use the information from over six years ago but it's still there if you have county court judgements

I have a credit report every month

If you go on your credit report it shows you what lenders can see abd your credit score and recent credit history us what they see

The point was that woodbine said credit scores don't exist when they clearly do

@lisathomas50 Yes credit scores do exist however I think what other members were trying to convey is that they vary between creditors and aren't fixed objective amounts allocated to someone. I think there's a level of misinterpretation here so let's keep it friendly, as previously requested and as per our house rules, and not deviate the thread any further for the OP.

lisathomas50 said:

As cher said and as a person who has worked in that type of industry credit scores determibe wether you get credit

Things don't get taken off your credit file unless you have settled it and lenders can see your credit score

They don't use the information from over six years ago but it's still there if you have county court judgements

I have a credit report every month

That’s incorrect though.

A creditor has their own internal scoring system, this is what they use.

The score on your credit files, which will be different on each one you check, is a marketing tool, meaningless, not seen by creditors and only by you.

It’s the credit history that they see.

CCJs and defaults get removed after 6 years regardless whether it was satisfied or not.

Edit: this link will help you understand the CCJs and defaults bit.

https://debtcamel.co.uk/credit-record-good-news-bad-news/

Edit 2: Cher’s link clearly explains how creditors score you and it’s based not on the score the CRA gives you.

The CAB website actually explains it really well, it outlines that each creditor uses its own scoring system which is backed up by information held by CRAs but not scores the CRAs state you have.

I believe when it comes to financial matters yes the right advice is needed and agree with @woodbine fully.

Very confusing when equifax and such like give different information thats all