No one is perfect. We’ve all made mistakes. Unfortunately, some mistakes can result in low credit scores. The kinds of scores that can linger and make obtaining additional credit a challenge.
If you don’t have good credit, it’s nearly impossible to correct that situation overnight. As credit scores are established over time and establishing a good score takes consistent behaviour and time. Although there are methods to improve a credit score, here are a few tips.
Correct any errors on the credit report.
Contact creditors that are reporting inaccurate late payments or defaults and ask that they rectify the mistakes. Then follow up with a letter making the same request and notify all three credit reporting bureaus of the pending changes. Make sure creditors know the bureaus have been notified. It may motivate them to act quickly.
Refrain from additional borrowing.
Do this by not taking out additional credit when you can’t afford to and avoiding unnecessary costs. Example you don’t need both Netflix and DSTV.
Get rid of negative listings on your credit record.
You could be in arrears or have judgments against you being blacklisted. Get rid of this by paying off current debts, settling accounts in arrears, checking your credit report for accuracy and making sure your record is updated by a credit bureau.
Once you’ve settled an account, credit providers have to report the settlement to credit bureaus within seven days. Credit Bureaus then have another seven days to remove the negative listing.
Pay every bill on time.
Even one late payment can hurt your score. Do everything you can, from this day on, to always pay your bills on time.
And if one month you aren’t able to pay everything on time, be smart about which bills you pay late. Your mortgage lender or credit card provider will definitely report a late payment to the credit bureaus, but utilities and cellphone providers likely will not.
