ARTICLES POSTED IN 'personal finance'

Since March 2015, The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) has been sharing information with the UK’s Credit Reference Agencies. This means missed Child Maintenance payments can be flagged up on a late payer’s Credit Report, potentially harming their Credit Rating and making a successful credit application – whether a mortgage, credit card, or loan to name a few – even more tricky.

For your recent payment history information, your Credit Report has everything you need; that’s why it’s given so much importance by lenders whenever you apply for credit. But if you’re looking for information that’s six years old or more, it’s probably not be the best place to start.

Once Christmas is done and dusted, tree packed away or sent for shredding, and decorations retired for another year, a powerful mindset seems to swiftly grip the UK, leaving everyone convinced that January is the worst time of the year. The Christmas spirit has floated out the window as quickly as it arrived, and we’re left with cold, rainy days and the inevitable mountain of credit card bills.

Before launching yourself into a New Year’s resolution, it’s worth treating the age old tradition like any other product or service – check out reviews from people that have already tried it, see if it’s worth the effort and – crucially – find out whether or not it will actually work.

Christmas is known as the season of giving, but it can be easy to go overboard. There are two very important questions you should ask yourself before launching Christmas presents at everyone: ‘How much is this going to cost?’ and ‘What’s in it for me?’ Let’s find out.

These days whenever you rent a property you may be required to pass checks set by the landlord or letting agent to prove that you will be a good tenant and can reliably make rent payments to the property on time.

It’s no secret that the levels of unpaid debts in the UK have been rising over the last few years, as household incomes stagnate and everything else in this world seemingly becomes more expensive. According to Credit Action, debt per adult is over £31,000 – or around 110% of average earnings. It’s also projected to take a whopping 26 years of consistent, minimum monthly payments to clear an average credit card. Debt may be all around us, but what happens when payments can’t be made when they fall due?

Building creditworthiness takes time and diligence. At the heart of improving your Credit Rating is the simple habit of managing existing credit agreements well, and proving to potential lenders that you are a good credit risk.

Apple’s first foray into consumer credit is finally available - to US iPhone owners at least.

APR stands for Annual Percentage Rate and is a standard measure that allows you to compare the total cost of credit from different lenders.