Vanquish your credit rating battle! (Vanquis Credit Card)

Member Name: lilmissmup

Product:	Vanquis Credit Card
Date:	14/06/09 (646 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: You can apply online, account is controlled by phone or post

Disadvantages: High APR so only get this card if you can't get anything else

From the age of 18 I was in debt up up until last year when I cleared it all off and what a feeling that was!

Although I had been in debt I had never missed a payment, always paid on time and therefore have always had a good credit rating and do have access to a fair amount of credit if I still need it, I have one credit card left now which is for emergency's and booking big things like holidays for security.

My boyfriend, well hes a different story! He got into debt at 18 and never paid it back so for years he struggled, he only managed to get a basic bank account with Lloyds as his step mother worked there!

We have been together for six years now and I am the in charge of the bills but as I am now debt free we are looking to buy our first house and you can't get a mortgage without a decent credit rating behind you so it was time to start building his back up.

Vanquis is a credit card specifically designed for people like my boyfriend so we applied online with fingers crossed that as he has been a good boy ever since we met he would be accepted, we got told he would get a letter advising the result but in fact he got a phone call with the decision of yes about five days later and was told he had been given a £250 starting credit limit.

For someone who couldn't even get a bank account to pay his wages in a few years ago this was an improvement at least!

His card arrived a short while later and he started to use it for small things, he has to use it every month in our situation to start showing him as a good payer and we made sure he cleared the balance in full.

After his third statement his limit was increased to £500, according to other Vanquis users they then increase you to £1250 and £2000 as long as you start within limits and make payments on time but depending on how you use it will decide on when they increase you.

This card is definitely only for people who have a bad credit rating though, the APR for my boyfriend is 39.9% so if you can get a main stream card then do so or if you still worried you might have problems with this then don't apply it will cost you loads!

My boyfriend pays his monthly statement over the phone by an automated payment service, he had to speak to an advisor to set this up but he said she was really friendly and he hasn't had any other reason to call them yet.

This is a great card for people in our position, we are looking to buy next year and hopefully Vanquis will help us in our dream to own a home.

Summary: A good way to rebuild your credit rating