Last Updated on January 1, 2021 by HodgePodgeDays
Being an adult means worrying about all kinds of things you never dreamed you might need to worry about. Bin night, indigestion and the state of your credit score are just part of an endless list of things to fret about. In 2016 a Which? survey of more than a thousand households found that 53% had never checked their credit score or obtained a credit report.
Whether you’re buying a house, getting a loan, applying for a credit card, or buying a mobile phone, your credit score and credit history will be checked by the lender. Your credit score is based on your financial history, particularly around credit and debt management.
If it’s not a good score, then you could be refused credit; however, all is not lost if you are. Once you know your credit score you can take steps to improve it. ClearScore have just launched their new coaching platform. It’s a cutting edge chatbot style programme which coaches people to better manage their finances. Using artificial intelligence and information from your credit report, the tool can help you either ‘build’, ‘shape-up’ or ‘repair’ your finances depending on your status.
I’ve never personally checked my credit score, so I was really curious what it might be. I downloaded the free ClearScore app and signed up with a few details. Within a few seconds I’d discovered my credit score. It was much better than I expected, but there was still room for improvement.
The app includes a coaching section which gives tailored advice on how to improve your credit score. If you need to improve your score, spending an hour going through the coaching section and acting on the advice the chatbot gives you could really pay dividends.
I found the app and the coaching section really easy to use. I liked that the information was presented to me in small text message sized chunks. I often find little bites of information at a time are easier for my brain to digest than pages and pages of text. I had a notepad next to me to jot down some notes and action points, but you can always go back if you need to.
In the coaching section you can find out more about certain aspects of your credit score. It was all easy to understand and there were lots of suggestions on how to improve your score. It won’t necessarily happen overnight, but chipping away at it sooner rather than later is always a good start. You can find more advice from ClearScore on how to improve your credit score here.
I’ve got a few action points to improve on, and now I’ve got the ClearScore app I can keep track of my score and take action if my score dips any further. Hopefully it can only improve from now on.
This is a collaborative post.