7 best ways to repair your credit score

Familiarising yourself with your credit score is an ideal place to start if you are interested in making financially sound decisions. As a credit-active consumer, it’s important for you to take an active role in keeping track of your status. Doing this can also help you protect yourself from identity fraud. It can also give you negotiating power when applying for further credit. 

What are the best ways to repair your credit score? 

Settle debt 

Always make sure that you pay your debt down instead of simply moving it around. If you do have debt, keep the balances low. 

Pay timeously 

Repayments contribute 35% towards the calculation of scores. If you have any issues with paying, you can always contact your creditors. 

Automate your payments 

Setting up payment reminders can assist. It’s prudent for you to keep up with payment due dates so that they are always made on time and in full. 

Don’t apply for too much credit 

Applying for multiple accounts simultaneously indicates financial distress to credit providers, which translates into being a high risk. 

Monitor credit utilisation 

Always aim to use no more than 30% of what you earn on debt.  

Leave good debt on your report 

If you have debts that you have paid off on time and in full, leave them on your record because this works in your favour. 

Monitor your score often 

Checking your credit score regularly is a good place to start. Once you know that you have a good score you can always find ways to get it to an excellent level.  If it’s poor, then you can implement new behaviours which will result in pushing your score up significantly.