Quick guide on how to get car finance with bad credit

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Here at Motorfinance4u, we know that getting car finance with a bad credit history can be tricky. That’s why we’ve made it our mission to help you move on from a chequered financial past, and get you approved for car finance. We have a wide network of responsible lenders, with some lenders specialising in offering quick motor finance to people with bad credit history. Whether you have CCJs, Individual Voluntary Arrangements, bankruptcy or missed payments in your name, we make every effort to find the best solution for you.

Not only do we look at every application individually, we also strive to make sure that we do everything we can to help you arrange car finance quickly and successfully.

Tips to help you apply for a car finance with a bad or poor credit score

To help get you behind the wheel and buy a car with a bad credit record, there are a number of different things that you can do to help boost your chances of being approved. Here’s a quick guide to the things that you can do:

• Ensure that you are on the electoral register. You may struggle to get approved if you aren’t registered to vote, because this makes it more difficult for lenders to identify you. You can sign up online at Gov.UK.
• Team up with someone close to you and whom you trust, such as a partner or parent. If their credit history is good, a joint application could strongly improve your chances.
• On the other hand, if your partner or someone you live with has a poor credit history, this could affect your chances of getting car finance. Keep your finances separate from theirs, including utility bills.
• If you split up with a partner, make sure your finances are no longer connected - otherwise their spending and borrowing habits could still affect your approvability. You can get a notice of disassociation from credit reference agencies.
• Check through your current loans or credit cards, and make sure there are no outstanding payments. This may sound obvious, but late or missed payments have a big impact on your credit rating.
• Cancel any unused store or credit cards. Even if you no longer use them, having access to the credit can impact your application.
• Check your credit file with one of the main credit reference agencies – Experian, Equifax, or Callcredit. It’s often free to check it once. Don’t pay too much attention to the “Score” they give you, as loan companies each have their own individual scoring systems. Their score will take in your current and previous credit history, it will also include other factors, such as what you are buying, what you do for a living and your income.
• If you haven’t had a lot of credit before, be sensible with what you are applying for – for example if you are 18/19 years old, you’re highly unlikely to be approved for a £20,000 car loan – and if you are not currently working, similarly, a large loan is unlikely to be feasible, plus lots of credit searches can affect your credit rating.

Our car finance experts are ready to help you get on the road even if you have a bad credit score. There are so many more things you can do to increase your approvability, and our friendly experts are on-hand to discuss your options. So don’t be put off from applying for car finance if your credit history isn’t perfect. As long as you can afford the payments now, we’ll aim to find you the best deals around.