If you miss a single monthly rent or mortgage payment, the financial damage can last far longer you think.
Even if you make good any shortfall the following month, it can mess up your credit report for years.
This will make it far harder to borrow money in the future, as many high street banks will reject your application for a new current account or credit card outright.
You may know that you are a good credit risk, but unfortunately, they will not take your word for it…
Don’t despair, though, because you can show them you what you’re made of by taking out the icount current account with prepaid Mastercard®!
Benefits gap
People run into financial problems for all sorts of reasons, the latest being the bungled roll-out of the universal credit benefits payment system.
One in three people who have fallen into mortgage or rent arrears over the last year blame gaps in paying universal credit benefits to claimants, research from icount shows.
The rising cost of living is putting pressure on millions more, with one in five admitting to putting their mortgage or rent on a credit card. Men are twice as likely to do this as women.
Others have fallen behind due to unexpected bills, changing jobs or prioritising other forms of debt.
Back in black
Just one missed payment could mess up your credit report, but the icount current account with prepaid Mastercard® could help you clean it up in the fastest possible time.
By taking out the card and making every monthly payment, you can show conventional high street lenders that your problems were a one-off, and you have put them behind you.
It could also help install the discipline you need to responsibly manage a form of credit, without fear of going into the red.
Fighting back
You should still qualify for the icount prepaid Mastercard® even if you have been turned down for current accounts, credit cards and other financial services as well.
That’s because icount gives you instant 100% guaranteed approval on your application, with no waiting needed.
You will not face any credit checks either, because you do not actually run up debt on the card.
Instead, you can only spend money you load onto the card, say, from your salary or benefits payments, or a bank transfer or Post Office top-up.
Once you have topped up your funds, you can use your card in the same way as any other Mastercard®.
CreditBuilder
The icount prepaid Mastercard® also includes a free CreditBuilder option, which rolls up its sleeves and gets to work, with the aim of helping you repair your credit rating.
As long as you make every card payment on time each month, icount will report your success to the credit reference agencies, which could improve your chances of getting credit in future. Just be sure to maintain any other credit payments as well.
Don’t let one bad month wreck your credit record – the faster you start rebuilding, the better!