How to increase your credit score from 570 to 750

In an online chat with Get Ahead readers Harshala Chandorkar, Senior Vice President -- Consumer Relations, Communication & CIC Compliance Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited (CIBIL), answered home loan queries.

swapnil pathak: I have just finished my home loan, for my last emi i faultered by 2 days for which bank charged me a penalty of 225 rs. will this affect my credit rating?

Harshala C: Please check your CIBIL credit report and score. If the bank has reported that there was a delinquency, it will reflect on your credit report.

mayur ekbote: Who is the appellate authority on CIBIL ? Is it RBI, civil courts or other arbitrators?

Harshala C: Reserve Bank of India is the regulator for CIBIL.

NEHA: I have taken home loan of 30 lacs last year & would like to avail additional loan of 25 Lacs on another property however i am eligible for additional 20 Lacs hence please let me know the best options for enhancing loan eligibility?

Harshala C: If you have rented the property, rental income can be shown as additional income. This may enhance you eligilibility for higher loan.

arif khan: can i get a Home Loan , If my Credit score is very low. around 525..???? & which loan can i get???

Harshala C: While each bank will have its own credit scoring cut-off based on the credit sanctioning policies, it has been observed that most banks are lending home loans to consumers with a credit score of 750 and above. You will have to approach the banks and find out.

Navin Shah: One private finance company asking me to pay processing charge for taking home loan. Is that normal?

Harshala C: Yes. Banks do charge processing fees for loans.

Nilesh: how to calculate salaried person eligibility of loan?

Harshala C: Most of the banks have a loan eligibility calculator on their website. They will need details of your Annual Income, Fixed Obligations, Loans taken. You can find out your eligibility from these calculators.

devang desai: Some Banks asking for BMC approved plan of project as well while disbursement of Loan is it compulsory to give.

Harshala C: Each banks has its set of documents that they ask for approving a home loan. Generally the Approved plans of the property are required by the banks.

kamal—kamboj: I am 50 and working in pvt. organization.What is maximum tenure I may get for repayment

Harshala C: For a salaried person, banks will typically give a loan till the age of retirement. If the retirement age is 58 years in your organisation you may get a loan for 8 years.

mazhar shaikh: I have a home loan and want to transfer the loan to other bank but i have a low CIBIL score due to credit card settlement but i have clean home loan record can i transfer the loan to other bank will there be any issue? Thanks in anticipation.

Harshala C: Each bank has its own credit policy. Please access your own CIBIL report and Score. A score of 750 and above is considered a good score by most of the banks.

Alok: Can we register 02 flats under one single name?

Harshala C: Yes. you can register

vijay Sharma: I applied to HDFC for home loan of 6 lacs & paid processing fee with Cheque of Rs5000 . HDFC sanctioned me loan by sending a letter. When I went for disbursement of my cheque. I am told that some document still required from builder. Three months have passed but loan amount still awaited. Why bank charged me proccessing fee?

Harshala C: Apart from processing fees banks also require documents pertaining to the property that is being financed. Once they have all the documents the disbursement is generally done. Processing fees are collected upfront.

shishupaul bamotra: i took 6 lac home loan from UBI bank (in april 2011. i am giving Rs 7000/month installment (will be for 15 years). I want to finish it as early as possible. Please guide me

Harshala C: You can reduce the tenure if you increase your EMI. Alternatively you can make part payments if you have received a lump sum amount - say from a fixed deposit which has matured or bonus, etc.

amit pradhan: i want to pay extra installment monthly to reduce loan period. is it profitabele than lumsome pay?

Harshala C: Your tenure will reduce on both events - if you increase your installment or make lumpsum payments. But it depends on the amount that you wish to pay as lumpsum and the increased EMI.

tarun swain: i want to transfer my home loan account to sbi from hdfc. But I have taken the HDFC ERGO General Insurance from HDFC along with the loan. Is that insurance will be vaild even when i transfer my home loan to sbi.

Harshala C: Please check the terms and conditions of the policy.

Prakash: can i get a Home Loan, my credic core 1200 then…. ?

Harshala C: The CIBIL TransUnion Score is a 3 digit numeric summary of an individual’s credit history. The Score ranges from 300 to 900 points. The closer the individual’s Score is to 900; the more favourably the loan application will be viewed by a Credit Institution.

Jenny Dsouza: How can we check CIBIL credit report?

Harshala C: Visit http://rediff.ly/1gsxk, cibil's website.

sarvjeet sudan: this is also my issue but reply is still awaited

Harshala C: CIBIL’s Dispute Resolution Department will analyse and route the dispute to the lending institutions for confirmation. Please remember that CIBIL can only make changes to your report, once the lending institutions submit the updated/ corrected data.

Rahul Kadam: In CIBIL report lots of false information about inquiry with particular bank for Home Loan and credit card shown how can this be corrected.

Harshala C: Yes, CIBIL can help you through its Dispute Resolution Process. 1. If you find discrepancies then log in to CIBIL’s Dispute Resolution webpage: http://rediff.ly/22npj 2. Provide your name, address, date of birth, report Control Number (CN) and the nature of the dispute.

kamlesh Bhansali Ans: I got very very light printed cibil report from you. After complaint after 20 days I got new copy. Your support info@cibil.com is TOOOO slow. I request you to check your tickting system. OR call you support nos to check reply time

Harshala C: We apologise for the inconvenience caused to you and will certainly look into this matter.

Jude Rebello: I have applied for home loan keeping my wife as a co-applicant. can i include her name as the co-owner in the agreement?

Harshala C: Yes you can include her name as the co-owner in the agreement. Do check your and your wife's CIBIL credit report and score. Banks access the CIBIL report for both the applicant and co-applicant prior to sanctioning the loan.

sudhakar B: Hi,I am 33 years old and my current take home salary is Rs 59000. Monthly TDS is Rs 5000. I have a outstanding personal loan of Rs 169000, for which I am paying Rs 8706 EMI.What will be my home loan eligibility. I am looking for Rs 20 Lakh with 15 years tenure.Thanks

Harshala C: Most of the banks have a loan eligibity calculator. Please do access your CIBIL report and score as well prior to applying for a loan. The CIBIL credit report and score is one of the important factors considered by banks for evaluating the loan application.

sudhakar B: What should be the CIBIL score to get a home loan?

Harshala C: While each bank will have its own credit scoring cut-off based on the credit sanctioning policies, it has been observed that most banks are lending to consumers with a credit score of 750 and above.

Mukesh Sinhal: I have a Credit Card limit of 3,70,000/- will availing home loan of Rs 25lakhs lower my loan sanction by 3,70,000/-

Harshala C: While each bank will have its own credit scoring cut-off based on the credit sanctioning policies, it has been observed that most banks are lending to consumers with a credit score of 750 and above.

Snehal: what is the period considered to calculate CIBIL rating for home loan?

Harshala C: CIBIL Report is a month on month record of an individual’s loan-related EMI (home loans, personal loans, automobile loans and so on), credit card or overdraft payments. Credit history pertaining to all loans and credit cards is considered while arriving at the CIBIL TransUnion Score.

sachin ganguwar: there are lot of issues against cibil non updation i have reminded banks to update the status why is this happens so, why there is no query made to the customer directly when there is an O/s reflectiing in cibil report

Harshala C: Please raise a dispute with CIBIL. We will facilitate with the banks to make updtaions in your records. Please note that CIBIL can only make changes to your report, once the lending institutions submit the updated/ corrected data.

Jagdish Rapata: I have applied for CIBIL CIR by paying online... it is more than 4 days and the CIR is still not emailed to me. After I checked consumer complaint websites I found many people have not received the reports. Your customer care and contact info on website is useless.

Harshala C: I apologize for the inconvenience caused to you. If you are successfully authenticated you would have received an option to download your credit report consisting your credit score and also receive it via e-mail. Please check your spam box as well.

If you have failed the authentication then you have to upload scanned copy of your identity proof and address proof on CIBIL’s website. The report will then get delivered to you via express delivery

Mohit Jaiswal: If I take a Personal loan of Rs 10 lacs, I dont repay it through my salary a/c, I dont tell the Bank that I have taken Rs 10 lac loan, will it reflect in CIBIL that I have taken the loan?

Harshala C: Yes. CIBIL collects credit information pertaining to borrowers from banks and credit institutions. It then collates this information into credit reports and provides them to banks to help them evaluate risk while lending to a consumer. So the CIBIL report will have details of all the loans and credit cards availed by a consumer.

pankaj kumar: I have two EMIs pending for personal loan, would it be considered in calculating Home loan eligibility.

Harshala C: Yes. they will be considered for calculating the loan eligibility. But since you have only 2 EMIs pending the impact will be negligible.

VIJAY NAUTIYAL: On a CIBIL score of 571, can I get personal or home loan???

Harshala C: While each bank will have its own credit scoring cut-off based on the credit sanctioning policies, it has been observed that most banks are lending to consumers with a credit score of 750 and above. You can rebuild your credit history by making timely payments on your loan and credit card accounts. Access your credit report at regular intervals to keep a tab on your credit history and apply for a loan only when your credit report and credit score shows gradual improvement.

sanjay yadav: there is no score on cibil report...

Harshala C: You may not have a CIBIL TransUnion score and have a NA or NH status which implies- a) You do not have a credit history or you do not have enough of a credit history to be scored, i.e. you are new to the credit system b) You do not have any credit activity in the last couple of years c) You have all add-on credit cards and have no credit exposure

Apindersingh: my credit score is only 596 can i get personal loan

Harshala C: While each bank will have its own credit scoring cut-off based on the credit sanctioning policies, it has been observed that most banks are lending to consumers with a credit score of 750 and above.

Haresh: My father is buying a flat in my name and he shall make the payment for me. Can he give a loan to me to buy this flat?

Harshala C: If he has the funds with him he can give you a loan

ketu parikh: Hi, Requested to work out some scheme that we can see our credit score throughout a year with annual fees.

Harshala C: Thank you for a suggestion for the Annual Subscription Scheme

sanjay yadav: hi , my creditscore is NA / NH ....so can i be elligible for loans???

Harshala C: NA or NH status implies- a) You do not have a credit history or you do not have enough of a credit history to be scored, i.e. you are new to the credit system b) You do not have any credit activity in the last couple of years c) You have all add-on credit cards and have no credit exposure. Having said that, It is important to note that these Scores are not viewed negatively by a lender and the lender will have different credit policies for consumer who don't have a score.

Mohit Jaiswal: If I take a Personal loan of Rs 10 lacs, I dont repay it through my salary a/c, I dont tell the Bank that I have taken Rs 10 lac loan, will it reflect in CIBIL that I have taken the loan?

Harshala C: Yes. CIBIL collects credit information pertaining to borrowers from banks and credit institutions. It then collates this information into credit reports and provides them to banks to help them evaluate risk while lending to a consumer. So the CIBIL report will have details of all the loans and credit cards availed by a consumer.

VIJAY NAUTIYAL: ok, thanks Harshala. Now how much of time does it take to raise the CIBIL score from 571 from 750? I understand that we have keep our financials strong, not to apply for any loan/credit cards, have to make all EMIs on time etc..

Harshala C: You can improve you credit history and score by making timely payments on your loan EMIs and credit card dues.

Additionaly, Maintain a healthy mix of credit, apply for new credit in moderation, monitor your co-signed, joint accounts monthly, Monitor the loan accounts for which you have stood as a ‘guarantor’, Review your credit score and history frequently

vivek porwal: Is it advisable to pre close the loan. I had taken loan 3 Years before now i want to close the loan. What's ur say?

Harshala C: Please evaluate if the additional funds that you have will fetch higher rate of interest/earnings than the rate of interest that you are paying for the loan. If not, then pre pay your loan.

Harshala C: Thank you very much for participating in the Rediff chat. Due to paucity of time I was unable to respond to all queries. It is advisable to check your CIBIL Report before applying for a housing loan. Timely payments of loan EMIs is most important for maintaining a good credit history and a healthy credit score!