What can I do to improve score other than wait?

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@SouthJamaica wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

While you do watch and wait, here are three things that you can indeed do:

Calculate your exact AAoA right now and identify when it will cross over into a new integer value. 

Caculate your age of oldest account and identify when it will cross over into a new integer value.

Identify when each of your current inquiries will cross over into post 366 days.

This gives you something to do now and then gives you concrete points in time to watch for.  Any of those events might be associated with a score boost.

Those are just mind games I do them all the time but they don't affect my scores

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Well, figuring out when your AAoA will next become an integer (for example) is a mental exercise.  And it is certain that the mere act of figuring that out will not in itself cause your score to change.  So you are 100% right there.

But AAoA is a scoring factor, and at some point it will cause your score to change.  Furthermore, when your AAoA does cause your score to change, it will certainly be at an integer breakpoint.  AAoA doesn't cause a change at EVERY integer (especially once your integer values get higher) but at low integers (0, 1, 2, 3) it's quite possible that you could see a change at every integer.

Same thing for your inquiries.  You won't see an improvement for every inquiry that crosses Day 366, but if you have say 7-8 inquiries you might see a change for every two.

Anyway, caclulating your AAoA was just something that you could do if (as you said) you were feeling frustrated by having to do absolutely nothing.  It's something simple you can do while you wait.  Sounds like you have already done those three things, so if you have done them once then they don't have to be done again while you are waiting.  The AAoA (for example) will just steadily go up.  Since you know them, they'll give you an idea of when significant changes might happen.

And of course you know that the biggest dates to wait n is the dates your negatives will fall off.

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CreditGuy, it's not like I don't have things to do. I was looking for things to do that would increase my credit scores. But as I suspected, it's only not doing that will enhance my scores. I have to keep my itchy fingers off the "buttons"

What I need to do now is nothing

No fun at all

[Anonymous]

Yup, the "itchy fingers" is definitely your besetting woe (as you have described yourself to me more than once -- no criticism from me I assure you, buddy!).

Thom Thumb has in the last month posted some non-FICO reasons for restraining one's desire to add small CL tradelines and store cards (or worse, small CL store cards).  The insurance industry looks at our credit reports, and they have a different set of scoring criteria than does FICO.  One thing they look at is the presence of store cards, and if you have them how many.  Every store card lowers your insurance score.  Separately, they look at your average credit limit (not total but average).  The lower your average is, the more your insurance score is lowered.  If I remember right from the reason codes TT posted, you need a pretty high average not to take a hit, maybe 11k or so. 

The lower your insurance score is, the greater the possibility of them charging you a higher premium.  It's only one factor of course.  I am sure one's driving record and age and such matter more.

But anyway, you seem to have been always on the lookout for reasons to control your trigger finger.  Don't know whether this would help.  Just passing it along.  TT knows a lot more about it than I do.

[JagerBombs89]

Have you tried stealing someone else's identity?  I hear this will give you a different credit score overnight.

[Thomas_Thumb]

Ok - so I visited with my insurance agent today. Previously I had mentioned that State Farm used CBIS in their calculation of premiums - and I asked him to look at my home owners and umbrella liability premiums based on my SSN.

I go in there and guess what - he had done nothing. All he said was CBIS was only looked at for new policies and that SF always used the SSN of the older spouse - really did not matter if you were listed 1st or 2nd on the policy. He went on to say he really did not know anything about CBIS and he never saw scores, only premiums. He went on to say that credit scores really had no impact based on his review of policies - not sure how he could conclude that if he never saw scores.

I proceeded to give him a print out of an article relating to home owner insurance and use of CBIS in premiums. The article had a couple direct quotes from State Farm acknowledging that they use CBIS. He said he would check into it for me with his "regional manager".

It clearly looks like CBIS even within insurance companies is held "close to the vest". Becides that, if your spouse is older and has good credit - your credit (bad or good) may not impact premiums if you use SF.