# Legal age is "18", Good or Bad? (Credit Score / Credit History Issues)



## Deleted member 473940 (Sep 18, 2014)

Hey guys  Before you read ahead; do you think 18 should be the legal age? Being 18 is grown up enough to handle the world out there?

So for a while I wanted to talk about this. Well, obviously in the UK, legal age is 18. Some places such as certain clubs obviously state 21.
But anyway, that is not why I opened the account.

Basically, when I first turned 18, I kept getting credit card advertisements on my name through post. I applied for a couple and started using them. For a while, repayment and everything went ok, but I started using them heavily and wasnt able to make minimum repayments on time. After some time, I was referred to collection agencies to pay the money back. I went on a repayment plan and took me literally less than 5 months to pay everything off.

However, that whole repayment thing has come back to bite my ass. I CANNOT EVEN OPEN A CURRENT ACCOUNT WITH BANKS!

Let me explain what happened.

I was with Lloyds TSB(just Lloyds now) for the whole time. I was never pleased with them. THIS MONTH I finally decided that before my next student finance drops, I will pay off whatever direct debits I have, pay off anything that needs to be paid off, close my Lloyds account and go open an account with Barclays or HSBC.

I sort out all the bills and everything, close my account. 
Go to Barclays, only to find out that my credit score is so bad that I cannot even open a Current Account! EVEN STUDENT ACCOUNT IS BEING DENIED! They were willing to give me student account without the benefits(such as the interest free overdraf).

After some investigation, I found out that my credit score and credit history is poor due to the things I have done back when I was 18. I really think its a huge punishment to me! At that age I was such a fool and obviously fucked up.


Whats your opinion on the 18 legal age law?
Whats your opinion on my situation?


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## Foxi4 (Sep 18, 2014)

In Poland 18's been the legal age for as long as I remember and we're doing perfectly fine. In fact, it might be a bit too high for some thing.


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## Deleted member 473940 (Sep 18, 2014)

Foxi4 said:


> In Poland 18's been the legal age for as long as I remember and we're doing perfectly fine. In fact, it might be a bit too high for some thing.


 
whats your take on the credit card issue? lol


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## WiiCube_2013 (Sep 18, 2014)

Depends how mentally stable a person is regardless of age. A man of 32 who acts like a 10 year old can't be left by himself because he's incapable of taking care and would probably end up dead, starving, slave or homeless.

Recently I opened an account at Halifax (although I've got one with Barclays) and everything went smoothly so you could give them a try.

I tried HSBC like last year or so and they told me that my credit wasn't good or something but that's bullshit, I don't owe anything to anyone much less being negative.


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## emigre (Sep 18, 2014)

No disrespect but you fucked up there with your finances to an extreme level. You're not the only person to be in the financial dog doo but that's how responsibility goes. There are people in their fucking 30s who mismanage money.

All you can do is sort out your finances and improve your credit rating because that can (and probably will) fuck you up when getting a mortgage/loan.


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## Foxi4 (Sep 18, 2014)

ShawnTRods said:


> whats your take on the credit card issue? lol


What emigre said. You're responsible for your finances, it's up to you whether your credit rating is good or bad.


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## WiiCube_2013 (Sep 18, 2014)

I read a bit of this - http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/credit-rating-credit-score

But here's the thing, I can't think of a reason why my credit score would too be negative as when I was 18 I didn't ask for loans, mismanage my money or whatever.


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## mightymuffy (Sep 18, 2014)

- it's rather fitting (I'm currently not using AdBlock) that the sponsored link above me on this very page is from Experian! They (and similar companies) sound like a complete waste of space, but for your current predicament they'll be a whole lot more help than you'd think...

Legal age of 18 is fine by the way, and not really the problem here like has been already said - I suspect if it was 21 and you got all those cc ads/pound signs rolling in your eyes you'd have ended up in the same situation you're in now. Pretty sure you'll not make the same mistake again ehh.... In my opinion, take the 30 day experian trial as they help immensely (apparently, I don't have first hand knowledge, but my kid bro does), and take the student account from Barclays too - keeping yer shit in order on that will also help, I suspect they'd have no trouble upgrading you to a current sooner or later if you do....


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## Deleted member 473940 (Sep 18, 2014)

Thing is, apart from those 2 credit cards, I havent had any issues whatsoever.
I have been reasonable with my spending, no direct debit bounces, no payment issues, no unplanned overdraft. Everything has been clean!
Agh it takes 7 t 10 years for the bad reports to be deleted -.-


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## Gahars (Sep 18, 2014)

ShawnTRods said:


> Thing is, apart from those 2 credit cards, I havent had any issues whatsoever.


 
...Yeah, but those are huge fucking issues. That'd be like someone saying, "Besides the corruption and coverups, Richard Nixon's administration was squeaky clean!"

It sucks that you were financially irresponsible, but you're an adult and you have to deal with the consequences of your actions. Them's the breaks.


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## Plstic (Sep 18, 2014)

This is why I only use cash so I can track what I spend.


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## WiiCube_2013 (Sep 18, 2014)

Plstic said:


> This is why I only use cash so I can track what I spend.


 






Notch made $2.1 billion so he can make a big ass bed made outta caaash. So nice swimmin' in cash.


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## Haloman800 (Sep 27, 2014)

Vote UKIP. Nigel Farage will fix your credit score



Spoiler



and make gollywog's real


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## cdoty (Sep 27, 2014)

ShawnTRods said:


> Hey guys  Before you read ahead; do you think 18 should be the legal age? Being 18 is grown up enough to handle the world out there?
> 
> So for a while I wanted to talk about this. Well, obviously in the UK, legal age is 18. Some places such as certain clubs obviously state 21.
> But anyway, that is not why I opened the account.


 
In the US (at least), this is usually the age where you can be charged as an adult, and things remain on your permanent record.

How many people have done stupid things at 18 (or even 21)? Do you really want some stupid lack of thinking to haunt you for the rest of your life? That is what happen when you turn 18.


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## Sicklyboy (Sep 27, 2014)

ShawnTRods said:


> Thing is, apart from those 2 credit cards, I havent had any issues whatsoever.
> I have been reasonable with my spending, no direct debit bounces, no payment issues, no unplanned overdraft. Everything has been clean!
> 
> Agh it takes 7 t 10 years for the bad reports to be deleted -.-


 
It's kind of funny, because those are all things that won't affect your credit score in the first place (aside from payment issues) because those all deal with cash. :/

As others have said, yeah it's a pain in the ass, but you're an adult now. If you can't handle the rules you're going to meet consequences. One or two fuck-ups is enough to mess you up big time, as you can see. Late payments are no joke, once you start fucking with someone's money they're gonna start fucking with you, the bigger the business the worse it is - case in point, banks.

You see that it takes 7 years for the bad records to drop off. So make sure that in that 7 years, you don't have any more mishaps. Manage your finances well, budget yourself, set limits for what you can spend in a month and don't frivolously spend your money. Make all of your payments on time, EVEN IF THEY'RE THE MINIMUM. Don't apply for any new cards for 6 months to a year, as those all are hard pulls on your credit report and too many hard pulls make you less and less likely to be approved for a card/account. Work on getting your finances in good standing and getting your credit score back up.

Mint.com and YNAB (You Need a Budget, available on Steam) are great resources to track your spending and accounts and help you plan better, or even at the very least as is the case with Mint.com it keeps track of all of your accounts in one place and paints you a pretty clear picture of your current finances. And if possible, get a better job. I don't know what you're working or making now, but a few extra dollars an hour can make a ridiculous difference. I went from living paycheck to paycheck on my last job ($9.53/hr after 4 years, retail) to being able to have a comfortable amount of extra money on hand after benefits and bills and shit ($13.25/hr + OT and paltry monthly bonus, warehouse job)

I've got 3 cards - Amazon store card (only usable on Amazon), CapitalOne Visa, and Discover. The Amazon card I rarely use, when I do I charge enough to it to get 6 months or a year of financing, and completely avoid interest if I pay it off within that time. CapitalOne and Discover are both high use cards, the CapitalOne card has been almost maxed out for as long as I've had it, 3 years, because a low paying job and always running into car troubles kept me putting money on it. The Discover card too, however that has a higher limit and has been my main card due to the decent rewards system on it. My job change has switched me from barely being able to keep up with the cards and having virtually no bills to almost paying the cards completely off in a matter of weeks and adding more bills (changed auto insurance, picked up my own phone bills, benefits at work again, working on moving out on my own next probably).

And for what it's worth, check out www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance. It's a great subreddit to talk about finance woes and if nothing else, do what I do and just read what other people have to say and you can get some good ideas of things to do for your own unique situation.

Good luck dude 

PS - this is all from the perspective of an American and how the system works here in the US. I'm not sure how different if at all it is in the UK but it sounds like it's pretty similar.



Plstic said:


> This is why I only use cash so I can track what I spend.


 
With the kind of benefits you get form buying with credit and the major safety net it can act as if you're down on your luck or in an emergency, that's just retarded. If you don't spend more than you have, it's the same as using cash. Just keep up with your bills.


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## gifi4 (Sep 27, 2014)

There have been quite a few good and informative posts in this thread already.
I'm gonna add this tidbit that can come in handy:
There are places where you can apply for a loan/CC/etc. that don't take your credit history in to consideration. You simply get charged ridiculous interest rates. Using a service like those are going to be necessary to pull your credit rating back out of the red.


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## Sicklyboy (Sep 27, 2014)

gifi4 said:


> There have been quite a few good and informative posts in this thread already.
> I'm gonna add this tidbit that can come in handy:
> There are places where you can apply for a loan/CC/etc. that don't take your credit history in to consideration. You simply get charged ridiculous interest rates. Using a service like those are going to be necessary to pull your credit rating back out of the red.


 

That would be a "secured card", if I'm not mistaken.


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## Minox (Sep 27, 2014)

I never understood the point in getting a credit card - it encourages spending more than you can afford and offers no significant benefit as far as I can tell. Most countries nowadays offer debit cards which more or less acts the same way as a credit card other than the fact that purchases are declined when you're out of money meaning that you will never spend more than you have.


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## nando (Sep 27, 2014)

I got terrible credit but it has nothing to do with being financially irresponsible. I've never made a late payment in my life. I payed all my student loans quickly and even my first car cash. And that's my issue. I'm denied credit because I'm financially low risk and basically hard to make money off of. 

One creditor actually told me that the reason they denied me is because my spending is way lower than my income. I avoided credit cards when I was young when they were really preying on me. If I had taken a credit card then and made minimum payments, my credit score would be a lot higher. 
Basically I have to take a high rate crazy stupid credit card and lose a lot of money to build my credit. The system relies on people making poor Financial decisions.


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## loco365 (Sep 27, 2014)

I do have a debit card myself, but I always keep within my means, as well as actively refusing to have overdraft protection on my account. It's quite rare that I ever go into overdraft (No more than $20), but one thing I probably won't do is have a credit card. If anything, it'd be a secured card so that I'd have to put money onto it first, just like a savings account, before I could make use of it. I also keep up with all my payments, and pay them ASAP, far before the due dates, so that they're just out of mind and I know it's tended to.

I know that those small things did get back at you in the end, but I'm pretty sure you can fix it slowly. My mother had to declare bankruptcy a few years back because my father (Who's separated) left us in a major financial situation. She already has an incredible credit score. It'll just take some elbow grease to get your credit score back to the positive end of things.

I'd give you some tips on where to start, but I don't look like a complete know-it-all right now, plus, I'd simply be stating the bleeding obvious. As for the legal age thing, I'd think that it's fine as is. I think people should be responsible for their actions - Including their financials.


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## mightymuffy (Sep 27, 2014)

Sicklyboy said:


> That would be a "secured card", if I'm not mistaken.


Yep, although the 'in thing' here now seems to be loans/CCs given if you've got a guarantor, again with the astronomical APR..... assuming the lad can afford the repayments then I suppose these may be a good idea. Sounds to me more like only one step up from the loan sharks of yesteryear these places, and it's a slippery slope if repayments can't be met... and besides, who looks at an advert that says something like APR 399.9% and thinks "yeah, that's a fukkin sweet deal!!"


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## Clydefrosch (Sep 27, 2014)

actually, i dont think 18 is a good legal age these days when it comes to financial responsibility, because, pretty much 99% of the population doesnt learn the slightest thing about how the world of money works. few people learn how badly a few bad decisions with your new, fresh creditcard can hurt you in the long run, before something bad happens. and those colorful flyers never mention all those negative aspects.
everyone is just thrown into this mess and most are lucky enough to have parents who can help and answer questions until you slowly get the hand out of things. but some people have moron parents. or know only people who never had to worry about this stuff in the first place.
when 18 as a legal age was established where I live, the world was a lot less complex. at 18, you had all the knowledge accumulated to go through life mostly without problems. today, things are different. vital information is kept from children (in favor of useless geography and history/other crap), not included in the school curriculum, adults have problems distinguishing the vital from the nonsense information, and theres a million things diverting the attention of the young, growing mind.
so no, 18 isn't a good age for legal responsibility. it has always been a rather random number to begin with, but it's become a less and less justifiable random number as time moved on. if young people are actively educated on these things prior to the age of 18, then it might be a good age again. but not as things are now.

you however, have to deal with it now, i'm sorry for you. even though, from an objective standpoint, it seems a bit ridiculous you cant open an account at all?
considering the facts that surround your credit rating, you acted rather quickly, got out of your debt fast and responsible. there are people out there who take a lifetime to repay their debts.
as a financial institution, I probably wouldn't give you a no limits account either, but whats the problem with an account with a strict credit limit? like 100$ max or whatever? i mean, if you have an income too?
current credit ratings certainly have broken the system partways at least. I get that a financial institution would want to base its money lending policies on some information, but credit ratings seems awfully skewed towards negatives. there should be an additional rating for getting your act together. personally, I'd rather lend someone money who quickly got his act together after fucking up as a youth, than someone who, in his 30's keeps falling back into the negatives at the end of every month (though thats an entirely different problem altogether)


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## Cartmanuk (Sep 27, 2014)

ShawnTRods said:


> I sort out all the bills and everything, close my account.
> Go to Barclays, only to find out that my credit score is so bad that I cannot even open a Current Account! EVEN STUDENT ACCOUNT IS BEING DENIED! They were willing to give me student account without the benefits(such as the interest free overdraf).


 
Your first mistake was closing your bank account, just having and account in credit or not is better for your credit score then having no account at all.
Also credit scores are updated on 1st of every month so when you paid all of your bills, you should have just waited 3 months.

By the way I had an issue were in 2004 someone took out a £27,000 loan in my name. It killed my credit for 5 years and it was never sorted out as it was less common then.


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## Vipera (Sep 27, 2014)

You expect people to hit maturity for their actions around 21. Not sure why they kept it 18 after ww2


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## Apex (Sep 27, 2014)

Unfortunately, having some form of credit is necessary in the future to establish credit, which is how banks know you're reliable enough to give out a loan to.

That being said, I have never had a credit card, for better or for worse.


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## sandytf (Sep 27, 2014)

I suggest that you talk with a professional financial planner. While you will need to pay for the appointment, a financial planner will be able to explains all of the relevant rules and regulations as well as assist you in developing a plan to improve your financial situation. Credit score calculations can be very tricky and you don't want to risk making any more mistakes. Additionally, a financial planner should be aware of different services and programs to help accelerate your financial recovery.


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## FAST6191 (Sep 27, 2014)

Vipera said:


> You expect people to hit maturity for their actions around 21. Not sure why they kept it 18 after ww2



Various aspects of psychology, as far as risk taking goes anyway, might argue 25 is the point where things start to get better. Or if you prefer see car crash death rates by age, or some aspects of recruitment where risk is involved (both taking those that will risk things before 25 and waiting until 25 where risk taking is not as desirable).
However I am not sure a move to 21 or 25 in all aspects is a good move at all, maybe in a perfect world but that is not a place we can reach. I quite liked the ones where some places forced health insurance companies to be able to have parents keep their kids on their insurance until 25 or so, otherwise known as the good years to be messing around doing startup and lower paying but potentially more interesting/entry level in a field work.

Anyway I appear to live in a country where credit scores, as utterly screwed up a system (three private and basically unaccountable companies doing whatever they like, and then being trusted for lots... right then) as it is, does not really matter. Some are trying to change that and there is a slow slide into things. On emergency nets well healthcare is free, it is only me that I am responsible for, I am not reliant upon a vehicle, food is cheap (plus there is all sorts of wild food around here) and though I do not like doing it I could probably drum up some cash/invent a job/do one of those extremely low priority jobs. If it all burned down tomorrow it would be horrible, however my tools I truly and desperately need technically consist of some cheap screwdrivers and not a lot else.


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## zeello (Sep 27, 2014)

instead of 21 why not make the legal age 100? (or infinite) If the problem with 18 is that its easier for unscrupulous companies to screw people due to bad decisions, then why not just ban it for all ages instead of just people aged 18-20??

Basically you wanted the law to protect you, but in that case what does age have to do with it?


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## Minox (Sep 27, 2014)

As I see it the problem is not the legal age, but rather these companies preying upon young people who recently became adults and don't know what's best for them just yet. Economical responsibility is not something you suddenly come upon when you hit a certain age, it's something you have to learn through continous exposure to it. Preferably parents should provide their kids with a good learning ground regarding personal economics, but that isn't always the case.


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## FAST6191 (Sep 27, 2014)

Hmm, my friends and I seek to make the jobs of cold callers less than pleasant/profitable (I think I have even got myself blacklisted from a few of them). I wonder if we could figure out a way to make the jobs of these leeches worse. Perhaps not as they actually have people that care to really improve profitability and it would take actual effort vs just talking in circles on the phone as I read things.


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## Blebleman (Sep 27, 2014)

When I turned 20, I thought 18 was too young.
When I turned 22, I thought 20 was too young.
When I turned 25, ....

That aside, I also think these 10 years are where the biggest changes happen in the least time.
Within the last 10 years, I've
1. Been through college + university
1.5 - forgot lots that happened in said places
2. Been through 3 girlfriends
3. Married one
4. Been through at least 5 jobs
5. Moved to Japan
6. Had a baby girl.
7. Went from being a hobby-nerd to a web/application developer

I still don't think I've got all my shit together. 18 is young!


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## Hells Malice (Sep 27, 2014)

18 is perfectly fine. It doesn't matter what age you are really, stupidity isn't really an age thing. It's a learning thing. Either you learn the hard way, or by using your brain.

TBH i've had a card for quite a while now and never once have I had problems. I could have handled one as early as 14. I've always had a firm grasp on not spending money I do not actually have, or can feasibly gain within a short period of time.

It's the same thing with BC making people need to be older and older to drive. It doesn't solve anything, it just serves to punish those who ARE ready to drive at a proper age.

Btw it should be possible to get a card and slowly build your credit rating back up. There are ways to do that.


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## raulpica (Sep 27, 2014)

Minox said:


> I never understood the point in getting a credit card - it encourages spending more than you can afford and offers no significant benefit as far as I can tell. Most countries nowadays offer debit cards which more or less acts the same way as a credit card other than the fact that purchases are declined when you're out of money meaning that you will never spend more than you have.


I've got one and it saved my ass while searching for a job here in the UK. I ran out of cash (damnrentsaretoohigh.jpg) and my credit card came in super-handy. 10 months later or so I've finally almost paid it off. If it wasn't for it I'd still be in Italy now


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## nando (Sep 29, 2014)

raulpica said:


> I've got one and it saved my ass while searching for a job here in the UK. I ran out of cash (damnrentsaretoohigh.jpg) and my credit card came in super-handy. 10 months later or so I've finally almost paid it off. If it wasn't for it I'd still be in Italy now




Not to mention youll never be able to buy a house without good credit which you'll never have without having a credit card for a while. Unless you are really rich and can just afford to pay cash but then like in my situation I tried to buy a new car cash and the dealer wouldn't accept my check because I didn't have a credit history. It would have been really weird to walk to the dealer with that much money in my pocket. I also couldn't use my atm for that amount.  So there is that.

Also good luck renting a car


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## Foxi4 (Sep 29, 2014)

A credit card is a good emergency solution indeed, sometimes something pops up and you just need the money STAT. You have to use it responsibily, sure, but it does have its uses.


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## FAST6191 (Sep 29, 2014)

nando said:


> Not to mention youll never be able to buy a house without good credit which you'll never have without having a credit card for a while. Unless you are really rich and can just afford to pay cash but then like in my situation I tried to buy a new car cash and the dealer wouldn't accept my check because I didn't have a credit history. It would have been really weird to walk to the dealer with that much money in my pocket. I also couldn't use my atm for that amount.  So there is that.
> 
> Also good luck renting a car



Wow, living in a country that deluded itself into thinking credit scores have some real merit (again three private companies with largely hidden data based on algorithms not shared with the public, said algorithms being known to be weighted towards those that actually have credit rather than just paying it off) sounds like it has some downsides. I know some of my friends that moved (back) stateside had a bit of trouble when US and UK credit peeps would not speak to each other, however I did not realise it was that extensive.
Mind you having lots of cash to buy a car is nothing unusual around here, it is probably the time most people see sizeable amounts of money.

I shall have to look up what it takes to buy a house around here, I never intend to so I am a only passing familiar -- bad credit will tank you but most around here seem to be more along the lines of "can you afford the deposit (which may go up depending upon credit), do you have a job (self employment can be tricky but is doable), can you then make the monthly payments?".

Car rental and credit never seemed to be a problem.

Question. How common is it to get a credit check on a potential new employee? Around here it would probably bring up privacy concerns, still doable but quite uncommon unless it really is necessary for the job (bank, lawyer, financial services, debt collection*...).

*this can include things like mobile phone companies though.


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## Foxi4 (Sep 29, 2014)

The belief in credit ratings is somewhat warranted. Imagine a scenario in which a person crashes a rental car - as a company you want the customer to be able to pay for the repairs regardless of whether they have money in their wallet or not, someone who can borrow money in an instant.


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## FAST6191 (Sep 29, 2014)

Is this not why rental cars have insurance, or indeed people have insurance on their home cars which probably covers rentals as well?

I have absolutely no objections to the idea of credit checking in various scenarios, just the present execution of the concept and amount of stock placed in it as well as some of the uses people have cooked up for it.


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## Sicklyboy (Sep 29, 2014)

Foxi4 said:


> The belief in credit ratings is somewhat warranted. Imagine a scenario in which a person crashes a rental car - as a company you want the customer to be able to pay for the repairs regardless of whether they have money in their wallet or not, someone who can borrow money in an instant.


 

To be fair that has absolutely nothing to do with someones credit score.  You can have a phenomenal score and not have enough to cover a totaled car.  My credit score is pretty decent.  That said, I'm about $950/$2000 debt/available not including cash assets. 1250 is definitely not enough to cover a totaled or even moderately damaged vehicle.


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## raulpica (Sep 29, 2014)

nando said:


> Also good luck renting a car


I did, two times, without a single issue


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## Judas18 (Sep 29, 2014)

As someone who got into a little trouble with a credit card I personally think that the legal age of things like this should be 21. I luckily managed to sort out my credit card problem and it improved my credit rating instead of ruining it. It just shows I got into debt and got out of it quick.


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## WiiCube_2013 (Sep 29, 2014)

FAST6191 said:


> I shall have to look up what it takes to buy a house around here


 
You're looking to buy a house in UK rather than a country with better food, health, lifestyle and weather?

A ton of Brits decided to move out to other countries, like, Spain and Portugal (mostly Algarve) for a good reason.


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## nando (Sep 29, 2014)

raulpica said:


> I did, two times, without a single issue


 
in the US?

here is a link to thrisfty's website. and you'll find many similar instructions on other rental cars sites. 

http://www.thrifty.com/car_rental_information/content/car_rental_with_credit_card.aspx

i'm not saying it can't go smoothly but it's not the same treatment as a regular costumer. credit culture is very bad in the US, i don't think you can really compare your experience to ours. also note that most rental places will run a credit check on you if you don't have a credit card and that will in turn affect your credit score negatively. also in the price you get will be different.


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## raulpica (Sep 29, 2014)

nando said:


> in the US?
> 
> here is a link to thrisfty's website.
> i'm not saying it can't go smoothly but it's not the same treatment as a regular costumer. credit culture is very bad in the US, i don't think you can really compare your experience to ours. also note that most rental places will run a credit check on you if you don't have a credit card and that will in turn affect your credit score negatively. also in the price you get will be different.
> ...


Oh no, no, in UK. Yeah, I guess that US is definitely different.


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## FAST6191 (Sep 29, 2014)

WiiCube_2013 said:


> You're looking to buy a house in UK rather than a country with better food, health, lifestyle and weather?
> 
> A ton of Brits decided to move out to other countries, like, Spain and Portugal (mostly Algarve) for a good reason.



I would never buy a house; lacking the aggravation involved with house ownership is something I value at far more than some hypothetical loss over renting.

I did look at leaving, and may even still do it (I went on holiday rather than funding an exit, and have not bothered to earn in subsequent years), but you can guarantee it will not be to somewhere hot if I do, not to mention it should have good internet and my friends that now inhabit those places do not have kind words about the local ISPs/internet quality. Mind you I never had a particular problem with the health (I get stitched back together for free and do not so much as have to sign anything) and food wise... well there are enough people from elsewhere that you can get a serious curry, and, like a kid that grew up poor, not knowing anything else I am not trained to seek the fancy food. Lifestyle is something you make yourself from what I have seen and weather... well sun cream is expensive.

Mind you cold, good internet, fans of technology/engineering, appreciation for rock/metal, touching the sea... sorry Nordic countries, I may be coming to ruin your day. Hopefully my dislike of coffee does not cause me to stand out too much.


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## WiiCube_2013 (Sep 30, 2014)

Life in UK for me sums up like home work and work home whereas if I were somewhere else I'd get more out of it and this for me isn't really that healthy of a lifestyle despite liking my job by 2020 I'm moving out to a different country.

I can't believe that fucking Aldi in UK doesn't sell chips with flavour of jamón/presunto nor Chipicao but they do in PT/ES. God dammit.


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## FAST6191 (Sep 30, 2014)

The sounds like a bit of grass is greener. I have lived in several places for extended lengths, the general idea seems to be the grass is just a different kind of green. I would agree that nose to the grindstone at all hours is not great, however it is still something of a personal choice really, assuming you are not lumped with several kids of course.

I looked up jamón and presunto... both seem to be words for ham. I will grant that I do not expect to be able to walk into a corner shop and find them every time but Tyrrells, among many others, do ham flavoured crisps, I even quite like them despite not being big on pig meats in general. Chipicao I am not sure about but an image search says they are chocolate filled baked goods, had you said compared to a little village in France then I would have agreed (mind you the average patissier would be worried by some of the small village bakeries I have been to), however this seems to be foil wrapped baked goods so I have to assume the quality is more along the lines of "serviceable to good". At least in the last 5 or so years I have not had troubles finding chocolate stuffed baked goods, depending upon where you are you may have to settle for a pain au chocolate rather than a chocolate croissant though.


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## Gahars (Sep 30, 2014)

WiiCube_2013 said:


> You're looking to buy a house in UK rather than a country with better food, health, lifestyle and weather?
> 
> A ton of Brits decided to move out to other countries, like, Spain and Portugal (mostly Algarve) for a good reason.


 

Economically speaking, Spain is less stable than a fat man on a unicycle. Probably not the best example to bring up here.


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## WiiCube_2013 (Sep 30, 2014)

For retired people it's ideal as they can just relax, eat tasty steaks, visit any beaches they desire, go around the country and while at it, take a trip to Andorra and buy themselves some bottles of alcohol 'cause it's so damn cheap they'll be shocked. Now as for the others, as long as they have money or a job they can live off it that way.

Btw, jamón/presunto is way tastier than the ham you'd eat from UK. If you can grab yourself a pack of Ruffles jámon chips (Portuguese stores usually sell it for about £1.80 which I think it's overpriced but there really isn't any other option for cheaper brands) you'll know it instantly.


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## FAST6191 (Sep 30, 2014)

Gahars said:


> Economically speaking, Spain is less stable than a fat man on a unicycle. Probably not the best example to bring up here.



I think the spinning is now so bad we have to contemplate whether we now have gyroscopic stabilisation.


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## Patxinco (Sep 30, 2014)

Gahars said:


> Economically speaking, Spain is less stable than a fat man on a unicycle. Probably not the best example to bring up here.


 


FAST6191 said:


> I think the spinning is now so bad we have to contemplate whether we now have gyroscopic stabilisation.


 
We're not that bad xP

We just have bad politicians that pick all of our money from our pockets (see Jordi Pujol last issues  ) and then they just make something to hide it (Catalan independence for catalan government, abortion law changes in central government...)

Back on topic, i've never used a credit card, just debit ones, and even with that, never spend a lot, about a year ago, my bank send me a mail that i can have a 6000€ credit whenever i need it with no charges, so i supouse my credit is pretty good ^^


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## FAST6191 (Sep 30, 2014)

It occurs that I have not spoken to anybody in Spain about the Catalan/Catalonia stuff, I might have to rectify that one. Half of it seems to be some potential historical reason, the other half reminds me of the Cornish independence* stuff (and the old joke "The Cornish independence movement has run out paint, can someone get him a can?").

*to save others a search Cornwall is the county in the very south west of Great Britain, it did have a reasonable level of effective autonomy and there is such a thing as the Cornish language which was/is actually a separate language and not just a dialect as something like Scots English might be.

Anyway I was half trying to force a joke in the previous comment. Mind you I have known a few people that half retired/semi retired, just plain moved over there or spent some time over there (there are some nice motorbike tracks and roads), they do not paint especially rosy pictures of the financial state of things outside the bigger cities.


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