Why Didn't My Credit Score Improve?

It can be disheartening to pay off your debts and see no improvement in your score, but sometimes you just need to wait a little bit longer. Other times, you could have a problem with not using a creditor that reports to any of the major bureaus. Alternatively, you might not have done anything that raises a score in the credit-scoring formula.

Considerations

Nobody can say if something will definitely improve a credit score, because the formula is a trade secret. With what is known, you usually need several months to increase a credit score when coming back from disastrous incidents, such as a creditor selling the account to a collection agency. Paying bills on time for just a month, for example, probably won't be enough to improve your score, but you should see an increase after three to six months. At the other end of spectrum, extremely high scores -- above 800 -- are nearly impossible to improve.

Creditor Reporting

Check your credit report to make sure that the lenders you use also subscribe to the reporting services of the major credit bureaus. Some providers of ongoing services, such as utility companies and landlords, cannot report customer data or do not because of the cost. Credit agencies won't report data if a lender does not pay for a reporting subscription. Also, creditors may forget to update your report.

Time Frame

You might just need to give the bureaus some time to update your credit report. The bureaus usually take at least a month to update their databases with new information and possibly longer. Only if you do not see an update after 90 days should you contact the creditor or credit bureaus about why you do not see an update to your credit report.

Tip

If the creditor does not update your report and subscribes to the reporting services of the major bureaus, you can update the data yourself by sending proof of payment to the bureaus. They do not have to use data from the customer, but they often do as a courtesy. You could self-report the payment history to an alternative credit bureau when your creditors do not deal with the major credit agencies. Lenders may accept an alternative credit report if you do not have a traditional credit history.