If you haven't already done so, you should order your online credit report from one of the credit rating agencies such as Equifax. Go to www.equifax.co.uk. The site also has helpful guides and information to help you underatand and improve your credit rating.

You can also order your statutory credit report for £2 which will be delivered to you in the post in 7 days.

If you see anything on your report that you disagree with, you can dispute this and ask to have it removed.

Most credit card providers will only offer 0% balance transfer cards to people with excellent or good credit scores - if you have oustanding credit card debt which is incurring a high rate of interest I would advise you to talk to a credit broker who may be able to find you a loan at a better rate of interest.

I'm burdened by a less than adequate credit rating after a period of illness which meant that finances and everything else went out the window. I was late on two mortgage payments and I've since been paying the price of doing so. After over two years of trying to rebuild my credit rating by various means, including not moving around so much, getting on the electoral roll, paying all bills on time... But still I'm having a really hard time transferring balance of my current credit card to a 0% balance transfer - which would really help matters. Can anyone advise on a good credit card to try or ways to improve my rating further? Finally, how long does it take usually for your poor scoring to be erased? I'm thinking of the mortgage company who rated me badly on the late payments. Is it like driving offences, where they are taken off your record after a certain length of time?