How many credit cards have you applied for this year?

Already this year in excess of two million adults in this country have damaged their credit rating by applying for credit card after credit card after being refused by their original choice. "Try, try, and try again" is one of the worst things you can do if you are turned down for any reason..

The problem is many of us are not aware of their credit score or what is in their credit report - the two things banks and building societies use when they decide whether to offer you any form of financial credit or lending..

Every time an application is made for credit, every time you are accepted of declined is recorded in this score. Lenders look at this before they decide to offer a consumer a card and are far more likely to look at the application closely if they see the client in question has already been declined elsewhere, whatever the reason.

On top of the decision to offer you a card or not, the data held on your credit report can also affect the interest rate you are offered if you are lucky enough to secure the card of your choice. Credit card companies will always advertise their best rates in magazines and on TV but you will have to have a near perfect score to get it. This is why they offer you a higher interest rate, you get the card you want and they make more out of you whilst you improve your credit rating.

Around 1 in 6 people in the

have had a credit card application declined, and of those that made multiple applications around 20% of them will end up paying more for their card than the rate they initially applied for.

On top of this over one and a half million personal loan applications are turned down each year due to the information held on an individuals credit report. Everyone is entitled to see their own report and this can be accessed by various means including Experian and Equifax. It is important to check these as the details on there may be wrong and you can ask them to be changed and your rating updated.