When you are in debt, your credit score inevitably starts to fall. Eventually, declaring bankruptcy may put your credit score at its lowest low, and cause you to wonder if you’ll ever be able to improve your score again. Thankfully, there’s no need to fear. If you can show responsibility after your bankruptcy, then your credit score will skyrocket in no time. You will probably start getting credit card offers in the mail a lot faster than you even thought possible.

The importance of a good credit score shouldn’t be underestimated. This number can determine whether or not you can get a new loan, a car, or an apartment. Banks will often use your credit score to determine whether or not you are a responsible borrower. You look much more appealing on paper when you have a high credit score and no history of bad borrowing. Even some employers will use a potential employee’s credit score as a determining factor. Those with a good credit score are more desirable in the work place, because the score normally depicts a self-controlled worker. Yet banks and employers can often put too much emphasis on this small number. A medical emergency or a natural disaster may toss you into debt despite a savings account and careful budgeting.

When your credit score falls, there are ways to boost it back up. One way to do this is to check your credit report for errors. It may sound hard to believe, but there have been instances where someone that has your same name is messing with your credit score. Unintentionally, credit-reporting companies may be attributing purchases by your name-alike to you and putting debt on your record that you never accumulated. If you have a somewhat common name, this is more of a possibility. You may also have a plummeting credit score because of identity theft. Oftentimes, identity thieves prey on internet shoppers. If you have been shopping or making transactions online, double check to make sure that your information is secure and that someone is not using your name to make poor financial choices. Your payment history is 35 percent of your credit score, so if you appear to be making foolish payments, it will cause your score to fall.

Also, you can improve your score by limiting the amount of cares that you take out. Don’t apply for an abundance of credit cards in a short period of time, even if they will help you to save money at the department stores or retail outlets that you love. Applications always show up on your credit report and a person who applies for too many may be regarded as a “credit seeker.” You can also pay off your bills little by little in order to improve your score. To credit-reporting, no payments equals a lower score. The companies have no idea whether or not you are diligently saving to pay off a debt. They don’t see any progress in eliminating the expenses. By paying a debt off little by little, rather than saving and paying it off all at once, you can keep your credit score high. This is called micro-paying, and will lower your debt utilization ratio. This ration accounts for 30 percent of your credit score, so it is worth making smaller payments in order to improve your score. You want to keep your ratio at about 33 percent if possible.

If you still need ways to improve your score, try out a credit line increase. A lot of consumers are worried about this option, but it may be able to improve your credit utilization ratio. You should ask for this increase on a card that you use a lot and are good at paying off on time. You will want to call and ask the company with the assurance that you are a good cardholder. If you don’t have good credit history on the card and ask for a line increase, then the bank may see you as a credit risk and lower your credit card limit.

This can backfire, and even lower your credit score so you will want to be extremely careful. You can also boost your score by keeping your cards active. Just having a credit card isn’t enough to maintain a good credit score, you will need to use them and then pay them off dutifully at the end of the month. Don’t close credit card accounts if you are not using them. Instead, you should keep them active, so that you can have as much credit history as possible. If you have more questions about how to boost your credit, then talk to a bankruptcy attorney right away!