We've gathered together a list of the top ten things you should do to improve your credit score. These apply to people in the UK, but the principles will be very similar to any country with central credit reference agencies.

1. Get a copy of your credit record - You'll need your last 3 years of addresses including post code's to hand. You can get them for a statutory fee of £2. from Experian or Equifax. Don't be conned by the "free" offer which gets you to subscribe to a monthly fee service unless you really want to.

2. Register on voter's role - This helps verify your address and that you are who you say you are.

3. Take out credit - If you proove you can manage credit and have some credit history, then you are more trustworthy. The last 6 months payment history on all products at a credit reference agency are often used to assess ability to manage credit. If you don't have payment history you will be classified as a "thin credit file" and either charged a higher price or refused credit.

4. Open a current/checking account with the bank - This allows you to proove your income more easily as they can see it paid into the account and they also know where to find you if you can't pay it back. This is a good option for those new to credit.

5. Pay on time - Paying late is used as a sign that you may be in financial trouble. In the industry it is called "one down". If it happens only once, you are usually ok providing you pay on time every time after. Paying over a month late ("two down") means you have a much stronger chance of being bad credit. Avoid these problems by setting up a direct debit or recurring payment on a date soon after your salary enters your current account.

6. Don't go over your credit limit - This is used again as a sign that you may be in financial trouble and is built explicitly into credit scorecards.

7. Close down lines of credit you aren't using - Banks can see the total credit line available to you from all other banks. If you already have plenty of credit line, they may give you a smaller one or refuse credit when you try to get more. This is an attempt to stop "bust out" where a person maxes out everything at once.

8. Don't max out the line available to you - This almost contradicts the point above, but customers that have high usage ("utilisation") of their credit line are also likely to be bad credit.

9. Serve a notice of disassociation if needed - Credit agencies will financially link people with the same surname at the same address so if you live in a rented flat that has had someone with the same surname there or you live with adult family members that you aren't married to, you may wish to serve a notice. There is advice on this on the experian and equifax websites.

10. In financial difficulty? - If you are having difficulty meeting your payments, firstly use our budget calculator to understand your incomings and outgoings and see if you can make cutbacks or boost income somehow, then read the Bad Credit page where you can consider your options.