If you make a good salary, that will probably help, I think.
I think salary is just one part of the equation. They also look at (and these may or may not all apply to Dar's case):
a) where you live - I have seen agencies weight your score by considering your post code.
b) how many searches have been conducted on your credit history(taking into account if they were opt in or opt out searches) - if there were lots of opt in searches, it indicates that you are trying to open lots of credit accounts, which is deemed risky
c) how many times you have moved in the past 12 months - the longer you stay in one place, the more stable you appear to be
d) income stability - for example, they don't take bonuses into account but look at how much you make on a monthly basis and see if it's variable income or steady income
e) if you are registered on the electoral roll - they want to be able to track you if you miss payments and those registered on the electoral roll are deemed to be safer
f) how many credit accounts you have open - believe it or not, the fewer accounts you have open, the worse off you are. However, there is a fine line here. The more you accounts you have open, the more riskier you are.
g) Relationship with bank - try not to underestimate this. I was twice rejected by my bank's credit card division when I requested an increase in my credit limit from 2000 to 5000(the credit card division, in most banks, is separate from the banking division). I had my premier manager call up and petition after my second rejection and the credit card company sanctioned the increase. Similarly, they had rejected my initial application for credit (I had only been here for 3 months when I first applied) and my premier manager called them up and got them to okay the application.
h) And the most obvious one, how many late payments you have made.
i) modified...and also how much creidt you actually use....again, there is a fine line here. If you use too much credit, then that's a strike against you. If you on't use enough credit, then you get a strike against you as well!
My advice to people reading this is to keep checking your credit report - I discovered that my pay monthly Vodafone account was not being reported to any credit agencies. You can petition Vodafone to report your payment history to the credit reporting agencies. I also discovered that my poor credit rating was a result of not being registered to vote (I've written to all agencies to make a note on my credit report that I am no eligible to vote in this country).
