Canny Scots are better with their money

The Scots are famously level-headed when it comes to money - and Orkney islanders have now been crowned as the best money managers in the whole of the UK.

Credit check company ClearScore analysed the credit scores of almost 10 million Brits and matched them to postcode districts across the UK.

It found that the people of Kirkwall, in the Orkneys, had an average score of 454, 19% higher than the national average of 380. Lerwick, in Shetland, came second, with Exeter in third place.

Worst was South East London, whose residents had the lowest average score at 361, and other London districts accounted for the rest of the bottom five.

You might think that the behaviour of your neighbours wouldn't have anything to do with your own credit score. But, says Justin Basini, ClearScore founder and CEO, lenders often use 'postcode profiling' as an overall indication of the risk associated with a particular area.

"If you have an excellent personal credit score then you should have no problem successfully applying for credit, even if the average for your postcode is low," he says.

"But those with a low score who also live in an area with a lower average could face greater scrutiny and be held back."
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Without a good credit score, you'll often miss out on the best deals, or even be denied credit altogether - whether it's for a mortgage or a new mobile phone.

And your credit record depends on a number of factors. Unsurprisingly, having high levels of existing debt or having missed payments in the past are a problem. But having no credit card, or cards you never use, can also have an impact, as can not being on the electoral register or moving home a lot.

There are ways to improve matters. The first steps are to get on the electoral register, cancel any unused cards and stop applying for credit for a while, as repeated rejections will only make things worse. If your problem is that you don't have much of a track record, it can even be a good idea to take out a small loan and make a point of paying it off immediately. There's advice from the government's Money Advice Service here.

The UK's highest ranking postcode districts by credit score:
Rank Area Postcode Average credit score
1 Kirkwall KW 453.68
2 Lerwick ZE 453.25
3 Exeter EX 445.49
4 Bath BA 445.4
5 Dorchester DT 444.23
6 Harrogate HG 444.12
7 Kingston Upon Thames KT 443.27
8 Guilford GU 443.07
9 Worcester WR 442.13
10 Shrewsbury SY 441.83
11 Tauton TA 441.57
12 Inverness IV 441.47
13 Aberdeen AB 441.41
14 Ipswich IP 441.15
15 Norwich NR 440.18
16 Gloucester GL 439.92
17 York YO 439.4
18 Cambridge CB 439.39
19 Perth PH 438.83
20 Carlisle CA 438.41

The UK's lowest ranking postcode districts by credit score:
Rank Area Postcode Average credit score
1 South East London SE 361.15
2 East London E 361.56
3 Southall U 370.38
4 North West London NW 371.87
5 West Central London WC 372.76
6 Manchester M 374.62
7 Liverpool L 382.6
8 Jersey JE 383.05
9 Croydon CR 387.29
10 North London N 388.96
11 Central London EC 389.14
12 South West London SW 390.24
13 Oldham OL 391.19
14 Luton LU 393.18
15 Blackburn BB 394.17
16 Ilford IL 395.4
17 West London W 398.94
18 Bradford BD 400.19
19 Romford RM 400.4
20 Harrow HA 401.58

Read more on AOL Money:

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