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In these difficult financial times many of us worry about our credit rating because it has such an impact on our lives. As Jason Roberts from the debt advice charity told X-Ray, 鈥溾��a poor credit rating means three things essentially. You鈥檙e going to get declined for the credit, you are going to get higher interest rates or you're not going to get the amount that you requested in the first place.鈥�

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If you want to borrow money a lender will ask to look at your credit rating report and then use it to determine their own Credit Score for you. This score is essentially a points system based on how well you're coping financially, how stable your life appears to be and any history you have with the lender.

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You can check out your own credit rating online and this will give you a better idea of whether companies are likely to lend to you, so it鈥檚 a good idea to have a look before going to the bank. There are three main sites you can go to and you only need to pay a small fee. They听are , 听 and .

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Jason helped X-ray to bust some of the myths surrounding our credit ratings. Think that it doesn鈥檛 matter if you miss the odd mortgage payment? As Jason told Lucy, 鈥淎ny missed payments on your credit commitments will stay on your credit file for six years and could impair you getting credit in the future鈥�.

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Do you think you鈥檙e the only person who can affect your own rating? Well Jason knows differently, 鈥淚f you have an ex-partner that you have a financial link to (i.e. a joint bank account you haven鈥檛 closed) it's very important to break all ties with those people鈥�.

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And one of the biggest myths, there is in fact no blacklist when it comes to credit ratings. As Jason revealed to Lucy, 鈥淭here is no such thing as a blacklist, but there is such a thing as a poor credit rating and that will have an impact on your credit report and credit file鈥�.

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But most importantly Jason told us all about how to improve our credit rating: 鈥淢aking payments on time, get on the electoral register, not having too many credit searches, not having too much debt, close any account that you are no longer using.
鈥淭he more stable your personal circumstances, the better your credit rating will be.鈥�

When it comes to getting good customer service, Shan Morgan from Cardiff likes to think she's pretty canny. But that determination has been put to the test by one of Britain's biggest energy companies 鈥� npower.

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Shan buys both her gas and electricity through the firm. Her monthly direct debits usually come to 拢171, but in July she noticed a BIG difference in the payments npower were taking out of her bank. They'd shot up to 拢673.

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When Shan checked she found npower had been taking that amount since April, stacking up more than 拢2000 of her money. Shan wanted answers and complained to npower. But their slow response would soon have her reaching boiling point.

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鈥淚 contacted them on several occasions,鈥� Shan explained. 鈥淓ach time they said, we are looking into it and they would come back to me in 28 days.鈥�

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Ten weeks later Shan was still waiting and by this time the firm had taken more than three and a half thousand pounds.

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Richard Murphy, from Cardiff and the Vale Citizens Advice Bureau, spends his days helping people fight their corner against the energy giants. He told X-Ray that when it comes to standing up to them you need to be resilient.

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鈥淵ou have to pursue it and pursue and be very persistent,鈥澨� he said. 鈥淚f after a certain time limit you're not having any success then you can take your complaint to the energy ombudsman.鈥�

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As Shan has found out, fighting your corner isn't always easy. What's even worse is that this saga could have been EASILY avoided because npower have finally held up their hands to their mistake and blamed a so-called "system error.鈥澨齀n other words, one of their staff typed the wrong number into a computer somewhere.

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After we got in touch with npower they said they鈥檇 be refunding Shan the credit they鈥檇 built up in her account and they鈥檝e offered her a 拢100 as a goodwill gesture. The company have apologised for the problems Shan has had and say it鈥檚 not the level of service they aim to give their customers.

It seems more and more companies are cashing in on the Government鈥檚 Green Deal鈥� and X-Ray has been inundated with complaints about one firm in particular.

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We first featured Cardiff-based Becoming Green UK Ltd on the programme in May, but it seems we only scratched the surface back then.

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X-Ray discovered that company boss Abdul Muhith鈥檚 previous business 鈥� now in liquidation - sent convicted prisoners into customer鈥檚 homes unsupervised. It also emerged that he employed his brother who was in prison for dealing drugs as a manager.

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His current business, Becoming Green UK Ltd, charges 拢299 to help customers join the Government's Green Deal, even though you can get the ball rolling yourself for free.
The Bryant family from Cardiff were one of many to complain about the firm.

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鈥淚t sounded a good deal,鈥� said David Bryant.
鈥淵ou pay up 拢299 and you can have your double glazing done, loft insulation, boiler - whatever's necessary to be done.鈥�

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David was so convinced by the Becoming Green salesman's claims that he also signed his daughter up, paying 拢598 in total.

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But he says Becoming Green UK Ltd failed to tell them that they would have to take out a loan of up to 拢10,000 to pay for the energy saving measures. They then waited almost six months for an assessment. They got their money back after X-Ray got involved.

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Many other X-Ray viewers told us that Becoming Green UK Ltd鈥檚 salespeople hadn鈥檛 been up front about that loan, and that they鈥檙e still waiting for an assessor.

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Abdul Muhith set up Becoming Green UK Ltd in January this year. But we鈥檝e been contacted by someone who was employed by his previous firm.

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Sue Havill-Shepherd worked for a short time in the HR department of Becoming Green Ltd. A ver similar name to his current firm, Becoming Green UK Ltd.

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Sue told X-Ray that Abdul Muhith was hiring staff from Prescoed Prison. Work experience schemes like this are designed to help rehabilitate prisoners and when we checked with Mr Muhith, he said the scheme allowed Becoming Green Ltd to send a small number of inmates out unsupervised to people's homes. This company was promoting an earlier energy efficiency scheme called the CERT scheme. The Ministry of Justice, however, told us the prisoners were always supposed to be supervised, with spot-checks to make sure.

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Sue added: "The company didn't really know who was where or what people we did have in the business - nobody really knew what was going on. If it was me I wouldn鈥檛 like the thought of someone who is a serving prisoner coming into my home when you don鈥檛 know what they've done.鈥�

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We also discovered that Mr Muhith鈥檚 brother, Shahin Wahid, was employed as the company鈥檚 Commercial and Trade Manager - while he was serving an 8 year prison sentence for his part in leading a heroin-dealing gang.

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Mr Muhith told X-Ray his brother was employed as part of his rehabilitation. He also told us prisoners had never been used by his current firm, Becoming Green UK Ltd.
As for that firm鈥檚 unhappy customers, Mr Muhith blamed delays with an assessor company and with the Green Deal in general.

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He says the company stopped taking on new work in June so they could deal with existing customers.

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Mr Muhith also promised that all of Becoming Green UK Ltd鈥檚 customers would have had their green deal assessments within the next four weeks.

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We鈥檒l be keeping an eye out to make sure they do.