It is one of life's small cruelties that the times when you need credit most badly, are also the times when lenders are least willing to give it to you. When you are finding it hard to meet your obligations, your car payments are behind, your credit cards are all fully loaded, and you're barely meeting your rent or mortgage payments, your credit score takes a nose dive. Even if you are meeting all your payments, credit reporting companies can show lenders that you are at your limit, that you're fully extended on all existing lines of credit, and you've been searching vigorously for more. This will be looked on very poorly by lenders and make them much less inclined to lend to you.

Between Jobs

One of the periods when you are most likely to be in this sort of situation is when you are between jobs. There are a million reasons why you might lose your job, many of which will not be your fault, and if you are unlucky enough to have this happen to you when you're under heavy debt, then things can quickly get out of hand.

It may seem like stating the obvious, but the surest way to get out of this situation is to find a new job as soon as possible. In many cases you can be back to work within a month or two so if you have enough money to keep you afloat for this period you will be ok. However it is not always easy to find a new job quickly, especially if the reason you lost your original job is due to difficult conditions in your industry or area.

Insurance

The other thing you might consider is credit protection insurance. This is an insurance policy you will need to have taken out before you lost your job. If you did, there is a good chance you will be covered for exactly this situation. Most credit protection plans provide that if you lose your job through no fault if your own, they will kick in the meet your repayments for you, until you can get another job. They have many strict conditions, for example, they will probably expect you to accept the first job offer you get, even if it does not pay as well as your last job etc.

Alternatives

The other option is to borrow some money to tide you over till you get a new job. While it may seem unlikely that a lender will lend to a person who is out of employment, there are situations when they will lend to you. If you can demonstrate a good previous repayment record, and have very good prospects of finding a job soon, they may be willing to back you, especially if you have security such as your home to offer them. If you do opt for this route however, make sure you are very confident of finding employment before putting your home at risk.