From the beginning of this month, for the first time ever, statutory credit reports have been made available online from all three credit reference agencies. Anita Brook looks at why it’s good to keep your credit in check.
You might want to hide from your credit rating, but ignoring it is a mistake – you never know when a bad one might turn round and bite you on the bum. You’ve always had a statutory right to check your credit for a couple of quid, but in the past the full report was only available by post. If you don’t want to spend a penny, all the reference agencies offer free trials and if you’re in financial hardship, they can’t charge you anyway.
Equifax http://www.equifax.co.uk/ and Callcredit http://www.callcredit.co.uk/ will provide a report instantly, while Experian http://www.experian.co.uk/ will send one after a few days. So, with checking your rating easier than ever before, it’s time to face up to your finances.
Why do you need to know? You want to buy a house, get a credit card, apply for a loan or even get a new phone contract. If there’s something nasty lurking on your credit report then you might be stopped from getting some or all of these things.
What do I need to check? You should study your credit report in fine detail, each company will check for different things, so any issue could potentially cause a problem. Also, in case of ID fraud, look for any anomalies that don’t seem to add-up.
When should I check? If you’re about to do something big (like apply for a mortgage) you should definitely take a peek, otherwise, once a year will suffice. If you can, check all three agencies as they cover different companies. You can erase problems (as long as they’re now sorted) by applying to the lender in question and asking them to change it. If they won’t overturn a decision and you believe you’re in the right, the Financial Ombudsman http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/ can help.
Feeling rejected? There is no such thing as a credit blacklist, each lender looks at different elements of a report, so if you’re rejected by one, this doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be rejected by another. If applications are declined, this won’t affect your chance of receiving credit with another lender – your score only shows when you have been accepted. Most defaults or rejections will be wiped from your report after six years.
Boost your credit score!
- Make sure you’re on the electoral roll
- If you’ve never had a credit card, or have bad credit, get a credit re-building card http://uk.creditcards.com/poor-credit.php – make sure you pay it back within the month though, as interest rates are usually massive.
- Paying your card off in full, switching the 0% cards and never paying any interest is not necessarily a good thing – banks want to lend to people they’re going to make the most money out of.
- Make sure you change your address with lenders if you move. Unused, but not cancelled, contracts can cause problems.
- Never miss payments and reduce your debts
- Get a landline – just supplying a mobile phone number can be a turn off
With the economy still in a shaky state, getting credit is even harder than usual, so make sure your score’s as healthy as it can possibly be.
No Comments on this post