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Credit Report Issues - Your Knowledgebase

In Credit Score of CreditGuru (November 27, 2024 10:04 pm)

With the current worldwide financial climate being in such turmoil, credit for loads, credit cards, mortgages and other borrowings is becoming increasingly difficult to come back. But many people don’t realise the importance of a free credit report from one of the major credit reference agencies.

Without knowing it, your credit report might be showing information that may hinder your ability to take out further credit. Some of this may not even be your fault. Worse still, it may even uncover that you have been the victim of identity theft.

Those people that have applied for credit and been rejected should certainly request their credit report data from at least one of the major credit reference agencies. If you have been declined credit, ask the lender who refused you which of the agencies they were using and their contact details.

It is also well worth asking for a copy of your credit file before applying for a load so that any errors, or omissions, can be corrected before you apply. This could prevent a refusal, which would also be recorded on your credit file and might count against you in the future.

If you don’t already know how to check credit reports for yourself, then it is very easy to do. The major credit reference agencies will offer a free service if you write to them and ask them for the details and there are many online services doing the same. As an early identity theft detection method, you can also join schemes whereby you are notified when certain changes take place on your credit reference file. This would alert you to sudden huge loan applications if someone was trying to clone your identity.

The free credit reports don’t tell you exactly how the lenders will score you, but they give you a good basis for understanding what they are likely to be looking at. In addition, lenders will take into account other questions that they ask, such as your history with that lender, your annual household income and other details they ask you to divulge.

Your credit report won’t show details of anyone else living within your house, but it will show details of who the credit reference thinks are financially related to you, for example husband or wife. If this information is wrong, then it can be worth getting it corrected.

For example, if your partner doesn’t share the same surname but has a better credit rating than you, then you might improve your credit rating by identifying yourselves as being financially related.

But if two siblings, or others sharing a surname, live together and aren’t financially related, it is worth checking that this information is correctly shown, in case they have a poorer credit rating.

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