Regularly monitoring your credit report lets you keep an eye on several key factors that can affect your ability to obtain credit. Before we look at some of these in more detail, it is important to grasp that the totally free credit report provided by creditexpert.co.uk is not only relevant to people with a history of bad credit, or those who have just been refused a loan application. Let’s take a concrete example to illustrate this point.
Most conventional lending is advertised with a ‘typical’ rate of interest, but in reality this rate is only offered to applicants that the lender identifies as ideal customers. Many people with a normal or average financial life, who make on-time payments towards their credit accounts on a regular basis, may still be refused the best rates of interest due to issues that can be identified by looking at their credit report. If they feel like their credit report is not correctly reflective of how they handle their credit, then they may need to contact a credit lawyer in Denver or wherever they live, so they can help plead their case if they think a false report has been filed.
The totally free credit report is, therefore, a useful tool for everyone, as most people could improve their family finances by shifting expensive debts onto cheaper products, but may only be able to do so if the credit report is in good shape. Additionally, when you consider the increasing number of businesses who consult the credit reports of new customers when considering applications, the information on the totally free credit report has a wider impact than ever before – beyond conventional lenders, utilities companies and many landlords now routinely run credit checks before agreeing to a contract.
So excluding the obvious – a history of bad credit – just what are the issues on a credit report that can make you seem like a less than ideal customer?
Firstly, simple factual errors on your credit report can raise alarm bells to the lender if the information on your application form does not match up. This can be due to lenders not updating the records which they then send to the credit reference agency, and such mistakes can easily go unnoticed. The fact is that the person most likely to notice discrepancies in personal information is you!
The rate you get on your mortgage is often different to the one advertised.
Keeping every institution that holds records about you updated usually falls pretty far down the ‘to do’ list when you have just been through the chaos of moving home, but it is not just a change in address that can cause credit report problems. Simply not appearing on the correct electoral register is a common issue that can cause problems when you make new applications for credit products. Whether or not you plan to vote, registration is a must if you want your applications for credit to get the best score possible.
As well as keeping your details up to date, it is important to keep on top of managing all of your credit accounts. The problem is that most of us open up quite a few of these over time, and it can be easy to lose track of all the older, dormant accounts. Changing bank accounts and mobile phone contracts can leave old accounts unused, but not cancelled, and this is perhaps more common with credit cards. The problem is that unused accounts can still appear like potential ways to get into debt during a credit scoring process. Checking your credit report is often the easiest way to identify any unused accounts, so that you can then do a bit of financial ‘spring cleaning’. For more information about credit reports and credit ratings, try looking here: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/credit-rating-credit-score.
