Take action with credit reports, before it's too late
Did you know that you can find out what your credit history is? Credit reports have traditionally been a main source for financial institutions in deciding whether to make credit available to customers. You can also get access to yours.
It's important to know your credit history so you don't come up against problems in the future when applying for loans. There may even be errors in your report that could scupper loan applications, and those problems can be fixed before you apply.
Credit reports show your complete loan history, from bank loans to mortgages and credit cards, including transactions and accounts that are current. Banks and other financial institutions will want to see how these loans performed: were you able to pay them back, and on schedule? If you were, there's a strong probability that your loan will be approved; but if there were delays in repaying, and in some cases non-payment of loans, you will know what the answer will be.
You can get your credit report from Experian CreditExpert, one of the leading credit reference agencies in the UK, so you can see for yourself what your credit history looks like exactly as it would appear before a financial institution considering a loan application. With credit reports, you will know before you make an application for a loan what the chances of success might be. If you are declined a loan and your credit history is good, you will be able to ask why and address any issues that may be outstanding.
There are a number of sources available in order to draw information for credit reports. These include public records such as court judgements, electoral roll information, bankruptcies and individual voluntary arrangements. There is also information from financial institutions and lenders, covering such areas as credit applications, financial associations and credit accounts.
If you would like to know what your credit report looks like, you can sign up for a 30-day trial with Experian CreditExpert. You are legally entitled to have the information contained in the report, and you also have the right to have any errors corrected once they are brought to light.
When you sign up for your 30-day trial with Experian CreditExpert, you also get unlimited access to your report and credit score. There will be no billing for a period of 30 days, and there are no contracts involved. If during the 30-day trial you'd like to cancel your account, you can go ahead and do it at any time.
A study by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the United States found that many people -- less than one in five -- simply don't bother getting credit reports, and this puts them at risk for future loan applications, because they're unable to take any corrective action before it's too late.
If consumers know how these (credit agency) companies handle their credit histories, they can make better decisions on how to handle their financial lives, said a bureau spokesman.