CREDIT REFERENCE AGENCIES INFORMATION

Access your Credit Rating and Report

Did you know that you can gain access to the contents of your own credit file? Used by banks, building societies, lenders and other financial institutions to check your suitability for credit or any type of loan or banking product, credit files are filled with interesting information and facts about you. These include:

  • Electoral roll information
  • Court Judgments
  • IVAs
  • Bankruptcies
  • Credit applications
  • Information provided by banks, lenders and other financial institutions

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How Can I Access my Credit File?

There is a variety of ways in which you can access your credit report.

You have the right by law to request a copy of your Statutory Credit Report for around £2 directly from one of the three credit reference agencies – Experian, Equifax or CallCredit. This will be posted to you within around 7 days and is a cheap way to gain access to your file.

Another simple way to gain access to your file is by registering online with one of the three agencies or at one of the other reputable online agencies who offer access. You can view companies which offer this service in our comparison area.

They offer access to a copy of your credit rating and your credit report online, along with help and assistance to understand your file and how lenders and banks view you.

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How Much does it Cost?

If you simply order your statutory credit reports direct from a credit reference agency, it costs about £2 and they will send it you in the post.

You can view your file online for free if you register for a free trial period from one of the companies who offer this service. Once you have registered, you can view the file as often as you wish – this is ideal for keeping tabs on what is written in there.

Once the free trial period, it is up to you to cancel it – or continue automatically to a full subscription, the price of which varies. Some companies offer the service for around £5 a month, some charge more. You can check fees in our comparison table.

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Can I Correct Mistakes?

If you spot any mistakes in your report – such as an old address – you can notify the credit reference agency so that they can correct this. It is essential that you do this as quickly as possible, because it has been known to take some time for mistakes to be altered.

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Can I Repair my Credit Rating?

If you are unhappy with your credit rating, you can take steps to improve it. However, actually having it repaired is not possible. You can take steps to improve your credit rating by paying off all loans and overdrafts as well as credit cards as quickly as possible and sticking to your monthly credit limit.

Most credit reference agencies will offer useful advice and tips on how to improve your credit rating – have a look at these to increase your chances of future application success!

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Are there any Additional Features?

Most credit reference agencies will offer additional services such as fraud alerts, which are extremely useful to guard yourself against ID theft. They will also offer advice and tips on how to manage your report and how to behave in such a way that your credit rating could be improved.

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