These days, the contents of your credit report can affect your quality of life – from whether you can rent a flat, find a job, or obtain financing for a car, home, or personal loan. With your credit score representing you so often, it’s important to know how to read your credit report, and spot [...]
Credit Repair
Credit repair is a process that involves removing of errors or inaccuracies from a credit report. Many people believe that credit repair means repairing credit that is validly poor, but this is not what it means at all. Credit repair is making sure that errors and inaccuracies are corrected on a report so that the credit report accurately reflects your credit history.
Should I hire a credit repair company?
Credit repair companies often claim that they will be able to remove negatives from your report, even if you were responsible for the negative items. These companies advertise that any disputable information can be taken off of a credit report, and that they are experts at fighting your lenders over negatives until your lenders remove the items due to lack of proof that you caused the adverse item. The problem with credit repair companies is that they make promises that they simply cannot keep. A credit repair company will charge you a fee to “fix” your bad credit, and will often pocket the money without even attempting to clear up your report.
The truth is, if you have negatives on your credit report that are your responsibility, you will not be able to have them removed. However, errors and inaccuracies can be removed from your credit report, and you do not need the help of a credit repair company. If you find errors on your report, you need to immediately contact the lender and all three credit reference agencies. Collect as much information about the error and proof of what your report should say before contacting the lender and agencies to make it easier for them to understand the situation.
How can I prevent errors and inaccuracies on my credit report?
You will need to know where the information on your report comes from to adequately assure correctness on your report.
Your name and address come from the electoral roll. If you move or change your name for any reason, be sure to contact your local authority about changing your electoral roll registration. Electoral roll information is sent to credit reference agencies monthly, so it may take up to a full month before your changes are reflected on your credit report.
All of your credit account information comes from the lender, so this information should be accurate. If you notice an error, contact the lender first to see if the terms of your loan might have changed. If you notice lenders you do not recognise, or high balances you did not charge up, you may be the victim of identity fraud. Contact the lender and all three credit reference agencies immediately.
There is also information on your credit report about judgments made against you, including county court judgments (CCJs) and bankruptcies. Sometimes, the court fails to update that you have paid your CCJ within the month you are allowed, and the CCJ is not removed from your report. If this happens, you will need to contact the credit reference agencies and send proof of payment by post. Negative items stay on your report for six years, but occasionally the credit reference agencies will fail to remove the items at the end of the six year period. In this case, you will need documentation of the exact date of the negative item to have the item removed. Again, contact all three credit reference agencies to assure all of them remove the item from your report.