Free Unbiased Advice - Improving Your Credit Score Rating
November 21, 2008
If you have been looking through your credit report and are about to apply for further credit, you might be wondering if it is possible to further improve your credit rating.
The first step, if you haven’t already done it, is to apply for a credit report from one of the main credit reference agencies. This is simple to do, and they usually provide further information about how to check credit reports.
Once you have in your hands your free credit report, have a look through it and see if there are any errors or omissions. The sort of things to look for can include the following.
If your credit report shows a county court judgement or equivalent, which has been satisfied, then make sure that it is shown as such on the report. If it doesn’t you will need to contact the court in question, giving them the case details and they should be able to arrange for the credit details to be amended. This can usually be updated within a couple of weeks.
If you have paid off any loans that are shown on your credit report, check that they are shown as such. If not, you need to write to the lender concerned and ask them to notify all of the credit reference agencies to update their records.
If a bankruptcy order has been annulled or discharged, make sure that the correct status is shown on your credit report. If it isn’t, you will need to send a copy of the annulment or discharge certificate from the official receiver to all relevant credit reference agencies and ask them to update their records.
If you have applied for credit in the past year, then make sure that any searches are correctly shown by the lenders and that there are no duplicates. Lots of applications for credit can be seen as a sign of panic by lenders and a reason for them not to lend to you. Therefore, if there are duplicates, write to the lender concerned and ask them to remove the duplicate entries from your file.
Other people living at your house should only be recorded on your credit report if they truly have a financial connection to you, such as a shared debt or a joint account.
Lastly, if you have previously been known by another name and changed name, e.g. through marriage, then check the credit file to make sure that the previous name is correctly shown.
Read also about how other people solve the “how do I get out of debt” problem.
Tags: credit report
Comments
Got something to say?
