The Real Benefits Of Checking Your Free Credit Report In The UK

Today you can easily get instant access to a free copy of your UK credit report online.

But what are the benefits of being able to see this record of your credit history and the other details that the credit reference agencies hold about you on your personal file.

In order to look at every potential benefit that your credit report could give you, we need to look at what your it is used for.

Who Uses Your Credit Report And How?

Your UK credit report will be used by financial institutions whenever you apply to them for credit cards, loans or mortgages and by other companies when you apply for any product or service that requires you to sign up for some form of credit, such as a mobile phone contract.

All these companies want to know your current credit rating and they will determine this using your credit score, which they calculate with their own company formula using information on your credit history and current credit status from a copy of your report.

This credit check will involve checking your credit report from one of the three credit reference agencies in the UK all of which gather relevant financial and personal ID information about you to create your file.

Failed A Credit Check?

If you fail a check and don’t get the loan or mortgage you applied for, you usually won’t be told why or which reference agency was used.

However, the details held on your report can help you find out what is causing your application to be refused.

The reason may not even be a valid one as it is very easy for a mistake, typing error or old inaccurate information to be held on any one of your three reports.

Such errors may relate to your finance history or the other personal data on your record, which is used to confirm your identification and what you put on your application form.

Major Benefit

A higher score will help ensure that you get the loans or credit you want and that you will get a better rate of interest than if your rating were lower.

To ensure that your score and therefore your rating is as high as it can be you need to make sure that everything on all three of your reports is accurate and up to date.

You therefore need to get a copy of your credit report from each of the 3 credit reference agencies. Don’t assume that if one is correct that the others will be!

Fortunately you can get instant online access your report at each agency for free as all agencies are currently offering a free trial of their UK credit report service.

You should take advantage of this to check all three of our reports and fix them if you find any problems. Just talk to the relevant agency about how to get issues with your report resolved.

Remember however that this could take time so start as soon as possible, especially if you are planning to apply for a loan or mortgage some time soon.

Other Benefits

Your credit reports are a great asset and should be checked and maintained just like you check you bank statements. If you don’t check them they could easily become your greatest liability.

Effective management of your credit report could save you a lot of money over time and ensure that you are not refused when you need it.

If you are going to apply for a loan or mortgage then it makes sense to check your reports before applying as failed applications will be recorded on your file and can lower your credit score making your next application even more likely to fail.

When you fix your reports and get your score to be as high as possible you will be able to borrow more money from lenders and all at lower interest rates.

Checking you report regularly is a great way of making sure that your identity has not been stolen and used in fraud to steal money or pay for products and services using your personal details and your money.

Compare reports from different credit agencies to make sure that they are all the same because when you apply for credit you have no way of knowing which reference agency your potential lender will use.

What Next?

It is very easy to check your UK credit reports and you can do this online for free.

So do it now before you forget to make the most of this opportunity.