Welcome to Finance Decoded! In this video
you will learn the following: What is a credit report and who can see it?
What is w hat is included and what isn't included in your credit
report? And lastly, how to correct mistakes
in your credit report ? As always timestamps are in the description box below. So what is a credit report? A credit report is simply a summary of
your credit history. In the UK there are three credit
reference agencies that create credit reports: Experian, Equifax and Transunion.
You can check your credit report for free using the lin ks provided
in the description box below. For your Experian
credit report, use the MoneySavingExpert Credit Club.
Equifax use Clearscore and TransUnion use Credit Karma.
Companies that may look at your report include banks and other lenders as they
want to see you have managed your credit well in the past
before they lend you money. Utility and mobile companies, they often
charge in arrears which means you use their services
and are then billed usually on a monthly or quarterly basis
so these are credit products.
If you have a history of late payments, they may
put you on a pre-pay account instead. Insurance companies may also
check your reports. And late payments may lead to higher
premiums. Potential employers may also perform a check
especially those in the financial services industry.
Usually they check for bankruptcies or CCJs. Debt collection agencies may also look at your report after your debt
is transferred from your initial lender to them.
Government agencies can
access your report under a few circumstances such as the prevention of
crime. Letting agents and landlords can also
access your report. Remember companies need a legitimate
reason for looking at your report such as you applying for a product with
them. Your credit report is not available to the general public
or your family and friends. Click the link above to understand why
credit reports and credit scores are important. Let's look at an example report to see what's included in your credit report.
Reports always include your personal information such as your name,
date of birth, address and how long you've lived there. Notices of correction
are also included. Your credit accounts such as
overdrafts and mortgages are included. For each account, the report will show
the lender your personal details, the date the account was opened,
the account balance, limit history and account information.
This is where lenders can see if you've made payments on time or have any
defaults. Your report also contains settled
accounts and utilities, hard searches including who performed
the search, the date the search occurred and your name and address. The report also
shows whether you are on the electoral roll and the name
and address you've registered at.
County court judgements and bankruptcies are on
your report and be stay there for at least six years
and financial associations with another person
are on your report and lastly the CIFAS section
this section includes any fraud committed using your name or any fraud
that you've committed using someone else's name. Your credit report will
not include your salary, savings accounts information, current accounts unless you
have an overdraft facility, post 1998 student loans unless you've
defaulted, who you are married to or your partner,
soft searches, PPI payments, how often you've accessed
your credit report, denied applications, council tax arrears,
political affiliation, race, religion ,sexuality, medical history,
criminal convictions and records or child support. If you spot a mistake this
could be due to a clerical error by the credit reference agency,
a mistake by the lender or a dispute between you and the lender.
In the first instance contact the lender that provided the information
and ask them to amend the mistake. If they agree to do this
the change should be reflected in your report in six to eight weeks.
You can
also raise a dispute with a credit reference agency. The agency has 28 days
from your request to tell you if it has removed the entry,
amended it or taken no action. During this time, the entry will be
marked as disputed so that lenders searching your file
know not to rely on this information. You can add a notice of correction
up to 200 words to explain why this entry is incorrect.
A notice of correction does not affect your credit score but may affect how
quickly lenders process your application as it will need to be
manually assessed. Under current legislation,
lenders are legally obliged to read a notice of correction when looking at
potential borrowers credit report. However there is no obligation for them
to take this into account when deciding whether to offer you a loan.
If the CRA does not amend your file, appeal to a relevant ombudsman
for banks and insurance companies this will be the Financial Ombudsman.
So that's credit reports explained! Thanks for watching Finance Decoded! If
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