Although it can be very frustrating, people make mistakes and this is also the case for those people that work in the agencies that compile your credit report.
Although we like to think that professional documents such as these will be correct, there are chances that the data contained within your credit report may be mistaken and therefore unfairly cause your credit score to be lower than it should be.
It is reasons such as this that means getting a copy of your credit report on at least a yearly basis is a very good idea, especially if you have bad credit and have been refused a credit catalogue account.
In order to ensure that you have the fairest credit report and therefore credit score as you can, you must make sure that the agencies that have compiled the report are not spreading false or inaccurate information about you.
This is not done with intent of course; it is just a result of simple mistakes such as wrong identities, incorrect figures and much more besides. However, by obtaining a copy of your credit report, which you can do for free once per year, you can take a good hard look at it, make sure that all information is correct and for those that are not, get them mistakes corrected.
One of the best places to get your free credit report is with the website Noddle. You don’t have to pay to sign up or check your credit report and score, and for the most part, it seems to be pretty accurate. There are other places in which you can find details about your credit report – this is something we will share with you a little bit later on.
In some cases, all of the information that the different agencies have about you may not be on one report so to be doubly sure that all the information is correct, you should try and get your hands on your credit report from all of the main credit report agencies.
There are many different snippets of information that you should take special note of and these include:
Details of yourself – first, middle and last name, any previous names that you may have used, social security number, current residence, previous addresses and birth date.
Details of a spouse – same details as above but for your current spouse and if noted, any previous spouses that you may have had. Details of accounts open – merchant or organization names, account numbers, dates in which the accounts were first opened and then closed if necessary, the total credit limit that you were given as well as the amount that you actually used.
Details of payments made and missed/delayed – this is fairly important and although you might not remember, try and figure out if the dates in which payments were made, especially if classed as late, and also if you have receipts to prove that bills were paid when it says that they were not.
Once you have had a good hard look through your credit report to look at credit card payments, household bills and personal details are correct, if you have noticed any errors that need to be amended then you should make a photocopy of your actual credit report to prove your case to the credit agencies.
There is usually a space on the credit report itself to note any errors but if you do not want to make the amendments on the document itself until you can be sure, it is easier to make the notes on a copy.
If you have receipts and other documents to prove the case you are making, make sure that your photocopy these and attach them to the report and once all of this has been completed, it is time to send the credit report with the incorrect data and credit score back to the bureau to have the necessary changes made.
By not making sure that the information within your credit report is correct you are likely to suffer at the hands of a poor credit score and therefore inability to get credit cards, bad credit loans and other forms of credit in the future.
Of course, if you have amended only one of the credit reports, it is likely that another agency has another report for you that you will also need to amend and this could be the reasoning behind you still facing difficulty when getting credit. If there are still problems and you are denied credit, you can ask who the agency is behind the report and this in turn will allow you to get to the root of the problem.