Tips to Understand Your Credit File

Article Written By: taamiv

Credit file is basically a file that holds all the financial information about you. It is a confidential file and is kept by credit reference agencies. This information can be released to only bona fide enquirers who are in genuine need for the information, for instance, potential lenders. The enquirer should be registered with the Information Commissioner and the Office of fair trading.

There are different means from where agencies get this information such as Official Gazettes, from trade bodies like the Council of Mortgage Lenders, the Register of County Court Judgments and electoral roll. Agencies can also get this information from the lending companies and banks that have given you loans at any time in the past. Your file contains comprehensive financial information about you, such as it will provide information about your current loans and the past loans within a certain period, how many credit cards you have, your limits, information about payments made and so on. It will also provide you with information about any searches by lending companies over the past two years.

Lending companies take help from these credit files whenever you apply for any load, credit card or mortgage. Their aim is to check whether your credit file contains any bad mark against you, i.e. for late payments, unpaid debts etc. In that case your application for credit may be refused. Certainly, your credit file plays a vital part in your life. It contains all the vital information that is important for you as well as for lending companies.

However, there is a good part as well, after every six years; the previous record either good or bad is deleted from your file. It means that any adverse information even bankruptcy case is deleted. Under the Consumer Credit Act 1974, you have the right to see all the information kept about you in the file. You just need to write to the credit reference companies and they will send you a copy of the file by law.

Credit reference agencies are registered agencies and you can get the information about these agencies from your local Citizens Advice Bureau. The major agencies however you can contact to get your information include Equifax, Experian and Callcredit pic. Make certain that errors and omissions are possible. No matter how efficient the organization is, they can make mistakes. For instance, if two people share the same name, there financial information may have been linked. It is therefore suggested to see a copy of your credit file periodically to make sure that information given in the file is purely related to you and there are no mistakes in it.

There is no hard and fast rule set for organizations to how many agencies they need to send your financial data. Sometimes, organizations send information to only one agency or sometimes to two or three on irregular basis. This creates a chaos sometimes as each agency may have different information about you. So, better get a copy from each agency.

About the Author

You might be interested in learning about Taking use Credit Cards and also Maintain Your Credit File

You Can Link Directly to "Tips to Understand Your Credit File" by using the url:
http://www.allbestarticles.com//finance/credit/tips-to-understand-your-credit-file.html

This Article Has Been Published on Mon, 8 Nov 2010 and Read 158 Times

Find All Best Articles at http://www.allbestarticles.com

Rating: Not yet rated

Comments

No comments posted.

Add Comment

You do not have permission to comment. If you log in, you may be able to comment.

Related information on Credit

Esentials To What Is A Credit Line
Maintaining a Good Credit Score
Wise Debt Collection Processes That Work While In The Rough Economy
The Process For Filing Bankruptcy Hackensack
How To Improve Your Credit Score Promptly And Successfully With These Steps
Tips to Understand Your Credit File
Helpful Techniques To Improve Your Credit
How to Manage Your Business Credit
How do collection agencies validate your debt?
The truth behind credit ratings
Discovering Whats A Good Credit Score
To avail instant online credit report ability
A life cover for your credit account
A Few Tips To Enhance Your Credit Score Starting From Scratch
How To Improve Your Credit Score
How To Get The Money For A Dream Pool.
The Fastest Way to Improve Your Credit Scores
Sustain Your Credit, Nurture Your Future
Cash Today or Late Fees Tomorrow
Factors affecting your credit score
Acquire Relief Without Embarrassment With Payday Advances
A Force to Be Reckoned With
Answers about Merchant Services to Help you Get Set Up
Get a Better Grade on Your Credit Report
A Guide To PayPal