Credit reports and credit scores- check for free and improve

Checking your credit history can be a good way of understanding who you owe money to, how much is outstanding and whether you are up to date with your payments.  Use the information from your credit file to build a complete picture of your credit commitment.

Your credit history goes back 72 months (six years), and it records every time you make a repayment on time – or every time you don’t. It updates every month, so each month some information drops off and new information is added.

It is your credit history that lenders check when you apply for credit. Your credit score, or credit rating, is a number that the three credit reference agencies calculate to help explain how your credit history will look to lenders.

A poor credit score can affect your life in several ways. You may find it more difficult – and/or more expensive – to get a mortgage, buy a car or even take out a mobile phone contract. Cleaning up your credit history and boosting your score can get you closer to your financial goals.

You can check your credit history for free at the following links:

Equifax via Clearscore

Experian

TransUnion (which was CallCredit) via Credit Karma

Checking your report has no effect on your credit score.

It is a good idea to check all three credit reference agencies to ensure that the details they hold are correct. They may not all hold the same information about you. If some details are wrong, you can contact the agencies to get them corrected. For example, if your credit report states that you have a ‘financial association’ with someone you’re no longer linked to, you can submit a ‘notice of disassociation. You can find details of how to make these corrections on the credit reference agencies’ websites.