Credit Reference Agencies and Debt
A credit reference agency is the name of a company that holds personal information on your ability to pay creditors by recording your repayment history and logging defaults, county court judgements and missed payments for each debt that you have accrued. Your file will record any bad debt by adding numerical entries from one to five to represent your number of missed payments. This helps to assist potential lenders in their credit scoring.
It is very important to regularly review your credit file as entries can be incorrectly recorded and debt misrepresented. If you see any erroneous entries which you feel misrepresent your payment history, you can add a written entry to rectify this. It is very easy for companies to be lapse in recording information about you, so you should always keep a close eye on the accuracy of your credit report as this is your lifeline to future credit.
Many people have the misconceived notion that credit reports are irreparable but this is not the case and it is very easy to repair your credit rating. Simply ask a debt advice company to explain how you can add notes to any entries that you feel are unjustifiable. If any CCJs or defaults have been added to your file, the first step to repairing them is to start making regular monthly repayments. Credit reference agencies allow you to add Notices of Correction which enable potential lenders to take into account the circumstances surrounding your payment discrepancies.
The two major credit reference agencies are Experian Limited and Equifax Limited.
Related Links:
The Debt Advice Trust can give you further advice. They provide a free helpline for anyone in the UK needing debt advice.
Finance News posted on 30/05/2007 14:55:06
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