Your Beginners Guide To Credit Repair Programmes

Please note it is your responsibility to evaluate the accuracy, completeness and usefulness of any information, opinion or advice contained in the content below.

Your Beginners Guide To Credit Repair Programmes by James Miller

To totally understand this article, here is a range of definitions of common terms you will come across. Bad credit rating : If you apply for any kind of loan, the would-be loan provider will study your credit report to evaluate your credit worthiness. They will then assign your loan application a credit rating which may be excellent, good or poor. If it’s a bad rating, it will be difficult to be accepted for any form of credit. A credit rating tends to become bad when you have a negative credit history. Late or ignored monthly payments and legal judgements will influence your credit score. A ‘CCJ’ is actually short for County Court Judgement. This denotes a judgement pronounced by a County Court regarding someone who is presently in debt to another party (a person or business) or where they have not fulfilled the provisions of a credit agreement. A CCJ will establish a suitable payment strategy with the intent that the indebted person will begin to cover the money they owe. County Court Judgement are documented on official public record and will affect the debtor’s likelihood of getting further credit for the next 72 months.

If your credit history is poor because you have experienced financial difficulty in the past, and you are finding it hard to get accepted for credit, then the chance to have your credit repaired can be tempting.

There are many advertisements in magazines and on the television for organisations saying that they can ‘restore’ or ‘clean’ your credit file. However, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), who are the consumer protection authority, warns consumers to tread carefully if considering this type of service.

According to the OFT, using these companies you could make the situation worse - and here are the reasons why:

1. In some cases, these companies are using the service as a front for what they really are - loan companies or brokers who will try and sell you loan
2. Some credit repair companies tell you how to make a ’successful’ application for credit - by calling a costly premium rate telephone number that has a recorded message.
3. The information given to you once you have called explains how applications are credit scored - and how, by being creative, you have more chance of getting accepted. This is tantamount to fraud, as they are suggesting you give false information.
4. These credit repair companies say that they can remove negative information from your file, such as CCJs - this is not possible. CCJs cannot be removed from a person?s credit file unless they were incorrectly granted or have been discharged.

The best chance you have of getting accepted for credit is, in the first place, to check that all your information on your credit file is correct (contact Equifax or Experian for a copy from around �2).

Equifax is one of the major UK credit reference agencies. Equifax draws together all your credit facts and figures from a variety of sources to develop a file that presents your credit history - i.e. your credit report. In the event you request for any form of credit, loan providers will examine your credit report to see your credit record. You could apply for a printed copy of your report at any time to confirm that everything is the way it should be. The Equifax online website has a great deal of useful instructions on sensible financial choices and safeguarding yourself from fraudulent schemes.

Experian is one of the major credit referencing agencies in the UK. Loan providers will consult credit referencing agencies to check the eligibility of an applicant based on their credit history. This is called a credit report. As with anyone, you could apply for a duplicate of your credit file from Experian to confirm that all the statistics on it are proper and that your particulars have not been used in some fraudulent way.

If it all is in order, then make sure that you pay all your existing bills on time to keep your record as clean as possible. For more information, contact your local Citizens Advice Bureau.

Tagged:

agencies, bureau, consumer, credit, credit history, Credit Rating, Credit Repair, credit repair program, credit report, Credit Score, debt, equifax, experian, history, money, payment, score

Free Newsletter

Sign up for the free Daily newsletter, filled with tips and ideas on avoiding credit card debt, credit history, tips on getting out of credit card debt, and more. Your email address will be kept confidential and won't be shared. Easily unsubscribe at any time.

If you enjoy the free information available on this site, you're sure to enjoy the free newsletter as well:

Share and Enjoy:

January 29 2008 06:39 am | Credit Repair and Credit Reports

Trackback URI | Comments RSS

No Debt Anymore .org

Advice on credit repair, credit reports and debt solutions