subject: Manage Your Credit Better: Keep Track of Your Credit Score [print this page] Manage Your Credit Better: Keep Track of Your Credit Score
If you are trying to take control of your finances, you are probably already aware that managing your credit wisely is one of the steps to ensuring financial stability and success. To manage your credit wisely though, you need to be well aware of where you stand at the moment in terms of your credit score. This shouldn't be to hard to do since all you really have to do is to obtain a copy of your credit report.
According to the Data Protection Act of 1998, you are entitled to a copy of your credit report. You can easily get a copy of your credit report online by using the services of companies like Experian, Equifax, and the Callcredit Information Group, that provide concerned consumers with copies of their credit report. The good thing about both of these companies is that they will both allow you to view your credit report for free when you sign up as a member. Note though that you will only be able to view your credit score for a limited period of time this way, since it is just a free trial period and version. If you want a full copy of your statutory credit report, you will need to pay 2 . This amount is the rate that the UK allows these companies to charge you for furnishing you a copy of your credit report. Once you apply for a copy of your credit report, the processing time can be anything from instant to a few days. It would definitely be faster if you are able to supply all the required information, especially all the addresses you lived in for the past 6 years. You have the choice of either viewing your credit report online, or having it it posted to you.
Things you will see on your credit report includes not just your personal information, but also all your public records, financial associations, list of financial institutions and organisations that asked for information on your credit report within the last 12 months, and all the pertinent details of your credit agreement with various lenders. The information is very important in recognising how well you are doing with your credit because it will show not just the type and amount of loan you have, but will also show your payment history for the last 12 months. This means that each creditcard payment will be reflected there so that you will see if you have been missing payments, not just on all credit cards, but also on all your other loans. This will give you a good idea of how well you are doing with your credit, and which accounts you have been neglecting. Your goal is to make sure that you end up having a good credit history in all your UK credit card accounts and bank loans.
