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How to improve your credit rating
4. How to get the most from your credit report
Once you have received your credit report, there are a number of things that you should do to get the most out of it.
If you carry out these actions, you are more likely to improve your credit rating.
1. Check that all of the information is correct
- Check the following extra carefully for inaccuracies:
a. Dates (yours and your associates’ Dates of birth, start and finish dates for all accounts and amount of time at addresses)
b. Addresses (check that your current and previous addresses are correct and that the addresses in the ‘Linked Addresses’ section are places you that you have lived at or had mail sent to)
c. Account balances
d. Credit limits
- Make sure that you look through all of the information on your report very carefully
- You will get the most out of checking your report if you go through it with a fine-toothed comb
- Simple errors can have a huge impact
- Look at the information regarding your ‘Electoral Roll’ registration*
*If the dates on the Electoral Roll information say that you lived at your previous address from, for example, ‘2003-present’ and you are also registered at your current address from ‘2006-present’ then you are on the Electoral Roll twice under two different addresses.
This will mean that someone has registered you without your permission and could indicate that someone at your previous address is trying to vote in your name, which is a criminal offence. Contact your local borough council immediately (in writing) to inform them of the error as they will need to investigate how and why you have been added to an Electoral Roll under an address at which you no longer live.
Being registered on the Electoral Roll at two addresses will not look good to future creditors.
2. If you find incorrect information ring the credit reference agency to ask for advice
The credit reference agency will be able to tell you what information is necessary on your report and perhaps why some details seem like duplicates or inaccuracies.
They will not be able to act on queries brought to their attention over the telephone, but it will no doubt be helpful to talk through any concerns you have and they will be able to tell you which of your queries need acting upon.
3. Follow their advice to resolve the issues you have found
You will be asked to send the credit reference agency an email detailing your queries so that they can contact the relevant companies to clarify the matters in hand.
If the agency cannot deal with your enquiry, they will most likely point you to who you should contact to make the query yourself.
Use our template letters to report any queries you have regarding your credit report.
4. When all queries have been addressed, next look for areas you can improve upon
See ‘Tips to improve your credit rating’ for help doing this.
5. Check your credit report again in two months
Once you have acted upon the queries, wait for a couple of months for the report to be updated and then check it again to see that the inaccuracies you reported have been corrected.
6. Remember to check your report annually
By checking your report once a year, you will ensure that keeping your credit report gleaming is more achievable because you may only have to report one or two inaccuracies at a time.
Additionally, your credit report will alert you to any fraudulent activity taking place in your name if and when this ever occurs.
- Next page: Who to contact about errors on your credit report
- Previous page: How to get your credit report
Home /
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How to guides /
How to improve your credit rating /
How to get the most from your credit report