| How Your Credit Rating Affects You And How To | | | | many times your rating has been checked |
| Check It | | | | recently. Things that happened more recently |
| | | | are given more weight than things that |
| Michael Knowles | | | | happened a long time ago. |
| | | | |
| You might not know it, but every time you | | | | Why Your Credit Rating is Important |
| take out any kind of loan or credit or pay | | | | |
| something back, it gets counted on your | | | | Any time you get turned down for a credit |
| credit rating. Who keeps a record on you will | | | | card or any other loan, the chances are that |
| vary according to where you live, but the big | | | | it was because of your credit rating. |
| three credit reference agencies are Experian, | | | | Companies giving out small loans are far more |
| Equifax and Trans Union. They will provide | | | | likely to rely completely on this rating than |
| your credit rating to any company that is | | | | to bother checking your income, and a worse |
| considering lending you money. | | | | rating will mean that you are offered a |
| | | | higher interest rate. Your rating is |
| What is Included in Your Credit Rating | | | | important when you get car loans and |
| | | | mortgages too. You don't want to find a house |
| All the debts you currently have are included | | | | you love only to get turned down for the |
| in your credit rating. There is a history of | | | | mortgage thanks to your habit of paying your |
| all the debts you've had in the past ten | | | | credit card bills late. |
| years or so, and special emphasis is put on | | | | |
| anything that has gone wrong. Defaulting | | | | How to Check Your Credit Rating |
| (never paying) on any debt will ruin your | | | | |
| credit rating completely. Borrowing a lot | | | | Credit reference agencies can't hold your |
| before you start paying anything back will | | | | information on file without telling you what |
| make you look like a very bad risk, and so | | | | it is they have. If you write them a letter |
| will going all the way up to (or even over) | | | | and pay a very small fee, they have to send |
| your limit on a credit card. | | | | you the full credit report that they have |
| | | | about you. You are also entitled to a free |
| It is also worth considering that the credit | | | | credit report once per year. Copy and paste |
| reports of anyone you live with may be linked | | | | this link in your browser for more |
| to your report, and could reflect badly on | | | | information |
| you. Your wife or husband's credit rating is | | | | |
| tied to yours quite closely. | | | | You can then check over your credit rating, |
| | | | and send a letter back to the agency telling |
| How Your Credit Rating is Worked Out | | | | them about anything that you think isn't |
| | | | right. You might find that a screw-up has |
| The most common method of coming up with your | | | | made you look bad when it wasn't your fault. |
| rating is called 'FICO', named after the Fair | | | | They will include anything you send in your |
| Isaac Corporation, who invented it. Your | | | | file. In some countries, you may find that |
| current credit status is prioritized, in this | | | | you can sign up to get credit reports |
| order: whether you've paid past debts, how | | | | regularly for a small fee, or even for free! |
| much debt you currently have, your credit | | | | Make sure to check your local laws. |
| history, the types of debt you use, and how | | | | |