Protecting your Credit Rating


A credit rating estimates a credit-worthiness of an individual or business. It is an evaluation made by credit bureaus of a borrower’s overall credit history and assists the financier to establish whether the applicant has the potential ability to repay debt.

The information in your file impacts on your ‘credit-worthiness’ – so banks, retailers and credit providers check it before they decide whether to lend you money or give you credit.
Each time you think you are innocently applying for a new mobile phone or that interest free finance special offer the credit provider registers your enquiry with a credit reporting agency.

The information that is registered on each enquiry is as follows:

* The amount of finance you applied for
* The type of facility you applied for, i.e. mobile phone, car loan, personal, mortgage etc
* The date the finance was applied for
* You're address at the time of enquiry
* The drivers licence you registered for the enquiry
* You're employer at the time of the enquiry

What to do if you have been declined?

The first thing is to obtain a copy of your credit file, to help you understand why you’ve been declined. You might find that the phone bill your flatmate forgot to pay in 2003 is blighting your credit record. Or you might find that the information in the file is incorrect, or that someone has been using your name to obtain credit illegally, in both cases, the credit reporting agency has advice on the steps you need to take to redress the situation.