What is a...

Credit Report

A Credit Report (also referred to as a Credit File) is a record of your financial history maintained by the Credit Reference Agencies, sourced and updated by lenders and public records, which is used by lenders to help make better informed lending decisions.

How do I check my Credit Report?

checkmyfile provides the UK’s most detailed Credit Report, gathering your complete information from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion – ensuring you don’t miss anything important.

You can view your Multi Agency Credit Report free for 30 days, then just £14.99 per month. Cancellation is quick and easy online at any time.

Why would I need to check my Credit Report?

Your Credit Report will be examined whenever you apply for credit, such as a short-term loan, credit card, or mortgage. Lenders look at your borrowing and repayment history, which is recorded on your Credit Report, to validate your identity and determine what type of customer you’re likely to be.

The same is true for prospective landlords and employers, who will also assess your information before accepting or declining your application – though they usually won’t see the same level of information.

As the information on your Credit Report is so important, it’s worth ensuring that your data accurately represents your financial position before submitting an application. This gives you a chance to see where your credit rating stands, an opportunity to correct any errors, and ultimately the confidence to apply knowing that you’ve seen everything that the lender will see.

Some mortgage advisors require you to check your Credit Report and provide them with a copy, so they can find suitable mortgage deals for you.

Regularly monitoring your Credit Report is also a good way to spot potential identity theft. You will be able to check all credit applications made in your details (within last two years), helping you to spot any unrecognised activity.

What information is on my Credit Report?

Your Credit Report will consist of two main types of information: your public and private data.

Your public Credit Report information usually consists of Electoral Roll records, insolvencies, judgments and any Notices of Correction. This is the type of data seen by landlords and employers when they run a credit check – it is largely used to verify that you are who you say you are.

Your private Credit Report consists of your public Credit Report plus credit history information obtained from lenders. This includes your reported credit accounts and a record of how they have been managed. Only 200 or so lenders can see your private Credit Report.

Credit Reference Agencies don’t keep Credit Reports in real time. Those that include account history within their Credit Reports receive monthly updates from lenders, which are then quality control checked and loaded to their own database. This means that account balances and limits are usually 2-7 weeks out of date at the Credit Reference Agencies, but this does not detract from the value of the six-year history of credit contained on Credit Reports for the intended purpose of helping lenders assess the ability to repay new credit.

With the exception of search and enquiry footprints, Credit Reference Agencies do not own the data they supply. The reporting lender owns and controls their respective data.

How often is my Credit Report updated?

Lenders typically share new information with the Credit Reference Agencies on a monthly basis, so it may take your lenders up to two months to update your account information (such as your balance and account status, for example).

The UK's First Provider Of Online Credit Reports

Launched 25 Years, 35 Million Credit Scores & 8 Million Credit Reports Ago

The UK's First Provider Of Online Credit Reports

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