How your credit history could affect you

Nov. 17, 2010 - PRLog -- When someone wants to apply for a mortgage or take out something quite big like a car loan, to help decide whether they are credit worthy, the lender will first look at their credit report. A credit report is a document listing a person’s financial history.  It shows any bank accounts the person has, credit cards, loans, debts and whether they are registered on the electoral roll. The credit report monitors all relevant payments which occur throughout the individual’s life time.

Keeping up with payments and managing your finances well can identify a person as responsible with money. So when making a purchase or an application for credit, a person's credit rating and credit report can play a more important part in the process than many people think. Even with smaller purchases such as credit for an item of furniture or electrical equipment, or a mobile phone contract – the company may do a credit check first before confirming the purchase. Just about every store card will run a credit check when an application is made.

A person’s credit history can affect whether they are accepted for a credit card and what interest they will be offered. A poorer credit rating could result in people being offered a higher interest rate, and having to pay more if they don't pay the credit card off in full each month.

So keeping an eye on your credit report can be very important. It monitors all relevant payments which occur throughout an individual’s life time, such as opening a new account and closing an old one, even things like mobile phone payments. More importantly, a credit report registers all non-payments as well, such as missing a credit card payment.

If someone applies for different credit cards in an attempt to pay off their debt, and these are declined, this will also show up on a credit report. The credit reference agencies that compile the reports are commercial companies which get the information from a number of different sources. They sell this information to lenders and other financial services companies, to help them to decide whether to grant an application for a loan, credit card, or a similar financial product.

To learn more and to see what different elements are held in a credit report, just visit http://www.creditratingmatters.co.uk - Credit Rating Matters is a membership programme which provides access to a Callcredit credit report and credit score. These credit tools are provided by the credit reference agency Callcredit Limited, and may provide an insight into anyone's financial positioning in the eyes of lenders.

Membership with Credit Rating Matters provides unlimited access to ones Callcredit report and score, so anyone can monitor their financial position. Once details are successfully verified, people can view their Callcredit credit report as often as they like. The report will update periodically and reflect changes in financial activity.

To learn more about credit or to view your credit report please visit http://www.creditratingmatters.co.uk or call us on 0845 026 1093