The scenario is that you have just pulled a credit report for free because you saw the ad on television and wanted to make sure your credit report is accurate.
Upon receipt of your Equifax credit report, you notice that some of your current debt is not posted on the account.
You want to make sure it is posted because you have been paying it on time and want to use it to build up your credit. What should you do?
UK residents have three reporting agencies with which they can check their credit reports. Equifax, Experian, and CallCredit.
In order to have an accurate picture of your credit, you should actually pull all three reports to ensure they are all accurate in nature.
It is not common, but it does sometimes happen where one credit agency either has something or is missing something that is reported by the other two agencies.
Once you have the reports and have checked them for accuracy, contact the agency that has the improper or missing information.
In most cases, you can do this right on their website. If not, send a letter to them with the copies of the other credit reports. All of these agencies share information anyway, but showing them the mistake might help move things along a bit quicker.
It is important to monitor your credit on a regular basis to ensure mistakes such as this are taken care of as quickly as possible.
Just as you would not want an inaccurate blackmark on your report, you want to make sure all the positive aspects of your credit are reported.
As you go on in life and apply for more credit cards or a mortgage, a long and positive history will play a significant role in being approved by the creditor.