How to Clean your Credit History

Enhance your credit standing Moneywise.

when you' re rejected without much explanation." Creditors use your credit reports to assess your exposure levels before they decide whether or not to loan you or not. However, you have the right to review your reports to make sure you receive the credit you earn, and reviewing the information stored about you also indicates errors or deceptive activities such as ID thievery.

Their credit reports provide the bank with information about you, such as your home details, and give them personal information about your various credit contracts. These three companies are used by creditors to check their creditworthiness, so you are more likely to see any unsuspicious activities in your record. * Experian provides a 30-day free evaluation version of CreditExpert that gives users unrestricted on-line acces to their reports.

If you are applying for a credit reference, make sure that you are able to give all your address details for the last six years. In addition, you must state your date of nativity. Since the information in a credit reference is personal, you will not be able to see someone else's statement.

The credit agency will conduct an approval review of requests to review credit records and may require extra identification if they are not happy that you are the person you claim to be. This may seem inconvenient, but it is to prevent scammers from attempting to gain control of your personally identifiable information. Both your borrowing capability - and the amount you are paying to lend - is dictated by your credit history, so it is deserving of careful review.

It will contain both information of a general and personal nature. Information about the ballot box comes from the voter register and contains your name and the place where you are logged on to the ballot. So if the displayed number is not your actual number, perhaps because you have recently relocated, you will need to ask your municipality to include your name on the voter register at your new number.

The credit information will also contain all the Aliases you have. Insolvency orders will also appear on your record for at least six years even if you are dismissed. Since UK creditors exchange information about their clients, all your finance credit contracts are displayed in your atlas.

A 0, for example, indicates that your payment is up to date, while a 4 indicates that payment is four month overdue. When you have had trouble making refunds and these are on your credit reports, then it is tough to know how it will affect you. But if you know that you have had trouble in the past, there are some actions you can take to clean up your reporting.

Repaying your loan contracts will enhance your credit history, as will capping any new debts. Callcredit's Industrial Affairs Manager Mel Mitchley says: "Many miss repayment, not because they can't pay, but because they've forgotten. Even just making sure you are in the voting roll will increase your score.

Credit statements from persons with whom you are sharing credit contracts may also affect your creditworthiness. If you have never signed a credit contract, full and timely repayment will enhance your creditworthiness. When you have been rejected for a credit line or other credit facility, you have the right to know why.

Enquire with the creditor about your claim as it may indicate errors or problems with your reporting. The credit information also gives you the possibility to pass on your point of view to the creditors. The Munroe says, "People can make a declaration on their account that will explain why they failed to make a payout that creditors need to see.

" If a creditor does a credit assessment on you, he will leave a mark on your credit reference - a literal indication that a credit assessment has been carried out. That can be a problematic if you shop around for credit because repeated searching can actually harm your credit score. If you are rejected for credit, don't try to get in touch with other creditors because too many queries will quickly affect your rating," Munroe says.

Instead, take some your own personal initiative to upgrade your credit ratings by repaying your debts. It will increase your chance of obtaining loans in the market. They can also ask a bank to conduct an "offer search" - and not a credit assessment - if they only want an offer on the interest rates of a particular item - they don't make a mark.

Checking your credit reports leaves no trace. That means you can review your reports any number of instances to help prevent identity fraud without risking your ratings being ruined.