A Look At Credit Reports And Credit Scores
Get a free credit report here http://www.myfreecreditreportgov.com/
A credit report is basically a consolidated account of your previous financial borrowings and repayments. Each time you borrow, pay or delay, the details are added to your credit report. Lenders use it to assess how much of a risk it would be to lend to you.
A healthy credit report is a confirmation that you are liquid. It says that if you are lent money you should be able to pay back what you have borrowed.
Credit reports work through issuing a credit score. They will calculate your borrowing and repayment against the how long it took you to repay and come up with a score which ranges from 300 to 850.
The higher your score, the more financially stable you are considered to be. It means that you are good for a loan, a credit card or a mortgage. If your score is low, it means that your application for borrowing money has a high chance of being rejected.
If your credit score is over 700, you are in excellent credit health. If credit score is below 600, then you are considered a ‘high risk’, and you should look to improve your credit score by paying off some of your debts.
Now, lets look in more detail at some of the reasons why it’s important to have a good credit score…
- Once you have gotten yourself a healthy credit score, it means easy access to more finances. This could be a car, an apartment, or even just a simple bank loan for your business. Today, it’s almost impossible to mortgage a house with a bad credit score.
- If your credit score is favorable, you’re seen as a reliable person who promptly takes care of their debt. This encourages vendors to give you better deals. You may find yourself getting longer repayment periods or healthy discounts.
- When applying for a job, most employers will run a credit check on you. Applicants with high credit scores are in an advantageous position, as they are seen as being more honest and reliable.
- One of the most important and little known values of a credit report is that it can be used to track identity theft. If anyone steals your identity, and uses it to take out finance, it will show on your credit report. A complete credit report will even highlight unusual items for your attention.
So, if you don’t know what your credit score is, don’t you think it’s time that you found out?
Most of the services reviewed by this website are available or may be accessed from Australia (see 