Why You Should Be Concerned About Checking Your Credit Score
Finance is the back bone of life. Whether it is an individual or company, money is a necessary ingredient. It’s important to check your credit worthiness, once in a while. Checking your credit scores regularly keeps you updated about where you stand with your lenders. Sometimes there are minor errors that occur on your credit report which may lower your score. If you have a common name or you have shifted your residence recently and your address is not correct on the report then you need to inform the three credit bureaus and get it corrected. Otherwise your loan or mortgage will be refused when you most need it.
Equifax, Transunion and Experian are the three credit bureaus who collect all the information and store it. These companies have websites where there is a free online form to get your free credit report.
There are five reasons why you should check your credit report regularly. The first and most important reason is identity theft. Here another person assumes your name and drives up the debt in your account using your social security number. You should regularly check your report for transactions and report incase you feel there is a fraud.
The second reason is to check for mistakes. Minor errors can cost you majorly. If your name or any other fact about you is incorrect then you will be denied credit. This is a common mistake which occurs to 25% of the people who apply for credit. This can be fixed by approaching the credit bureaus. The third reason is tracking your payments. This is something you need to do regularly. In a typical American family generally the payments will be for house mortgage, a couple of credit card bills, utility payments, car loan, and student loan. If there are any other payments then you need to verify your report for fraud and bring it to the notice of the bureaus. The fourth reason is when you make a request for credit or enter into some contractual service; your lender will check your credit, which places an inquiry on your credit report. Multiple inquiries over a short period of time can lower your credit rating. Your credit report will show the inquiries made to your report. It is important to know who has made an inquiry, whether it’s you or somebody else and most importantly, whether any of the inquiries are related to Identity Theft. Lastly always check your report to see if there are any unauthorized charges or transactions. If you don’t check then your lender assumes that you have authorized it. So be vigilant as fore warned is always fore armed.
| 