Keep tabs on your Debts by checking your Credit Report
One thing I find important is to check my debts are correctly reported to my credit report. When I say this, I mean checking that the balance is reported correctly or the date of default is correct. Where a debt has been sold on, I check that the account isn’t being reported twice. It might surprise you to learn that things aren’t always accurate.
Being in debt means I don’t want to spend money doing this but there are a number of free services available, two services I use are ClearScore and Credit Karma. This will not be a review of these services as such, because I think that would detract from what this blog is about. I may add some thoughts in here along the way though, especially when it comes to debt!
Why do I check my Credit Report?
The short answer to this question is because mistakes happen. In the grand scheme of things it doesn’t matter right now because I am in debt and credit is the last thing on my mind. That being said when I have spotted mistakes, good things have happened. I have found companies have compensated me. It is not much but it does reduce my debt slightly. So this is the main reason, if I am being honest. Anything I can do to reduce my debts is a good thing and this is no exception.
What can I see about my Debts on my credit report?
Both Credit Karma and ClearScore show you the accounts they hold for you. This means the information between the two could be different as not all lenders will report to every Credit Reference Agency.
In terms of seeing things, you will see information such as: –
- How much you owe to an account.
- When the account was opened.
- Any late payments.
- If the account is in default.
- If you have any County Court Judgments, IVA’s or Bankruptcies.
- Your credit limit.
There is other information too, the above are just examples to give you a flavour of things.
Examples of incorrect information I have found on my Credit Report
In no particular order, below is a list of examples of incorrect information I have found on my credit report: –
- Incorrect date of default.
- Incorrect Amount owed reported.
- Duplicate reporting of defaults.
I will now go through these in a bit more detail and explain what happened.
Incorrect Date of Default
On one of my past accounts, the date of default was reported to be some 8 months later than it actually was. Why does this matter you might ask? Well the reason is it means this default will be reported for longer than it should. A default is reported for six years from the date it was registered. Because this default was reported 8 months later than it should have been, the account will remain after it should have been removed.
This happened when the debt was transferred from the original creditor to the debt collection agency who had purchased the debt. In the end it was resolved and I was compensated for my troubles.
Incorrect Amount owed
I had a debt that showed the balance to be £1000 higher than it should have been. This was a credit card debt. I raised this with the lender and the data was correct and I was compensated a small amount for the trouble.
Duplicate reporting of defaults
I also encountered an instance of where a defaulted account was reported twice. This was resolved and I was compensated for the inconvenience. In this case the account was a credit card and both the original lender, and the debt collection agency were reporting the debts.
How did I raise this with the lenders?
I just emailed in to say that I have found some incorrect information on my credit report. I raised this as a complaint. Included in my email was a screenshot of the information contained within my credit report. An explanation of why I thought it was wrong was provided and I waited for a reply.
Some closing remarks on ClearScore and Credit Karma
Just a small observation on these two organisations. The product they offer is free and the way they make money is by showing you credit products you may be approved for. Just be careful is all I am saying, especially if you are in debt. I know most people are fine but if you are like me, you might apply and add more debt. That’s all I want to say on the matter.