Was just watching a segment on Seven Sharp which mentioned credit ratings, which got me wondering about getting a credit report done, and I see that the following providers: Centrix, illion, Equifax provide a free report if not urgently required.
My question is whether you folk have used either of the above providers before, and if so which one you would recommend to get a personal credit report done (or are they all the same as they pull their data from the same repositories)?
I suspect that they will limit a free report to, say, once a year.
If so, and there are three, you could consider doing one every four months continuously, so that you are always getting fairly up to date info.
Alan.
I have used https://www.creditsimple.co.nz/ (free credit score). I believe their business model is to advertise credit offers based your credit score. I haven't looked closely on where they pull the information from but seems legit information.
Cheers - more out of curiosity I suppose. You hear stories about claims or disputes against the wrong person but with the same name - guess those reports wouldn't pick up stuff like that?
They might - if the lender is making a claim against a name, then the lender might register the overdue debt with one or more of the agencies you listed in your OP.
If someone has fraudulently (or mistakenly) allocated that debt to your name, then it might well show up on the report.
There is certainly no downside to regularly checking your credit reports that I can see. If it comes back with nothing of interest, then all good. If not, then you would potentially be very happy to have found out sooner than later!
Alan.
Insightful as always Alan! ;)
They actually all use different information, so I would do one at each to make sure you're covered.
As above, get one from each.
I have been regularly checking my credit report for a number of years.
1st year, Credit Simple (owned by Dun & Bradstreet, now Illion) had a Telecom default listed against me (Same name, different address & DoB). The other 2 credit reporting companies didnt.
This year Centrix had a directorship listed under my name (again, same name, different address), and again, the other 2 reporting agencies didnt.
In the first scenario, if a credit provider ran a check with D&S, I would likely have been rejected. From memory, it took about 6 weeks to be fixed. The 2nd one, 2 weeks
There is no time limitation on how far apart you can request a free credit report. Responses / reports are available from a few hours up to 10 (business) days depending on agency.
If you are thinking of applying for credit in the near future, get a check (and give yourself time to get any errors sorted)
Regular checking also allows you to time future credit applications till after any negative information has dropped off your record.
Thanks for the detailed comments. Good to know and this is exactly the issue that I would want to know about. What must be frustrating is the time and cost then to get these mistakes fixed (you have to fix someone else's mistakes).
Wasnt too bad (once my blood pressure went down), though it was a simple error' to spot / rectify. Telecom said "No, not you", so did Baycorp.
Reporting agencies must 'hide'or flag the record you are disputing until resolution. They also have 20 days to provide a decision or let you know more time is needed, so please forgive my memory for saying 6 weeks.
Haven't used any. I would say check the T&C's and if all looks ok apply for all of them. It's that magic word "free" so shouldn't be any harm in doing them all.