What You Need to Know About Credit Reports

credit reports

Credit reports can seem like a daunting task, but it’s important for you to know what they are. Let’s get started with the basics: what exactly is a credit report? It’s essentially a review of your overall financial health, and you get an overall score depending on how healthy your account and history is.

There are a number of areas your credit score can impact your life, so it’s important to be aware of what exactly it can entail.

What Does it Check?

According to Experian, there are a number of things your credit check will involve. This can include: whether you’ve applied for credit in the past, whether you make regular payments if you owe any money, who you’re financially associated with, and whether you’ve declared bankruptcy in the past. Some of this can already be public information, such as if you’ve had a County Court Judgement. If your employees run a credit check on you, they will have access to some – but not all – of this information.

Employment

Employees can do a credit check to check you are the person you’re claiming to be, but also to see whether your finances could impact your performance at work. Credit checks can impact the chances of you getting a job. Unfortunately, there will be some cases where if you have a bad rating, you won’t get hired. There are certain industries where a credit check is a legal requirement, such as financial or legal firms. However, other employees can a run credit check, too. Particularly in jobs that involve handling money.

Personal Finances

Of course, it’s not your professional life where your credit check can impact you, but your personal life, too. It could be something as simple as applying for a credit card. Which runs through a credit reports myths, including the credit blacklist – which doesn’t exist. Bank treats everyone as individuals and there’s not a credit score where they refuse to lend money. Also, some people believe that the more they check their credit score, this is a bad thing. However, it’s encouraged you actively check your credit at least once a year, this way you can keep an eye on your score and see if there has been any fraudulent activity.

No Credit Check Bank Account

If you do have a poor credit history, there are still things you can to improve your rating. This can include cutting down your credit usage and gaining good history. Another thing you could consider is opening a no credit check bank account, such as the ones provided by thinkmoney. They allow you to open an account even with bad credit. For a small monthly fee, they will help handle your finances and even help you budget your bills. You can get real help with your finances from real people.