Who are Experian?
A leading consumer credit company, Experian provide aggregated information for a number of banks and businesses throughout the world. Known as one of the big three agencies alongside TransUnion and Equifax – the company helps eliminate fraud, prevent identity theft, and analyse customer use cases to help businesses provide better standards of service. The company currently holds information on over one billion individuals that helps their clients and customer make better decisions about how to serve their users.
For financial institutions, this is extremely helpful when it comes to making assessments about their customer’s eligibility for lines of credit and – in particular – how likely they are to repay. If your chosen bank uses Experian, they will provide a report on your credit information which can help them make a decision about what products and services to offer you.
However, no institution is perfect and, if Experian does makes a mistake, the knock-on effects can potentially be severe.
How can an error impact your life?
Having a poor credit rating can be damaging to any individual looking to secure a loan or make use of other financial services. Any time you previously used a service that involved loans or repayments, your key information is collected into your credit report. This can be as simple as repaying a student loan, paying a credit card debt, or as comprehensive as filing for bankruptcy.
If you report has information that does not match your use history, this can result in an inaccurate view of your finances and result in you being unduly reprimanded.
What should I know before querying?
How often you can ask: If your provider is Experian, you can request a look at your credit report once a year for free. If you want to review your information more closely – with the ideal figure being every three to four months if your credit is a concern – this will incur some extra spend.
When to ask: Conventionally, being turned down for a loan or line of credit should prompt you to take a look at your records. If your credit is already a potential concern for you, it’s also helpful to review your rating before approaching financial bodies. This can let you get a better picture of the options you have available to you and help get better guidance from the business.
Best processes for credit: In the chance that an ‘error’ on your report is accurate, it is essential that you review your current approach to managing your personal finances and institute some best-practice changes. This can be as simple as setting up auto-payments to ensure that your credit lines are paid off in time or changing your budget to allow you to repay outstanding debts quickly and – most importantly – responsibly.
What next?
If you want further help when it comes to dealing with institutions like Experian, please do not hesitate to visit our site here https://www.crediful.com/experian-dispute/. This can help you find some best-practice advice about how to proceed with a dispute and bespoke guidance on how to maximise your chances of success.