A credit report is meant to be an accurate reflection of your financial history. However, sometimes you may feel that not everything looks the way you expect it to.
Reading your credit report can be overwhelming, especially if you’re not completely familiar with all the numbers and terms mentioned. You may feel you’re doing everything correctly, but if you’re still missing key details, it may affect your financial health without you even realising it.
If you’ve ever looked at your credit report and felt lost, you’re not alone. There are many common mistakes that people make when reading their credit reports. The good news is that there’s often a reasonable explanation for anything you don’t understand.
In this guide, we’ll explore some of the common signs that you’re reading your credit report incorrectly. By understanding what to look for, you can take control of your financial situation and maintain a healthy credit score.
Let’s begin!
A common mistake many individuals make when reading their credit reports is failing to differentiate between soft and hard credit inquiries.
Soft inquiries, such as when you examine your own score or when a company performs a background review, do not affect your credit score in any way. However, hard inquiries, such as when you apply for a credit card or loan, may lower your credit score.
This distinction is especially important if you’re planning on applying for a bad credit loan. Having multiple hard inquiries on your report during a short period may make it more difficult to get your loan approved.
If you treat all your inquiries in the same way, you may worry unnecessarily over soft inquiries, thinking they are harming your credit score. Similarly, you may not worry enough over multiple hard inquiries, thinking they are harmless.
Understanding the difference between these two types of inquiries will help you avoid unnecessary stress and effectively manage your credit health.
With so many details present in credit reports, it’s easy to overlook minor errors in your personal information, such as a misspelt name or outdated address. However, these small discrepancies can stir up big problems when lenders or creditors attempt to verify your identity.
If you’re not reading your credit report correctly, it’s easy to miss these small errors. However, any differences between your personal information and the details on your credit report can lead to delays, rejections, or even incorrect entries.
When you read your credit report, carefully examine your personal information to ensure it’s up-to-date and accurate. This simple step will prevent larger issues later on.
If you spot any defaults or missed payments on your credit report, it can feel quite alarming, especially if you think they’ll be there forever. However, many negative marks, such as defaults or late payments, fall off your credit report after six years in the UK.
If you’re not aware of this, you may unknowingly stress yourself out, thinking your credit score is beyond repair. This is simply not true.
With timely and consistent payments, you can easily build up your credit score. Understanding how long negative information remains on your credit report is essential, as it helps you focus on what you can control.
Payment history is an important part of your credit report and needs to be treated as such.
You may already know about the impact of missed payments. However, making late payments consistently, even if you haven’t missed any, can also impact your credit score.
If you’re not reading through your payment history carefully, you may miss patterns of late payments that may be harming your credit score. Understanding how each payment affects your credit helps you make smarter decisions and take measures to avoid the same mistakes, such as setting reminders or automating payments.
If you’re only focusing on your total debt and failing to check the credit utilisation on individual accounts, you’re probably reading your credit report wrong.
Credit utilisation is the ratio of your credit card balance to your credit limit. Keeping this ratio low, typically under 30%, is essential if you want to maintain a healthy credit score.
If one card is completely maxed out, even if your total debt is not high, it can harm your credit score. When reading your credit report, review how much credit you’re using on each account instead of just focusing on the big picture. This allows you to focus on and target specific areas that need your attention.
Reading and understanding your credit report properly can be challenging, but it’s an essential part of managing your financial well-being.
If you find that you’ve been misreading certain areas, don’t be too hard on yourself—everyone makes mistakes occasionally. What’s important is learning from these mistakes and taking steps to remedy them and improve your credit health.
It’s never too late to get a clearer understanding of your credit and implement positive changes. By reading your credit report correctly and knowing what to look out for, you can make well-informed financial choices and secure a healthy financial future.