According to the National Credit Act, South Africans may view a free copy of their annual credit report. Reports are broken down into multiple sections, including identifying information, account data, public judgments, and profile inquiries. Each bureau has unique procedure that customers should follow when disputing discrepancies in their report, or if customers see any information which causes them to think their identity was stolen.

Identification information tops the profile page. Employer information, addresses, spouse’s names, identity numbers, and borrower names are all examples of identification information, which may be included in the document. Major variations in identifying information may indicate identity theft. On the other hand, small variations, like an incorrect single number in an identity number sequence, are probably the result of incorrect reporting by an employer or a creditor.

Credit history will include creditor names and account numbers. The entry will contain information about the type of loan, the amount of the loan, and how much the borrower still owes. Additional information will include monthly payments, payment history, and the current status of the account. If accounts appear on the profile, and the borrower does not recognize them, then the borrower should look into the possibility of identity theft.

Public records include judgments which will seriously affect a credit score. Bankruptcies, tax liens, and other financial judgments will appear in this section. In most cases of good history, this section of the report will be completely blank.

The inquiries section shows borrowers who has evaluated their profile. When consumers fill out a credit application, then the inquiry is called a “hard” inquiry. When a company makes an inquiry, because they want to send promotional information to a borrower, then the inquiry is called a “soft” inquiry. Since many inquiries may impact a profile score, borrowers should complete as few applications as possible.

If inaccurate information is found on the profile, then borrowers must dispute. Bureaux usually send out forms with reports that explain how to file a dispute. Disputes usually take time to resolve, because creditors have thirty days to respond. However, disputing an incorrect charge is worthwhile, since experts guess that nearly eighty percent of all profiles contain some sort of error.

Borrowers with excellent information on their annual credit report will receive access to top financial products and interest rates. With a poor profile, borrowers may have difficulty obtaining housing, or may be charged exorbitant interest rates on loans. Therefore, to preserve their financial security and well-being, borrowers should keep up with the information on their profiles.

You can find great tips on how to read an annual credit report and details about the advantages of getting your annual credit report online on our website, today.

If you’ve been trying for credit lines lately it’s a smart idea to check your credit record. Perhaps you’ve been using a pay day loan service such as Quick Quid or one of the other banks who pass on your payment history to the credit bureaus once a debt is settled. Even though you haven’t had any credit lately, it’s still sound practise to be certain details held by the the main credit bureaus is correct to guarantee your credit rating does not suffer.

You should always take a look at your credit history at all of the main credit bureaus as some will have different info than others.

If you find anything that shouldn’t be on your report then make sure they know immediately and find out where the source of the false data is before it can become a major concern.

Often it will only be a mistake that the credit company has made and that explains why it is important that you check with all of the major credit bureaus and not only one. It may be the one that you didn’t check that had the wrong info that may prevent you from getting the credit you apply for when you need it.

If the ‘error ‘ turns out to be an issue with identity theft then you will need to contact all of the credit bureaus and take advice from their fraud department.

They will place a flag on your file that will let anyone who is looking for info from your credit report know that you’ve been a victim of fraud.

The alert will also make it clear to you when a bank or lender is having a look at your file and if this is happening when you are not requiring it for any money transactions then it could be as the identity thief is hoping to get cash in your name.

Alerts sometimes last for 90 day but this period can be extended if you need it to be.

When finance company sees the person attempting to get the credit isn’t you they are going to deny the application and will tell the authorities about the identity thief trying to get finance fraudulantly.

Be sure to check out Payday Loans to find out how these types of loans can effect your credit rating or check out Identity Theft Deterrent and find out how to protect yourself from this type of fraud.