Credit+Rating

Credit Rating

WARNING! Your credit file doesn't cost £12. Don't be fooled. Get it free

A friend who's been rejected for a credit card, commented that she thought the fact it costs £12 to get her credit report is outrageous. It is. It's also not true! If you click on their websites, the credit reference agencies make it look like the online version is the main option. Actually you have a statutory legal right to get your information for just £2 via the post. Better still there's also a loophole to get it free. Don't let them unnecessarily grab your money.

 Updated Article: Your Credit Rating, how to get it and how it works Related Articles: Best Card For New Borrowing, Internet Shopping Time & Money Saving Techniques

Sneakily and speedily get the info online for free

The credit agencies’ desire to sell us ‘credit monitoring’ allows a loophole. To tempt you they offer ‘free trials’. Now of course free doesn’t really mean free. You have to give them your credit card details and set up a Direct Debit to pay and they hope you’ll do just that.

Yet if you, quite legitimately, sign up for the service and set up an account, you can view your credit report at no cost (either instantly or after they’ve sent a passcode) and then once you’ve viewed it, just immediately cancel the account having never paid a penny.

 Do ensure you cancel immediately though. Don’t leave it the full month, or you may forget and need to pay the whole thing. And don’t order the add-on ‘credit score/rating’ services as they’re not refundable.

This technique can be used with the following:

> The only agency that doesn’t have a free trial service is CallCredit. Then again, it’s the least used of the reference agencies and it’s not such a problem.
 * [|Equifax’s Credit Watch Gold*]. This has two options, one at £7.50 a month, but the one to choose is the ‘Free for 30 days and then £69.99 for the year’.
 * [|Experian’s Credit Expert]. It offers a ‘free trial then £5.99 per month’ service and cancelling allows you to view your report for free.

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 110%;"> How to cancel

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 110%;">With Experian and Equifax, if you cancel within the initial 30 day period, you won’t be charged for using the service. To do this, simply use one of the following methods

> >
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 110%;">Equifax: Call 0870 0100583, quote your account reference and ask for your subscription to be cancelled
 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 110%;">Experian: Call the free-phone number 0800 656 9000, or email customerservice@creditexpert.co.uk.

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 110%;">However if you would prefer to simply pay for an instant online report, the cheapest around is [|CheckMyFile*], here don't use its credit monitor service (as it has no free trial) go directly to it's credit report, which for £16.95 provides credit details from all three agencies. CheckMyFile is an independent company, which has probably the best laid out and easiest to understand reports