Your right to your Statutory Credit Report
If your mortgage broker believes there could be information on your credit file affecting your ability to secure a mortgage, they will ask you to obtain a copy of your credit report.
What does this mean?
Your broker is requesting an up-to-date copy of your full credit report and this is available via companies such as Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. Ideally, you should obtain reports from all three sources as the data on them sometimes differs.
You have the statutory right to access your personal credit information, and a credit agency is permitted under the Data Protection Act 1998 to charge you £2 for providing your statutory credit report.
CheckmyFile
The easy route.
CheckmyFile provides a subscription service that allows you to download your credit report online within minutes.
The service is £14.99 per month and gives you access, through on report to your credit files from the three major UK credit reference agencies Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
CheckmyFile offers you your first month’s subscription free to trial the service. If you cancel in the first month you pay nothing.
How to download your credit report from checkmyfile
Credit report from the 3 main UK Providers
Equifax
Instructions to obtain your credit report from Equifax here.
Experian
Obtain your Experian credit report here.
TransUnion* (Credit Karma)
Instructions to obtain your statutory credit report from TransUnion here.
*Formerly Call Credit (Noddle)
Do not email your credit report to anyone!
Normal emails can be easily intercepted and your credit file contains all the information needed for identity theft.
We have a secure upload facility so that you can upload your credit report to us safely and securely.
What to look for on the credit agency website
You can find your credit report online but you should know what you are looking for. Credit agencies offer a service that allows you to access and monitor your credit file 24/7 online. They will normally charge a monthly fee for this service but frequently offer the service free for an initial period. Since these are commercial operations you will see that their websites are plastered with ‘free access’ offers and opportunities to ‘improve your credit score’ and receive ‘identity theft alerts’.You will decide if these added services are of any value to you. Your mortgage broker only requires a copy of your statutory credit report.
What about credit score?
Credit reference agencies love the concept of the credit score and would have you believe that a person with a score of ‘999’ is a ‘shoo-in’ to obtain credit. Having a ‘credit score’ on your credit file is simply a marketing exercise for the credit reference agencies. Lenders are interested in the data inside the credit file, not an arbitrary figure stamped on the front page. Since ‘improving your credit score’ is the tagline that the credit agencies use to sell their product you will always see a ‘credit score’ but you can ignore it for practical purposes.
How can I read and understand my credit file?
Elsewhere on this website we have extensive notes on how to check your credit report.