Bad Credit Score

There are three major credit reporting agencies, Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. They provide the credit report once in 12 months to the consumer after they request for it. Earlier it used to charge for this but now they are free.

A credit report is comprised of your payment history, listings of your account, balances and your payment behavior for each loan or creditor. It is not a credit score. But credit scores use the information on your credit report in their calculation.

It is very important to keep a track record of your credit score using these credit reporting companies. You should always cross check your reports. If there is any wrong entry in your credit report then it should be immediately reported to the reporting company. Wrong credit report can lead to low credit score.

Credit monitoring is another service that you can ask when you get the credit report. You can also ask the agency to notify you whenever there is a doubtful entry in your credit report. This can include opening or closing of an account or the change in address.

A free credit report can also help you in increasing your credit score. This can notify you about your accounts that you have forgotten to close. These unclosed accounts can lead to a bad credit score.