Free Credit Report

What happens when you want to know about credit history? On an individual, or on a company? Well, you need to go about getting a credit report. These can be costly if you dont know where to look, so your best to try and get a free credit report if your can, and Im going to help you find one.

There are a few ways to go about getting a credit report online for free, but to really get what your after you need to be cautious, as many people are simply trying to get information out of you, and may not provide the information your actually looking for.

Some of the better places will offer a seperate software download, that then puts the software on your computer that enables you to search by name, company etc to get the credit ratings.

Watch out for ones that ask you to fill in your email and then email you a credit report in return. These are time consuming, and no where near as flexible as the ones that are a seperate software interface. The email based replies are more time consuming in the long run, as if you wish to run multiple enquiries you need to do seperate emails each time, rather than just run a new search, that doesnt take very long at all.

Your free credit report should contain information that specifically identifies you or the person you are trying to get info on. Such information includes employee identifying information, work history, current employment, past credit data and if there is any current credit leins outstanding.

Ideally, your report should also provide seperate but reliable information that shows whats called your trade lines. These are the bank accounts, credit cards, mortgages and loans that you have, who you have them with and when they were taken out (date). The credit limits imposed on these give a good indication of the credit risk the party is deemed to be.

Another good element to inspect on your free credit report, is the amount of enquiry on the report, which shows everyone who has accessed your credit file in the last two years. Be sure to make distincitons between voluntary and involuntary reports, as these are quite different. Involuntary request are ones not authorised by the party, such as when a pre approved credit forms are mailed out to someone.