Find Out Where You Stand
There are many people out there who have been denied credit on the basis of a poor credit rating and have thus been unable to get a mortgage, buy a house or even, in some cases, pay for medical treatment. The reason for their poor credit rating may be that they have run their accounts badly in the past. Alternatively, they may well have run things impeccably, yet it still happens all too often that despite their good conduct they will be denied credit. There are varying reasons for this, some of which are quite shocking.
In a number of cases, people have been denied credit because of the address at which they live. Unknown to them, a past resident may have run up huge bills and fled, causing not only a slew of final reminders and other such threatening letters to turn up in the mailbox, but also black marks to go against that address when it comes to credit searches. Because of a lack of transparency, you may never find out about this, but it could be what is stopping you getting credit.
Additionally, the practice of identity theft, although a major priority for lenders and law enforcement alike, can often pass undetected – fraudsters may be immoral but they are not stupid. Someone could be using your name and your details to run up huge balances they have no intention of paying off. Again it is you who will suffer, in the form of your credit rating being decimated – but if you check your credit record regularly you can catch them out.