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Possessing a negative personal credit record could be a considerable situation.  A quick Msn investigation unearths a amount of businesses specialising in so-called ‘credit repair’ but what many don’t understand is that one can save your self a great deal of time and cash by taking measures to sort out your credit yourself.  In this article, we show you just how to do simply that.

1. Obtain a Free Copy of Your Credit Report

Before you do anything, you need to know what you’re up against.  That can only be done by discovering exactly what you need to sort out. You are legally entitled to view your credit report and it will provide with a great deal of information about your current situation and is probably going surprise or even shock you in some way.

Believe it or not you are permitted a free report from the main credit bureaus.

Ensure you get a copy of your history from more than one office as different companies may have only registered a problem with one of them.  They don’t generally share information.

2. Take Time To Assess What Your Report Says

You may well be in for a shock once you actually get your reports.  Don’t be frightened or put off by what you see.  Take down the details, make a careful note of the facts and ensure that what is written is absolutely correct.  Look for accounts or entries that are not related you, note incorrect information about late payments but crucially, confirm the details that you know to be correct.

3. Start a Dispute For Incorrect Entries

You are perfectly within your rights to challenge entries in your credit report.  Normally each bureau provides information about dispute resolution and it’s good advice to follow this as part of your action plan.

If that’s not possible, you should write a formal letter to the particular credit office and include a copy of your credit report in order that they know what you are challenging.

4. Try To Get Past Accounts Up To Date

Your credit score is largely affected by your payment history.  Poor payment records or outstanding creditors can severely affect your score.  Taking action here is paramount to improving your score.Only with concerted action and communication with your creditors are you likely to be able to get them to file a notice to delete the record from your history

Contact the companies concerned and see if you can negotiate preferential payment terms.

Then ask your creditor to note your account as ‘current’ or ‘paid’.  That will go a long way to removing that entry from your record.

5. Manage Your Debt

If you are someone who has abused borrowing facilities before, do everything you can to get your debt levels down to reasonable levels.

Most don’t realise that up to 30% of your credit score is related to your current debt as a percentage of your available credit.

6. Try To Find New Ways of Borrowing Sensibly

When you have managed to sort out your current problems, spend time getting positive information added to your entries.

 Maintain your credit balances below permitted levels and ensure that you make your payments on time.

If you can, seek new credit but don’t overdo the applications.  Initially, just make one request for new credit then sit back and wait to see what response you get.  If you continually make new applications that fail, this will be recorded against your record and is likely to go against you.

This is the point where you may wish to look at forms of debt consolidation such as cheap personal eloans .If you are a home owner you should take time to look for the best zero down interest only loans to see if you can consolidate your debt by borrowing against your property.

Look also at your annual fixed costs especially insurance policies for the home and car.  Choose from cheap car insurance quotes for first time drivers . 

7. Seek Out Debt Professionals To Help You

If you feel like you’re sinking then seek out extra help. Help is never far away and there are many debt counselling professionals with many contacts who will be prepared to help you.

This is important if your creditors aren’t prepared to work with you or you cannot face up to your debt problems yourself.

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