Specialist lender aqua card creates quiz to clear up credit confusion
aqua card, provider of credit cards for bad credit, has released a new online quiz today, which aims to teach the UK public about personal credit rating.
It tests users’ knowledge by presenting true or false questions on ten key credit-related topics, such as how bankruptcy, missed payments, savings and divorce could affect your credit score; building the users understanding of how credit rating works.
Emma Davis, an online manager at aqua card says: “With around 165,000 online searches made each month in the UK for the phrase: What is credit rating?, its clear that lots of people want to under the system better. Our new quiz will hopefully help people to do this.”
Emma continues: “Its really important to be well informed about personal credit rating and actively working towards having manageable debts. Sometimes a bad score can be easily prevented or improved. T
Americans Still Owe Billions to Credit Cards
ATLANTA (Source: Equifax) - While Americans continue to pay off debts and reduce spending, Equifax (NYSE: EFX), one of the leading nationwide credit reporting agencies, finds many households still carry a heavy debt burden – in some cases owing up to 17 percent of their income to credit card companies alone.No one region of the country is shouldering the credit card debt burden – Equifax found the top 50 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) hardest hit by credit card debt, as a percentage of income owed in 2010, are clustered in six states across the country: Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Washington and California.
These states also have some of the highest total credit card balances for the country:
Equifax reports that while total consumer debt (mortgage, auto, credit card, etc.) has declined 8.2 percent from its peak of $11.5 trillion in October of 2008, 54 million American households still owe more than $800 billion in debt to credit card companies alone – irrespective of other debts such as mortgages or students loans.
“The good news is we’re seeing Americans paying off their debts and becoming more fiscally fit,” says Dianne Bernez, Equifax’s senior vice president for corporate communications. “However, the
How Long Can Debt Stay With Your Credit?
If you have ever missed a payment / bill in the past, you have probably noticed that it shows up on your credit report relatively fast.
Now, the question is how long does this debt stay on your credit report?
For starters, if you don’t owe those payments, or there are some errors, you will want to contact the credit bureaus immediately to solve the issues. You will want to make sure that you have as much evidence as possible.
If you did owe those bills and never decided to pay, you will find that on average, your debt is going to stay on your credit report for around 7 years.
Federal law will state that an account can appear on a credit report for 7.5 years. After the first delinquency on the account, the clock will start after 180 days. When you add 7.5 years to the first delinquency, this is when you will find out when your overpaid bill will disappear.
Now, for a bankruptcy, this can show up for up to 10 years from your final order. Other loans such as student loans and more will stay on there until they are paid off. These type of loans are immune to bankruptcies and you will owe until the balance reaches $0.
What happens if I challenge?
When you contact the credit bureaus, you’re going to want to send a dispute letter. Once the bureaus receive a dispute letter, the credit bureau will forward that dispute to the actual creditor. From there, they will be able to fight it, or agree to it.
Depending on the outcome, you will find that if they dispute it, it will be on hold. If the creditor agrees to it, your debt will be wiped from your credit report. This is why it’s important that you dispute all errors that show up on your report. People don’t realize how much it can come back to haunt you.
To read more consumer laws and how you can dispute credit report errors, you will find that this FTC guide is a very valuable resource.
Bad Credit Repair-Ways To Repair Your Credit Legally
In today’s world of credit score based lending, credit repair can make a world of difference. Credit repair is simply a legal way to clean up and improve your credit file also known as your credit report. A successful credit repair process has an end result of bringing an individual’s financial history back to life. As much as it helps, it takes time, and should never be viewed as a quick fix.
Although credit repair may seem like a very tedious process it is actually a small price to pay for the benefits gained. This process has become a necessary part of today’s life as more and more people fall victim to bad credit. This “repair” re-establishes the individual’s creditworthiness in the eyes of potential lenders and/or existing creditors. Credit repair is not an easy process and is not something that happens over night.
Taking the time and effort to repair your credit requires patience and, many times, the help of an outside organization. Many have b Full Article…
How to Achieve Successful Personal Loans
An individual seeks the help of a personal loan especially when in dire need of money to support personal financial affairs. If one person who is very eager to secure a loan would apply for such, it would be very discouraging if his application was unapproved. Because you don’t know the exact time when you would have to apply for the loan, you should start taking care of your credit history. The article focuses on helpful inputs to help your loan application be successful.
First, provide your trusted lender with all the required information of yourself. This would include your personal profile, residential information, income, and employment status. If ever you have previous experiences wherein your credit background has been stained due to an inevitable factor, append a letter. T Full Article…
Can Simply Obtaining A Copy of Your Credit Report Help To Repair Your Credit Score?
Credit Tip! 1. Get copies of your credit report–then make sure the information is correct. Go to www.annualcreditreport.com. This is the only authorized online source for a free credit report.
You should review a copy of your credit report, annually. Although credit-reporting agencies make every effort of ensure the information included in your credit report is accurate, mistakes do occur and will affect your credit rating. If you check your credit report annually, you will be able to have the wrong information corrected before it becomes a problem.
If you find a mistake in your credit report, bring the error to their attention. A number of credit reporting problems are from someone else’s information showing up on your credit report. If you don’t recognize the creditor doing the reporting, contact the credit bureau and get the contact information, so you can follow up with them.
Free Credit Report Online – Checking Your Credit Online is Convenient
Credit Tip! You should contact the credit reporting agency and request that the inaccurate information be taken off. To do this you will need to send a letter of request and enclose a copy of the report with the incorrect information highlighted.
Many consumers understand the value of regularly monitoring their credit reports. Identity theft affects millions annually. Furthermore, credit report errors can result in credit card or loan denials. Sadly, many people do not take the necessary precautions to safeguard their credit. There are many ways to protect our credit. To begin, you should make a habit of checking your report every six months.
The Purpose of Personal Credit Reports
A consumer’s credit worthiness is judged by information included in their credit report. When applying for any type of credit, lenders will review your credit score or full report. C