Читать книгу Money: A User’s Guide - Laura Whateley - Страница 34

Make sure you do not default on any household bills. Credit reports include information from, for example, your gas, electricity, insurance and water supplier. Any defaults, even if you failed to pay just £5, stay on and damage your report for six years.

Missing your last payment on an account will cost you about 130 points according to Experian; receiving a default, when an account is passed to debt collectors, or getting a court judgement, will cost you more than 250 points. These things fade over time, though: after three years you will lose fewer points for them. If there are any mistakes on your report, or any defaults that you think are unfair or misrepresent you, then you can ask the credit-reference agency to investigate them and add a note of up to 200 words (known as a notice of correction) on your file to put them right. Lay out why you feel they are unfair, or why your circumstances have changed. For example, you might write that you missed a bill because you had lost your job, but you are now fully employed and back to paying bills on time.