Checkmyfile: (A Complete Guide)
By
HuutiMoney
Your credit report is a very important thing as it affects most of your finances and having a healthy credit score is very good for your financial wellbeing.
In this brief guide, we will cover whether using checkmyfile to check your credit score is a good choice, how to cancel your checkmyfile account and what alternatives you may have to checkmyfile.
A guide on checkmyfile
Checkmyfile is a UK company which displays to consumers their credit reports from all three credit reference agencies in the UK.
The Credit reference agencies include:
The fact that checkmyfile offers the credit report of all three credit reference agencies means that consumers can compare these reports to see if there are any errors of things missing from their credit reports and why their credit scores aren’t rising across the board.
Checkmyfile isn’t the only company offering consumers the chance to see their credit reports as Clearscore, Credit Kharma, Equifax and Experian all offer consumers the opportunity to view their credit scores. Checkmyfile is, however, the only company that offers all three reports from the three credit reference agencies.
It is important to note that checkmyfile only provides a credit report provided through the above credit reference agencies and that checkmyfile isn’t a credit reference agency itself.
How much is checkmyfile?
Checkmyfile offers a free 30-day service initially then you have to pay £14.99 per month. You will have to decide whether the cost of checkmyfile is worth it fo you or whether you will simply want to register to an alternative service to check your credit report.
Checkmfile will not sell your data or pass it on for any marketing purpose. They also offer free fraud help with this £14.99 price point.
What is the purpose of a credit score?
Credit scores and histories essentially collect and store information on your credit behaviour. This means how many times you apply for credit, how much credit you have, how much credit you have paid back, how much credit you owe, what your credit repayment history is, do you miss credit repayments or do you make all your credit repayments on time, what type of credit you have, how many credit accounts you have and other relevant information relevant to your identity and credit including:
- How many addresses you have had?
- Your date of birth
- Your rent repayment history
- Your current address
- If you are registered on the electoral roll
- If you have had any court judgements which affect your credit rating such as
A CCJ
An IVA
A debt management plan
A default
A bankruptcy
A home reposession
The totality of this information makes up your credit score and history and all of this information will be available through checkmyfile.
When you go on checkmyfile and register you will be able to see your credit score.
Your credit score is a number which summarizes your credit behaviour with one ranking.
You will notice that on checkmyfile you have different credit scores with the different credit reference agencies.
The reason for this is that the different credit reference agencies use different methods to calculate your credit score.
If you’re wondering if your credit score is high or not you can simply use it based on the scale you are looking at.
Your credit report is a summary and history of all your credit behaviour.
In your checkmyfile dashboard, you will be able to see your credit reports from all the three credit reference agencies. This credit report will contain all the main elements of your credit report in more detail. If you find anything on your credit report which you think is an error then you should contact checkmyfile and dispute this or contact the credit reference agency who supplied the report to dispute this directly with them.
What do you need to have a good credit score?
You may have checked your checkmyfile dashboard and noticed that you have a low credit score. This will usually be because the factors that make up your complete credit report will indicate that you have done things which don’t constitute good credit behaviour r in some cases you haven’t done the basic things which ensure you have a solid credit foundation such as registering on the electoral roll or opening a credit account.
To have a good credit score you will usually need to:
Keep up on your monthly credit repayments
Apply for credit when you are eligible
Register on the electoral roll
Have few addresses on your credit accounts
Avoid having any court judgement against you such as:
A CCJ
An IVA
A debt management plan
A default
A bankruptcy
A home reposession
These court judgements will be recorded on your credit report and will usually last there for 6 years before they will vanish or stop affecting your credit score. You can see if you have any of these court judgements on your credit score by looking at your checkmyfile credit report and comparing the report from all three credit reference agencies.
You can view a more extensive guide on how to build credit and after taking some of the tips provided you can check your checkmyfile account in a few months to see if any changes have happened to your score.
Initially when you take out new credit or take any action that may reflect on your credit file your credit score may initially go down and you may be able to see this on your checkmyfile account.
Whenever you try to build credit you should accept that it may take a while for you to see any results because the different credit reference agencies will usually not apply any updates to your account or it may not affect your credit score instantly.
Why do you need a good credit score?
A good credit score is important as it ensures you are eligible for credit products such as mortgages, credit cards, loans etc
A good credit score will not only make you eligible for credit products but, more importantly, it will ensure you are eligible for the good rates mortgage lenders offer on products.
Aside from being eligible for credit products a credit score may affect you if you want to rent an apartment or if you are applying for a job( especially one in a regulated industry). You may miss out on a job or apartment due to bad credit behaviour. This is why it is vital you have a good credit score and check your credit score and report regularly through checkmyfile.
The data on checkmyfile is usually updated monthly or as when received from the credit reference agencies which usually update their credit database on a monthly basis.
You may notice your checkmyfile account will update on one credit reference agency but there may be no update on the other credit reference agencies.
This is simply because the different credit reference agencies update their databases at different times and this is not in the control of Checkmyfile.
checkmyfile login
You can find the checkmyfile login page here.
To go byond the checkmyfile login page you will need your email adress, your date of birth and your password.
If you are having issues with your checkmyfile login then you can try rest your password by clicking the forgeotten password link on the checkmyfile login page.
If this still doesnt work then you should contact Checkmyfile and inform them that your checkmyfile login isnt working.
How to cancel your checkmyfile account?
If you want to cancel your checkmyfile account you can simply
Log in to your Credit Report then
Click on ‘Expert Help’ and then ‘I need help with my account’ then
Select ‘I’d like to stop my subscription’
Alternatively, you can contact checkmyfile with the details on their contact page and inform them that you wish to cancel your account.
If you cancel your account within the 30 initial free days you will not pay anything but you may be charged from the 31st day so if you did intend to cancel then make sure you cancel well ahead of the 31st day.
Is it worth using checkmyfile?
This depends on if you think using checkmyfile and access to the credit reports from all the credit reference agencies may be beneficial to you.
Most people may simply stick to information from one credit reference agency and get their free statutory reports from the other credit reference agencies once in a while (maybe every year) to ensure that the date that the other credit reference agencies hold is accurate and if it isn’t then they could simply dispute the error with the credit reference agency.
When looking at things from this point then it may not be so relevant to pay £14.99 for checkmyfile.
There are other services which offer a credit report and history such as clearscore which you may consider as a better alternative to checkmyfile.
You may still find value by using checkmyfile because you want to ensure you have a complete overview of your credit score and history from all the credit reference agencies.
A free trial of checkmyfile
If you are unsure about checkmyfile but still somewhat curious then you may want to simply do a free trial with checkmyfile to see if it is something that you may want to use. You must just ensure that you cancel your checkmyfile account before the 31st day if you plan not to continue using it to avoid then paying the £14.99 fee which checkmyfile charges per month
If you need financial advice and you live in the UK then you could contact the Money Advice service over the phone or via chat for impartial advice.
You can also contact the debt charity “Step Change” if you are in debt and need help.
