When it comes to applying for a mortgage, you will have been planning for this for some time. You likely understand the implications your past decisions regarding your credit will have on your ability to gain a mortgage. However, looking into your previous credit history and fully understanding your credit history and analysing your past financial behaviour before you put in your application will help you to improve your chances of your mortgage being accepted the first time. One of the tools we recommend for checking your credit is the “Check My File” website.
What Is Check My File?
Check My File is the only UK website that provides you with a detailed credit file report and credit score that includes all the information held on your ability to gain credit from all four of the UK credit reference agencies.
Check My File allows consumers to see what companies see when you apply for credit and gives you a physical score allowing you to see your creditworthiness. This allows the users to be able to have a complete picture when it comes to their credit history and then take steps to protect their credit future, improve their rating or keep an eye out for any fraudulent applications in their name. You can also easily find previous addresses and information likely to be required for applications such as gaining mortgage or more complex loans without the need to be scouring your files for an hour on end.
On Check My File, you can check the following;
- See if you are on the electoral roll.
- Identify any fraudulent activity.
- View information held on you by the four different credit reference agencies
- People who are financially associated with you
- Check court records
- Check for CCJs
Who Needs To Use Check My File?
We recommend everyone use Check My File to gain a complete and thorough picture of your current credit status but especially those who will be applying for a mortgage. Your mortgage broker will likely explain to you the types of information potential lenders will be looking at and applying this knowledge to the information available to you form Check My File, you will easily be able to see what the lenders see and take the required action to corrector resolve and discrepancies that could harm your chances of being accepted for a mortgage.
Once you can see how you are scoring against qualifying criteria for mortgage applications, you will be in a much better position to move ahead with your application and be more confident that your application has the best chance of being accepted.
How to Use Check My File
Check My File is a subscription service and signing up means you agree to pay the £14.99 a month fee for full use of the site and all its features, or you can sign up to the free checker option for a limited time. Upon verifying your identity, you will then have access to all the financial information held against you, positive and negative.
It is worth taking your time to thoroughly read through all the information provided and familiarise yourself with the layout and terminology and the different credit reference agencies information. different lenders use different companies and Check My File will show you exactly what lenders will see when running credit checks via each company.
Head over to the jargon buster tools to familiarise yourself with the terminology used within your report. Once you are aware of what all the terminology means, you will be able to understand your credit report better and know where you need work improvements.
One of the first things you need to identify is any circumstances where you have failed to meet your financial commitments and their impact this has on your credit score and creditworthiness. Missed payments, outstanding balances all impact how favourably lenders look upon application. Making plans to repay what you owe in full or by way of an agreed payment plan with existing lenders will help you to improve your credit score and boost your mortgage application.
Checking your credit score may seem simple, but in reality, all four different credit reference agencies use different criteria to score you. Without using a service such as Check My File, you will find it virtually impossible to see what each agency scores you and how. Expand on your score with all the UK major credit agencies by making sure you have checked what your score is individually and what brings it down with each one individually.
Use the tool to track negative impacts and make sure they are removed when cleared in full. The complete picture of your past and current financial situation is always available for you to check how your information is being used and as you can see up to date information you can identify any transaction or applications that could be made fraudulently and have them removed and investigated almost immediately.
Benefits of Signing up to Check My File
Using a credit checking tool such Check, My File can have a huge positive impact in your life going forward, not just for your mortgage application. Being unaware of how your application will be judged can be a tense and stressful situation but by having as much information as possible about how lenders will be looking at and how you are performing in regards to your financial commitments.
Having full control over how you can improve your credit score will help you move forward to know exactly how you spend your money, what you owe and your likelihood of being accepted for mortgages, loans or another complex lending option.
To see what type of mortgage you could get based on your circumstance get in touch with us today or fill in our mortgage calculator to get you started on the journey to owning your own home. Yes Mortgage Services Limited are a whole of market broker and we don’t charge a broker fee for the work we do, therefore it is worth booking a time to talk to one of the team here to make sure you are in the best possible position to get your mortgage / remortgage.
At Yes Mortgage Services, we offer a comprehensive range of products from across the market.
Irrespective of whether you are looking to buy a new home, re-mortgage an existing property, or looking to protect your family from the unpredictability that life throws at it or protect your income if you are unable to work due to accident or ill health.
Yes Mortgage Services are committed to offering you the highest possible standards of service. We can undertake the whole process from answering the initial questions through to handling multiple product applications. Ensuring that everyone gets treated with the same urgency and maintaining your best interests are our main goals irrespective of the value of the mortgage.
We recognise that both we and our customers have everything to gain if we look after your best interests and treat you fairly in all aspect of our dealings with you.
