New Government Credit Report Initiative to Reduce Cost of Fighting Fraud

Today the Government has launched a new initiative which allows consumers to view their credit report instantly online at a cost of only £2.

The three main credit agencies; Experian, Equifax and CallCredit currently offer a free, no obligation online credit report trial.

This gives instant access to the credit file and includes alerts when further changes are made to the file, but after the 30 day trial period this service can cost up to £8 per month should the borrower forget that the agreement remains in place.

"Since all three credit agencies work slightly differently it is not uncommon for them to have different data on one person," said a spokesperson for Saving Your Home Ltd, a company that specialises in debt management.

"We always recommend that all three reports are viewed, but this used to be costly if the contract wasn't cancelled before the trial ended".

However, the new initiative offers the full credit report instantly online, but for a one-off fee of only £2.

Although the statutory report has previously been available at this price, consumers could only view it in paper format, which could take up to a week to arrive in the post.

For those borrowers who feared they might be the subject of identity theft or fraud, this time period was unsatisfactory, which has forced the government to impose this scheme which has been welcomed by consumer groups.

"We feel this is a great step forward and will help those not only who have bad credit, but also people who are worried about identity theft and fraud".

Obtaining a copy of a credit file has always been an essential part of the process to help get debt under control.

By obtaining a credit report, a consumer can not only view what information is held on them, but also see if anything needs to be corrected.

A person with bad credit history, including defaults and CCJ's will have a few options to consider when looking to manage their debt, depending on what information is on their credit files.