Why is it Important to Keep Your Credit Report up to Date?

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Your credit report is used by lenders to help them make a decision on whether or not they should offer you credit, along with other factors that can change from lender to lender. This report pulls in information about you such as time spent at different addresses, or if you have missed or late payments for example. This information, in turn, may affect your credit score.

However, there might be times when the information is out of date, or even incorrect. For instance, if you’re no longer sharing a joint mortgage, or you’re on the electoral register and this isn’t recorded on your credit report. Adding information like this can affect your credit score while empowering you to manage your credit and finances.

How Long Does it Take for Credit Reports to Update?

A credit report is made up of information from different sources, usually lenders, who give updates at different times. Some lenders update their information at the end of the month and some may do this nearer to the beginning. This means that updates won’t all happen at the same time.

Although updates may come through at different times, the information on your credit report may be updated every four to six weeks. Your Equifax Credit Report and Score will update automatically when you log in, showing you the current score based on available information at the time.

How Long Does it Take for a Credit Score to go up?

Although you might be actively taking steps to improve your credit score, this doesn’t necessarily mean your credit score will change quickly. Because there are various factors of a credit report, which can all take time to update individually, this can mean that improvements to your credit score can also take time.

This might be the case if you’ve had problems with credit card or mortgage payments in the past, but have started to be able to make regular, full and on-time payments more recently. It may take a while for this to be taken into account on your credit report, as you continue to be able to make these payments consistently.

Can I Improve My Credit Score Fast?

It’s not possible to guarantee a fast improvement to your Equifax credit score. However, keeping track of your credit report, and looking at ways to maintain a good credit report, is the best way of making a positive difference. While it might be frustrating waiting for a credit score to improve, working at changing spending habits and regularly monitoring your credit report can give a steady, reliable indication of trustworthiness to a lender.

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This article was written on 1 March 2022; all information was correct at the time of writing.

You’ll find more on managing your money, and how this can help your credit rating at our Knowledge Centre.