Checking your credit reports after completion: all three agencies, free

Why checking your reports is the first job after an IVA

Lenders do not see your paperwork, your certificate or your story. They see your credit reports, and they make decisions on what those reports say.

After an IVA completes, a report can be out of date: a debt still showing a balance, a default dated after the IVA began, or the IVA itself not yet marked as completed. Left alone, errors like these can make your file read as if you are still insolvent, and that can mean avoidable declines just as you are starting to rebuild.

An hour of checking now is time well spent.

Who are the three credit reference agencies?

The UK has three credit reference agencies: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. Each one holds its own version of your credit file, built from what lenders report to it, and lenders do not all report to, or check, the same agencies.

That means your three reports can genuinely differ, and a mistake can sit on one report while the other two are clean. This is why checking one agency is not enough.

After an IVA, the only way to know what any given lender might see is to read all three.

How to check all three credit reports for free

You never need to pay to see your own credit file. Every agency must give you a free copy of your statutory credit report, which you can request through its website.

ClearScore is one free way to see your Equifax report. Each agency also sells paid subscriptions with extra features, but you do not need one simply to read and check your file.

Viewing your own report is recorded as a soft check that only you can see: it is not an application for credit and it does not affect your score.

What to look for on your reports after an IVA

Work through each report with your IVA paperwork beside you. First, the IVA entry itself: it should be marked as completed, with the correct start date and completion date.

Second, every debt that was included in your IVA: each one should show a zero balance and a settled or partially settled status, not an active balance being chased. Third, default dates: a default on a debt that went into your IVA should not be dated after the day your IVA started, because a later date keeps that marker on your file for longer than it should be there.

Finally, the basics: your name, addresses and electoral roll details should be accurate and consistent across all three reports.

How to fix mistakes on your credit reports

If you find an error, you can dispute it with the credit reference agency, with the lender that reported it, or both. Each agency has a free online dispute process, and they typically respond within about 28 days.

Your IVA completion certificate is the key piece of evidence, so have a copy ready to send: it proves the arrangement finished and when. While a dispute is being investigated you can also ask the agency to add a notice of correction, a short statement in your own words that lenders see alongside the entry.

Fix the same error at each agency where it appears, because correcting one report does not automatically correct the other two.

How often should you check your reports?

Check all three shortly after your completion certificate arrives, then again a month or two later to confirm any corrections have gone through. After that, a check every few months is a good rhythm while you rebuild, because you will want to see your new positive history being reported properly.

The IVA marker itself leaves your file six years from the date the arrangement started, or on your completion date if the IVA ran longer than that, and it is worth checking all three reports again once that date passes to confirm the marker has gone from each one.

How AfterMy fits in

Checking your reports is something you can do yourself for free. Where we help is with what comes next. Your Comeback Plan maps your dates and shows options from our panel you may be able to apply for.