When it comes to credit, things are decidedly personal.
From your payment history to your specific mix of revolving and installment accounts, your credit profile is unique to you. This can be wonderful when your credit score is excellent, but stressful when it’s not.
Access to information about the factors that impact your credit score, as well as what you can do to better understand which actions may be helping or hurting and why, is available to all ScoreSense members. Here are the ways a ScoreSense credit specialist can work for you.
Decoding Your Credit Reports
Credit reports can be filled with entries that are confusing or difficult to interpret. While your ScoreSense credit specialist can’t directly see your Experian, TransUnion or Equifax credit reports (remember, they’re private), he or she will answer questions to explain what a particular item means and why it impacts your score positively or negatively.
When you speak with your credit specialist, have your credit reports in front of you. ScoreSense members can access all three reports quickly and easily through their online account.
Interpreting Your Credit Score
Your credit score is an important number that creditors and lenders use to determine your creditworthiness. There are five main factors that go into calculating your credit scores:
- Payment history, which accounts for 40% of your score
- The amount of outstanding debt, 35%
- Your credit age, 10%
- Types of credit accounts, 10%
- Number of hard inquiries, 5%
Your ScoreSense credit specialist can help you identify and understand the activity that may be impacting credit score positively or negatively.
For example, if your percentage of outstanding debt is high, your ScoreSense credit specialist can help you understand the impact to your scores – and give you a range to shoot for. If you have a large number of hard inquiries, your credit specialist can explain why that’s a red flag to creditors — and what you can do to better protect your scores.
You may also wonder why your credit score is different across all three bureaus. The ScoreSense credit specialist will explain the differences in credit reporting to help you make sense of your varying scores.
Disputing Misinformation or Errors
If you find a discrepancy or error on your credit report, you have the legal right to dispute it. From a misspelled name or wrong address, to a duplicate account or wrong credit card balance, any incorrect items on your credit report can be disputed with the credit bureaus.
Your ScoreSense credit specialist can’t handle the actual dispute process for you, but they can help you identify what items should be disputed, explain the steps for filing a dispute and potential resolution timelines, answer questions about the documentation you’ll need – and guide you to the ScoreSense Dispute Center.
Your Credit Advocate
ScoreSense credit specialists are available to speak with members every day of the week. There is never a charge for the call as it’s included in the ScoreSense membership, and your specialist is happy to talk for as long as you need to resolve your questions.
