You might want to check Experian (http://www.experian.co.uk/) as well as Equifax (http://www.equifax.co.uk/) - AFAIAA each agency keeps their own database, so there can be differences. (Is there a third major agency in the UK? Or is that the US?)
£13 overpriced. By law they must provide you with access to all information held about you for no more than some nominal amount [Data Protection Act/Subject Access Requests] - the same goes for adding any mitigating comment, they have to allow this. In fact both companies will give you the statutory mandatory report for just £2.
As to the comment to add - it's factual and (I assume) complete. I probably wouldn't bother with it myself until it became necessary, however I can see some potential value in getting it in early - since entries are dated an early submission may come across more as setting the record straight rather than attempting to game some later credit application. Certainly waiting until after a failed application could be bad, as failed credit applications can make it onto the report (as a search that has been carried out, rather than explicitly stating you have been turned down, I believe) and a build up of searches within a short time period can affect your credit rating. (Googles: apparently many official sources recommend you do clear up any errors/confusion as soon as you notice.)
Data stays on the report for six years, however clients of CR agencies will have their own weighting system for the data (they only get given the facts, not opinion) and so may weight entries older than a year or two down. (Make sure that cleared debts are marked as such on the report by the lender though.)
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Date: 2005-08-09 03:43 pm (UTC)£13 overpriced. By law they must provide you with access to all information held about you for no more than some nominal amount [Data Protection Act/Subject Access Requests] - the same goes for adding any mitigating comment, they have to allow this. In fact both companies will give you the statutory mandatory report for just £2.
As to the comment to add - it's factual and (I assume) complete. I probably wouldn't bother with it myself until it became necessary, however I can see some potential value in getting it in early - since entries are dated an early submission may come across more as setting the record straight rather than attempting to game some later credit application. Certainly waiting until after a failed application could be bad, as failed credit applications can make it onto the report (as a search that has been carried out, rather than explicitly stating you have been turned down, I believe) and a build up of searches within a short time period can affect your credit rating. (Googles: apparently many official sources recommend you do clear up any errors/confusion as soon as you notice.)
Data stays on the report for six years, however clients of CR agencies will have their own weighting system for the data (they only get given the facts, not opinion) and so may weight entries older than a year or two down. (Make sure that cleared debts are marked as such on the report by the lender though.)