Steps for Financial Relief

Did you apply for a secured loan or a new credit card and were hopeful to get one but only to be told by the lender that you are not eligible for the loan or the credit card? While everything could be in place, what might prove to ruin your dream is the CIBIL score and your credit report. The Reserve Bank of India has made it compulsory for the lenders to access a person’s CIBIL report to access his creditworthiness before lending him money.

The CIBIL report can be accessed by the lender and you as well. You can keep a track of the credit score and the report and maintain a good score based on the information that the credit report has. It helps you maintain a good credit behaviour.

Process of obtaining your CIBIL score:

Here is how you can avail your credit score:

To obtain your CIBIL score all you have to do is log on to the Credit Information Bureau of India Limited CIBIL website, i.e. www.CIBIL.com. On the website, you will find a Know Your Score tab, click on the Click here button to obtain your personalised credit score from CIBIL. You will have to fill up the following:

• Fill in the online form, it will mention details like your name, date of birth, address, telephone number, income, identity proof and address proof and the loans that you have taken in the past.

• You will have to make a payment to avail the credit report, you will be making a payment of Rs.470 using either your credit card, debit card or net banking facility.

• After the payment has been confirmed, you will have to fill in the authentication details. You will be asked 5 questions based on your credit history you have held or cleared in the past or currently holding. A minimum of 3 questions need to be answered correctly.

• On proper authentication, the report will be mailed to you.

• If you happen to fail the online authentication questions, you will still be able to get your credit report. You will have to upload a soft copy of the CIBIL report form that filled online along with the CIBIL transaction ID and a soft copy of your ID proof and address proof to KYC upload on CIBIL.com. On verification, the CIBIL report will be sent to your address.

Factors affecting your credit score:

The credit score has to be above 750 for you to get a credit. So, avail your credit report once a year and be aware of the factors that impact your credit score. The factors are as follows:

• Repayment history:

Repayment history accounts for 35% of your score. What takes care of this factor is making sure all the bills are paid on time and you do not miss on any loan commitments. Even a single default in repayment will have a negative impact on your credit score.

• How much you owe to your lender:

The credit utilization accounts to 30% of your credit score. The total of your credit card limits and the percentage of the limit that you are utilising. The credit utilization is balance outstanding on all your credit cards as a percentage of your total credit limit on all your credit cards. If you have utilized more than 30% of your credit, your profile is considered to be risky.

• Times you have been taking credit:

The amount of time you have been using credit is also an important factor that affects 15% your credit score. The longer the credit history, the better is your score.

• Times you have applied for new credit:

When you apply for a new credit, the lender with who you have applied for credit runs an inquiry on your CIBIL report. If there have been too many queries in quick succession, the credit score will have a negative impact. This factors weighs to 10% while your credit score is being calculated.

• Credit mix:

If you have been avoiding taking credit and you have just one type of credit, the credit score will be negatively impacted. It is not advisable to have a lot of unsecured credit like the credit cards or personal loans. To have a healthy score, you must have a mix of different types of credit such as mortgage, personal loan, car loan, credit card etc. the credit mix has 10% bearing on your credit score.

Check your credit score every year and make sure that you maintain a good score of above 750. Keep an eye on the above factors and try to maintain a high credit score.