Avoid credit repair companies
They're mostly (legal) scams
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Last update : September 2010
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Page Summary:
Beware of Credit Repair companies as they ask for money up front but then normally fail to deliver. Everyone warns about them including the Government, Banks and the Citizens Advice Bureau. |
| Sadly, many people with bad credit ratings are financially desperate and are often easy prey for scammers and chancers. One group I'd firmly label as highly suspect are so-called Credit Repair companies.
A Credit Repair company as its name suggests attempts to persuade people that they use secret strategies and little-known tricks to help rebuild a credit file.
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| Upfront payment is a sure sign something is wrong |
| These firms all operate on an upfront fee basis, ie you have to pay them the cash first before any work is carried out. However, within the their terms and conditions they'll be plenty of clauses that state that there's no guarantee of success and no chance of a refund.
Probability states that any company that asks for an upfront fee is not confident of getting a result, and if they were paid on results they wouldn't be in business too long.
Take note of this.
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| You can easily do the work yourself |
All a credit repair company will do is the following -
- Check your credit file to see if there are any mistakes, and if so correct them - you can do this yourself with our free Credit File Audit
- Write to any lenders where there's a major problem (Default/CCJ) and try to get them removed
Step 1 can easily be done yourself, and Step 2 is hard although when you initially talk to a credit repair company they'll of course be very bullish on your chances. Remember, they take payment upfront so it's in their interest to give potential customers the rosiest of pictures.
If you do have a default you're better off reading our 4 default removal articles -
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| Everyone warns about using a Credit Repair company |
Almost every government and professional body that's involved in the Credit File business warns against using credit repair companies. This is what John Bridgeman, the Director General of the Office of Fair Trading says -
"These companies offer nothing that you cannot do for yourself"
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| Summary |
| I'm going to be blunt here - If you pay money upfront to a credit repair agency and they don't deliver then sadly you only have yourself to blame, plus you will have lost money. |
FREE REPORT - How to Audit Your Credit File
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Read more in the Credit File section:
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