YOUR CREDIT AND YOU

What is a FICO Score and How Does it Affect Me?

The Fair Isaac Corporation came up with a formula in the 1980s to help companies figure out the estimated risk of individuals and companies.   This is called the FICO Score.   It is based on many factors of your current and past credit history.   This is important for anyone who is looking to make a high priced purchase, including a home or car.  It is also important for anyone with a credit card or with virtually any type of insurance.  The majority of financial related institutions today base things on your credit history and FICO scores.  You should periodically check your three in one credit report plus FICO score.  Checking regularly can help you fix errors and prevent fraud.  You should check well in advance of planning a purchase of home or car.  It can take as long a three months to remove a mistake that is detrimental to your credit.  Credit reports can also have a drastic effect on insurance premiums.  You can get a FREE CREDIT REPORT from each of the reporting agencies once a year by going to AnnualCreditReport.com.   This is the official website affiliated with the major reporting agencies. Other websites that claim to give you a free report (including those advertised on t.v.) are trying to sell you something, buyer beware!   If you want to get an addition credit report in the same year you can get credit reports for a fee by going to either one of the major reporting sites.   The three major reporting agencies are:

Equifax http://www.equifax.com/

Experian http://www.experian.com/

TransUnion http://www.transunion.com/

For more information about FICO scores go to: myfico.com

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