Once per year, every Canadian citizen is entitled to view one free copy of his or her credit report. It is encouraged that everybody take advantage of this opportunity, as doing so can help a person to better understand where they are at in terms of financing in addition to being able to scrutinize the report and knowing how to fix a mess up on your credit report will put yourself in a better financial point in your life.
There are three major credit bureaus through which you can obtain a free credit report as per Federal law:
- Transunion
- Experian
- Equifax
Assessing Your Credit Score
Even once you receive your credit score and detailed report and feel all ready to apply for a local car loan, it can be difficult to determine just what the scores mean. In general, anything above a 700 is considered to be a good credit score, with an “excellent” rating being over 750. An average credit score falls between 650 and 700, while anything less than 650 is considered to be mediocre to poor.
Improving Upon Your Credit Score
Whether you have noticed an error on your credit report or are simply unhappy with the scores, the good news is that you can always work to improve upon your credit score. If an error is noticed, you should immediately contact the credit bureau from which you had originally obtained the report.
If you are simply unhappy with your score, then you will instead wish to take steps towards improving it gradually over time. This can include making timely payments on bills and debts, paying off loans, and keeping your credit card balance down as much as possible.
Benefits of an Improved Score
By having a higher credit score, you will be on your way to an improved financial future as well. This includes the possibility of being able to get approved for financing and better interest rates at a local used car lot on car financing. This way, when it comes time to make your next car purchase, you can end up saving thousands of dollars over the entire repayment period of the loan by having the lowest interest rate possible.