Check your credit record before it costs you

A listener wrote to me about a phone account written off years ago. He doesn't dispute the money. What he disputes is what the listing has since done to him. Most people only find out they're listed when a loan or a rental application is turned down, and by then it's too late to fix quickly. You're entitled to one free credit report a year from each of the registered credit bureaux. TransUnion, Experian, Compuscan and XDS. So get yours. Check for accounts you've settled but that still show as outstanding, and for anything you don't recognise at all. If something's wrong, dispute it with the bureau in writing. They have to investigate it, and it costs you nothing.