# Regulatory Compliance Category > National Credit Act Forum >  Your credit record: free annual report

## Eugene

Check the correctness of your credit status free each year. It is the your responsibilityto ensure that the correctdetails appear on your credit record - if incorrect adverse details are captured, your credit worthiness might be prejudiced! 


*How and where can I get a free credit report?* 

The NCA states that, you, as a consumer, have the right to obtain a *free* copy of your credit report, once a year, provided that you apply in the month of your birth or thereafter . Any further copies of your credit report will be charged at R22.80. 

You can order your Experian credit report by contacting Experian's Consumer Relations desk on 0861 10 56 65, and they will gladly send a copy of your report, on receipt of a completed request form and verification documents. 


*What information must I supply in order to get my free credit report?* 

According to the Act (section 50), verification of your details must be done in line with the requirements of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA). 

In order to comply with FICA, you are required to provide proof of your full names, date of birth and identity number e.g. copy of your identity document and proof of your residential address e.g. a telephone account less than 3 months old. 


*How will my credit report be sent to me?* 

You can choose how you would like to receive your credit report; either by fax, email, or by post. 


*What can I do if the information on my credit report is incorrect?* 

The NCA has prescribed a process for managing consumer disputes with the credit bureau. If you believe that the information on your Experian credit report is incorrect, you should do the following: 

1.  Contact Experian Consumer Relations Division on 0861 10 56 65 and inform them that you wish to register a dispute. 

2.  Experian will investigate the dispute and respond within 20 business days. Credit providers will be notified that there is a dispute on your record but will not be able to view the disputed information during this investigation period. 

3.  Should the information prove to be incorrect or unsubstantiated it will be removed immediately. 

4.  Experian will notify both you and all relevant credit providers of the correction. 

Should you not be satisfied with the resolution of your query you may contact the office of the Credit Information Ombud on 0861 66 28 37.

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enyaw (07-Jul-08)

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## bee69cancer

How can i get my free credit report

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## duncan drennan

> How can i get my free credit report


Have a look at http://www.mycredit.co.za/ - the first option there is for your free credit report.

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## ekmolefe

> How can i get my free credit report


 interested in buying shares but before i should be clear about my credit status and that of my husband. :Confused:

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## Dave A

Ekmolefe, why would your credit record status affect your ability to buy shares?

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## Martinco

> Have a look at http://www.mycredit.co.za/ - the first option there is for your free credit report.


Has anybody actually gone through the exercise of checking ? The site looks very suspicious to me ! :Confused:

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## duncan drennan

> Has anybody actually gone through the exercise of checking ? The site looks very suspicious to me !


I did try once in the past, but something went wrong in the process. This is Transunion's site - I am sure it is authentic. What about it looks suspicious to you?

(here is the whois info, which clearly links the site to Transunion ITC, one of two or three credit record companies in South Africa).

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## Martinco

Well Duncan, just a few things struck me as being odd !

During the info entering process one battles to enter the tel #'s.  You can only enter 4 digits and re-click some spaces further to enter the rest of the number.
In their last message to the effect that you have to now wait for an email to confirm, they misspell a word and a few words later they get the same word right. ( typical 419 ). :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic): 
I now get the email with a link and the link bombs ! :Confused: 

Must admit the "whois" checks out !

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## duncan drennan

I have to agree with you - the process is very dodgy, and so far I haven't managed to actually get a free credit report. I am not even sure if I ever received a login....and now can't login, because I apparently already have one  :Huh: 

Which is the other large credit record company? I wonder if we might have more success with their process.

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## duncan drennan

Experion. Here is the link to their free credit report (registration required...)

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Dave A (25-Feb-09)

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## duncan drennan

I went through Experion's process quite easily, now required to fax copy of ID and proof of address with a reference number to them so that I can access the full report.

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## Martinco

What worries me about the whole procedure is that you have to make virtually ALL your private information available to these guys. The question arises........what about identity theft ?  This is so prevalent of late that one gets the cold shivers.
I have checked that theirs is a secure site ( HTTPS ), but what is the possibility of scamsters to also obtain a secure site ? I do not know.
I am not saying that this particular site is one of these BUT what if ?

Although in this case I have not followed my normal cautiousness, I don't think I am going to try this issue again unless I know it is perfectly safe.

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Yvonne (25-Feb-09)

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## garthu

Hiya, i'm gathering its a free report?? Don't like that concept anyway as everyone gets charged a fee to use the itc/experian/xds database info. Therefore how are they giving them away?? Also a little cautious that it may footprint your report and lower your credit rating everytime you do it as well - it depends how they access the system. I noticed also that the guys that easily offered once of checks for a fee have not made it so easy - thats in line with the NCA which carries heavy penalties for ITC checks done without permission.

Go straight to itc or experian and let them do it as Duncan suggests - much safer!

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## garthu

Sorry forgot also try XDS www.xds.co.za Not sure of the charge, if any, but is the most detailed report you get. They even tell what your credit card balance is!! They are gen, our service provider and also registered

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## duncan drennan

> What worries me about the whole procedure is that you have to make virtually ALL your private information available to these guys. The question arises........what about identity theft ?


If you have any sort of credit, then ITC and Experion *already* have all your personal information - you had to give it out to apply for an account. What they are trying to do is ensure that they don't give your report to someone else and are checking the info against their database.




> Hiya, i'm gathering its a free report?? Don't like that concept anyway as everyone gets charged a fee to use the itc/experian/xds database info. Therefore how are they giving them away??


Garth, under the National Credit Act everyone is entitled to a single free credit report each year. Experion and ITC have to give one away for free.




> 72. (1) Every person has a right to-
> 
>     (b) inspect any credit bureau, or national credit register, file or information concerning that person-
> 
>         (i) without charge-
> 
>             (aa) as of right once within any period of twelve months;


Section 72(1)(b)(i)(aa) of the NCA.

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## Marq

> If you have any sort of credit, then ITC and Experion *already* have all your personal information -


Ha ...but for us suspicious types - if you are not talking to the right guys then you *are* giving your personal info away and the potential exists (as it always does) for id theft.

Also if you haven't been credit active, it is now a chance for the credit record companies to update their records. This info is sold on to marketing companies and hey presto you are back on the spam pile and sifting junk mail out your post box. If any debt collectors or the cops are looking for you ...its better than facebook. :EEK!:

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## duncan drennan

> This info is sold on to marketing companies and hey presto you are back on the spam pile and sifting junk mail out your post box.


I thought it was quite nice that Transunion has a link to the DMA opt out list on their home page. Add your name to that list and all the direct marketing disappears....although you have to give them all your details to be added  :Stick Out Tongue:

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## Dave A

> Hiya, i'm gathering its a free report?? Don't like that concept anyway as everyone gets charged a fee to use the itc/experian/xds database info. Therefore how are they giving them away??


I'm quite sure the *only* reason it is free is because they're obliged in terms of the NCA.



> I noticed also that the guys that easily offered once of checks for a fee have not made it so easy - thats in line with the NCA which carries heavy penalties for ITC checks done without permission.


I guess that's why there are all the questions you have to answer before you can get your free report too - to make sure it is really you. Probably just as well all said and done  :Cool:

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## garthu

I'll actually check the penalty again but memory serves correct it involves jail time an/or massive fine. Serious stuff!

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## ekmolefe

> Ekmolefe, why would your credit record status affect your ability to buy shares?


Hi Dave

I just need to be clear so that i can clean my credit record before going into investments. Don't you think this is how it should work? I don't know but some of us think very late about investing. Advise as to one should invest or clean the mess first?

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## Dave A

> Advise as to one should invest or clean the mess first?


Cleaning up your credit record never hurts  :Wink: 

Problems with your credit record will be a problem if you hope to become a director of a company. But a bad credit record shouldn't be a problem if you just want to own or trade shares in a public company - unless you need to get a loan to finance the purchase.

I guess it depends what you plan to invest in.

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## duncan drennan

It took a few days for Experian to process the docs, but now I have full access to my free annual credit report. It is a bit like a trip down memory lane with a list of all the addresses and phone numbers that I had at the time of various credit applications.

There is a lot of account history in the report. Overall, a little interesting, but my credit history is fairly bland (thank goodness).

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Dave A (03-Mar-09), Martinco (08-Nov-10)

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## asiedo

> How can i get my free credit report


can you please send me my credit record via my e-mail

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## Dave A

I can't - but if you go to Transunion here, click on My Credit - near the bottom of that page is the starting point for getting your free credit report.

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## disjacques

Can I please get my credit report

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## Dave A

Sure - just read the previous post, please.

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## tebu

Please help, I would like to get my credit report.

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## Dave A

I give up  :No: 

If reading the post immediately above yours is too much trouble...

For the first time ever on TFSA - *thread closed!*

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