Credit Rating - Debt Consolidation

What is Credit rating ?

Applicants having previously applied or succeeded in borrowing for a personal loan, home loan, credit card or telephone account may be listed with credit reporting agency. Credit reporting agencies are likely to hold reports with applicants and borrowers credit history. The credit report generally contains personal information for example an applicant's and borrowers date of birth, current address, drivers licence number, and possibly a list of previous loan or credit applications e.g. credit cards, home loans, personal loans, overdue payments of 60 days or more, credit defaults that have and haven't been paid , serious credit infringements and bankruptcy orders.
In some countries legislation relating to privacy may exclude a credit rating agency from collecting information about an individual's political, social or religious beliefs, medical records, criminal records, ethnicity or sexual preference(s). Depending on relevant legislation, in some some countries a copy a credit applicant's credit report may sometimes be obtained by contacting the credit reporting agency.

What is Debt Consolidation?

Debt consolidation is when a borrower combines all their loans (usually credit cards and personal loans) into the one loan. The advantage of debt consolidation is that the borrower's higher interest debts e.g. credit cards will be taken over by a lower interest debt e.g. home loan which will usually save years of interest off those loans.