Coronavirus and Your Credit Score

Checking your credit report regularly is one of the best ways you can monitor your credit standing. Reviewing the report will help you understand your credit position, ensure accounts are being reported accurately and possibly identify inaccurate or incomplete information.

How to minimize the effect of Coronavirus on your credit standing:

• Talk to your lenders and creditors and see if any assistance is available.

• Pay what you can. To avoid having late payments show up on your credit reports, try to make at least the minimum payment on accounts, or pay any amount you and the lender or creditor agree upon.

• Stay up-to-date on your credit reports.

• Consider adding a consumer statement to your credit reports. You can add a statement to your credit report, free of charge. If your statement is 400 words or less, it will be added to your credit file, and will be included each time your credit file is accessed. An example of a consumer statement: “Be advised that the negative accounts on my credit report are related to the Coronavirus. I intend to make these up as soon as I can.