Micro-Firms Urged to Consider Invoice Finance to Improve Cash Flow

The latest study from YouGov raises some serious questions over the availability of credit for the UK's one million micro-firms, with one in four worried their business could fold in the next two years. Accounting for more than 90% of the UK's businesses, micro-firms - classed as a business employing less than ten people - are undeniably the engine of the economy, which makes it even more important that they are given the support that's necessary in order to secure their financial stability.

The challenges facing them are vast, but more than one in three said they found it harder to fund their business over the past 12 months, with one in five saying their bank accounts are empty. Access to credit is a lingering problem for smaller firms in particular, as demonstrated by the Bank of England confirming the UK's banks failed to meet their lending targets to small and medium-sized firms by £1.1 billion in 2011 under the Project Merlin initiative.

It Is Possible to Fix a Bad Credit Report?

If you feel that your credit report scores are not as good as they should be, the first thing you should do is order a credit report to which you are legally entitled to on an annual basis and review it as soon as you receive it. Any negative findings on your credit report and scores will be accompanied by an explanation so you can be made aware of what you need to do to correct these items that may be negatively affecting your credit.

One of the easiest items to fix on your report is basic information that is inaccurate such as your name or address. Clerical errors with this type of information can cause problems in verifying your identity and thereby hurt your credit rating. You need to submit a letter of dispute to the credit bureau from which you received your report in order to have the information corrected.

The greatest amount of information on your report is your payment history. Payments that are made but are late can create the greatest damage on your credit report and scores. If you have accounts for which you have not made payments in the last 30 to 60 days, then you should pay these off as best you can so as not to take a toll on your credit report and scores. If any charge-offs or accounts on which collection agents have been called also appear on your credit report and scores, then you should try to negotiate with your creditors and debt collectors in order to have them removed from your report. They are under no obligation to do it but you might be able to talk them into helping you.

You Too Can Get a Free Credit Report

TransUnion, Equifax and Experian are the three consumer reporting companies that operate on a nationwide basis that are required by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to provide you with free credit reports once every twelve months at your request. It is the responsibility of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the consumer protection agency of the federal government, to oversee the FCRA and ensure that the data maintained by the consumer reporting companies is accurate and private. The FCRA has established the rules and guidelines that need to be followed in order to receive free credit reports.

Is Credit Repair Easy? How to Quickly Raise Your Credit Score WITHOUT Breaking a Sweat

Is credit repair easy, or is it going to take forever to see results? Am I better off attempting it for myself, or hiring a professional? And how quickly should I expect to see improvements to my credit score if I hire a "pro"? In this article we are going to take a quick and easy look at some common credit repair questions, and offer some honest answers that you can really use as well. Sound good? Continue reading as we take a closer look below!

Is credit repair a difficult process, or is it as easy as all of those ads and offer promise?

Good question! And the honest answer is, somewhere in between. The actual process of filing credit repair disputes is certainly easy enough, as is finding items to challenge on your report as well. There is a bit of a learning curve of course, and it DOES get more difficult with each successive set of disputes.

Time for the Government to Promote Other Cash Flow Solutions

The Federation of Small Businesses has published a new report suggesting the decline in traditional lending means the government should be promoting alternative forms of business finance.

With overdrafts and bank loans becoming increasingly difficult to access for smaller firms in particular, as evidenced by the failure of Project Merlin to stimulate bank lending, the business organisation highlighted the role non-bank finance providers have to play whilst long-term reforms were made to the UK's banking system.

FSB national chairman, John Walker, said: "We need to accept that in its current form, our banking structure might never fully cater to the needs of the UK's business community. We need to build alternative routes that connect savers and investors with viable small businesses ... and thereby introduce innovation and competition into the sector."

You Can Dispute Your Credit Report Information

Credit reports and scores contain important information about the financial activity in which you have been involved, including how you have paid your bills, any outstanding loans you may have and how well you have made your payments, and any credit accounts that you may have. This information is used to help a lender make a decision when you apply for more credit or another loan. It is important that the information is reported correctly as errors in your credit reports and scores could cause you to be denied a loan or credit card for which you may have otherwise qualified. You can only find out what is contained in your credit report if you take advantage of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and annually request your credit report and scores from each of the three nationwide credit bureaus.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act also enables you to dispute what is on your report if you find any information to be inaccurate. There is a process that needs to be followed but handling the dispute correctly can resolve any inaccuracies in the information contained in your credit report.

The Ins and Outs of Credit Bureaus

Credit bureaus play an important role in your financial life, acting like a warehouse, collecting information about all your financial activity such as when you take a loan out on a car or apply for a new credit card. Lenders are the suppliers of this information and not only report transactions that are favorable to your credit but ones that may be not as favorable such as late payments of bills and large debt. Public records are another source of information for credit bureaus and they use all this material to create your credit report and scores.

The material that is stored in credit bureaus falls into several categories. There is personal information such as your name, social security number, date of birth, addresses at which you have lived and a history of your employment. If you have had any activity in a court system with regard to financial judgments, such as a bankruptcy, tax lien or foreclosure, then this information is maintained by the credit bureaus. They also keep track of every inquiry someone makes about your credit report and scores but the greatest amount of information that they store is that which about your loans and credit cards. This can include details about the type of loan or credit card, the date the account was opened, the account or loan balance, the status of the account or loan, payment activity, comments and your liability on the account. Negative items which have been closed out are usually not part of your credit report and scores.

Getting Cell Phone Contracts With Bad Credit

So you see everyone with a cell phone in their hands these days, but for those who have terrible credit, this can seem like a dream versus a reality. But while you may be thinking that this is a far-fetched dream that isn't going to happen - this honestly isn't the case. When it comes to getting a cell phone with bad credit, it is definitely going to be more difficult, but, it is a possible thing that you can do. It is an unavoidable part of life, that you are going to have times when times are tough financially, but you can get around this if you are dedicated to do so. You're not going to see every single cell phone company willing to put their names and phones on the line for you, but there are some companies that have taken the time to actually think about those in unfortunate situations, and how important it truly is for these people, like yourself, to get their own phone.