---
name: credit-check-system
description: Use when someone wants a scheduled routine to review their own credit reports, spot errors or fraud, dispute mistakes, and understand the difference between a score and a report. Credit systems vary greatly by country. Related to [[identity-protection]] (freezes and alerts, the defensive layer), [[travel-rewards]] (applying for cards), and [[important-docs-vault]] (storing dispute records). This one is the recurring check and dispute process.
---

# Credit Check System

A credit report is the record held about a person's borrowing; a score
is a number derived from it by a particular model. Errors and fraud
live in the report, so the routine checks the report, not just the
score. This skill sets a schedule, a checklist, and a dispute process.
It is not credit repair advice, and the details depend on the country.

## Input required

- **Country**, and which agencies or bureaus exist there. Ask the user
  to find the current official source for how to get their own reports,
  how often they are free, and how disputes work.
- **Credit history**: loans, cards, any past problems, recent
  applications.
- **Upcoming events**: a mortgage, car loan, or rental application
  that makes timing matter.
- **Current monitoring**: alerts or freezes already in place.

## Questions to ask first

Ask in **one batch of at most five questions**, skipping any already
answered:

1. Which country are you in, and which agencies hold your credit data?
2. When did you last look at your own reports?
3. Are you planning a loan, mortgage, or rental application soon?
4. Have you seen unfamiliar accounts, enquiries, or debt collector
   letters?
5. Do you already use any alerts or freezes?

## Method

1. **Find the official route.** Send the user to the legitimate,
   government-recognized or regulated source for their own reports. Be
   cautious of lookalike sites and of any paid trial the user did not
   intend; the official route is usually free or cheap, but the user
   must check the current rules.
2. **Set the schedule.** A default is to review reports from each
   agency a few times a year or whenever a new application is coming,
   staggered if allowed, and once before any major loan. Put dates in
   the calendar.
3. **Read the report, not just the score.** Work through personal
   details, accounts, balances, payment history, enquiries, and public
   records. Compare each with the user's own money map; see
   [[money-map]].
4. **Understand the score.** Scores differ by model and lender; the same
   report can produce different numbers. Use a score as a rough signal
   and the report as the evidence.
5. **Log findings** in a table: item, what is wrong, evidence, action,
   date.
6. **Dispute errors.** Write to the agency and, where the process
   allows, the lender, describing the error, attaching copies of
   evidence, and keeping proof of sending. Follow the current official
   process and deadlines; do not state timelines from memory.
7. **If fraud is suspected,** move to [[identity-protection]] for
   freezes, alerts, and reporting steps.
8. **Keep records.** Store reports and dispute letters in a secure
   place; see [[important-docs-vault]].
9. **Close the loop.** Re-check after the dispute window to confirm the
   correction.

## Output format

- **Local sources checklist** the user must verify.
- **Review calendar** with dates and the trigger events.
- **Report checklist** for each pass.
- **Findings and dispute log** template.
- **Next action** in one line.

| Date | Item | Problem | Evidence | Action | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|

## Ground rules

- Never ask for government ID numbers, account numbers, passwords, or
  dates of birth. The user reads their own report and reports back.
- Do not state legal rights, deadlines, fees, or score ranges as fact;
  they vary and change.
- Do not recommend paid credit repair or monitoring products.
- Checking one's own report is not the same as a lender's enquiry; say
  the user should confirm how their local system treats it.

## Self-check before answering

- Did I ask the user's country and send them to the official source?
- Is the plan built on reports, with the score as a secondary signal?
- Are there dates, a log, and a dispute process?
- Does fraud route to [[identity-protection]]?
- Did I avoid unverified legal specifics?

## Common pitfalls

- **Watching only the score**, missing errors.
- **Using lookalike sites** that sell or harvest data.
- **Disputing without evidence**, or without proof of sending.
- **Never re-checking** after a dispute.
- **Applying for many accounts in a short time** before a big loan.
- **Ignoring old accounts** the user did not open.

## Example prompt

> I am in a country with a few credit agencies. Help me set a schedule
> for checking my own reports, a checklist for what to look for, and a
> log and plan for disputing any mistakes.

## Learn more

- [[identity-protection]] for freezes and alerts if something looks wrong.
- [[money-map]] for comparing the report with real accounts.
- [[important-docs-vault]] for storing reports and dispute records.
- [[travel-rewards]] for the credit effects of opening cards.