What Is a CIBIL Report?
A CIBIL report or Credit Information Report (CIR) provides detailed and accurate information about your financial history. This can include data about your current and previous loans, credit cards, type of credits availed, overdraft facilities, total overdue amount, etc.
This report is prepared by the Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited (CIBIL) by gathering credit information from financial institutions and banks. CIBIL is one of the four credit information companies approved by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
When you apply for a loan or a credit card, financial institutions can view your CIBIL credit report and determine your credit status.
Different Segments of a CIBIL Report
Given below are two broad segments your CIBIL report is divided into.
Account Information Segment
This segment contains information about your credit history. It is further divided into smaller sections that contain specific details.
CIBIL Score
Personal Specifications
Contact Information
Account Information
Employment Information
Enquiry Information Segment
The segment contains information about the number of times your credit report has been drawn by lenders and other related details.
How to Analyse the CIBIL Report?
Having a clear idea about the different sections of the CIBIL credit report will enable you to interpret it thoroughly.
CIBIL Score
The CIBIL score ranges from 300 to 900. Given below are different CIBIL score ranges based on creditworthiness.
High CIBIL Score Range
Generally, a score above 700 is considered to be great by most banks and financial institutions. Such a score indicates that you are a trustworthy borrower. It also enhances your chances of getting the best interest rates when availing a loan.
Good CIBIL Score Range
If your score is between 600 to 700, it means you are just below the top category of borrowers. In other words, you still have a good score to avail of credit easily.
Average CIBIL Score Range
A rating between 500 to 600 is an average score. Having an average score means you need to work on your financial habits and improve your credit rating.
Poor CIBIL Score Range
A score below 500 can make it difficult for you to avail of credit. However, you can always work hard to improve your credit score and become eligible for borrowing funds.
Note that you can have a CIBIL score that says ‘No History (NH)’ or ‘Not Available (NA)’. This simply means you don’t have enough credit history that can be rated at the moment.
Personal Specifications
The personal specifications section of your CIBIL report contains your details. These details are mandatory for verification by banks and financial institutions. This section includes the following details:
Your name
Your date of birth
Your gender
Your identification numbers, such as PAN, Aadhaar number, Voter ID number, and Passport number
Contact Information
Your contact information appears in this section. It covers all your addresses (temporary and permanent residential addresses as well as work addresses), your contact numbers (home and mobile), and your email id.
Account Information
You will find details of your credit lines in the account information section. These include the names of your lenders, the type of credit you have availed (such as loans, credit cards, overdrafts, etc.), account numbers, loan amounts availed by you, outstanding balance, etc.
This section also provides information about how regularly you have repaid your credit and whether you have missed any EMI.
Employment Information
The employment information section provides details of your monthly or annual income when availing credit, as reported by your lenders (banks or financial institutions).
Enquiry Information
The enquiry information section provides information about enquiries made by banks or financial institutions against your loan applications. Every time you approach a credit institution for credit, it sends a request to CIBIL for your financial history and credit score.
This section includes details of the lender’s name, date of loan application, type of loan applied for, and the loan amount.
What to Do If Your CIBIL Report Has Errors?
Sometimes inaccuracies may creep into your CIBIL report. This can happen due to several reasons, such as inaccurate information provided by lenders, data entry errors, duplicate entries, or misprints.
If you come across any error in your CIBIL report, initiate a dispute resolution process on the CIBIL portal to report the same. Once you complete the resolution form, you will have to submit it along with evidence to validate your claims. CIBIL will verify your claims by conducting a thorough investigation and then rectify the report.
Conclusion
Interpreting your CIBIL report correctly can help you to remain updated about your credit status and overall financial health. It will help you to check your CIBIL score and take appropriate action if it falls too low. Also, you will be able to check if the report contains any discrepancies and inform the concerned authorities to rectify them as soon as possible.
