Does a Name Change Affect Your Credit Score?

Whether you are applying for a Home Loan or a car loan, know that your lender will enquire about your credit score and decide the loan terms and conditions based on your CIBIL score. If you are applying for a Home Loan, you must have the required score of CIBIL for Home Loan. If you do not have the right score, your lender will either reject your loan application or sanction a loan at a very high rate of interest.  

A borrower’s credit score is decided based on the details in their credit report, such as their past loan repayment history, the number of loans they currently have, the number of loans they have applied for, their credit utilization ratio, etc. Apart from this, a borrower’s credit report also contains personal information, such as their name, age, address, etc. These pieces of information are important as they help credit information agencies match the right credit report with the right person when lenders check CIBIL score. It is, therefore, crucial that borrowers make sure that all personal details are accurately mentioned in their credit reports. 

Does Changing My Name Impact My Credit Score? 

A borrower’s name has no direct impact on their CIBIL score. However, when a borrower changes their name, credit information agencies find it difficult to fetch the right report in case of a CIBIL score enquiry. If you change your name and do not get it updated in CIBIL’s record, CIBIL will either find no records on you or mistakenly pull out another borrower’s profile whose name matches yours. In both cases, your lender will not have enough information on you to decide on your loan application and therefore, it is highly likely that they will reject your loan application.  

Also Read: 10 Reasons Why a Housing Loan Application May Be Rejected 

So What should I Do if My Name Has Been Changed?

The first thing that any credit user must do after having their name changed is report the change in their name to the lender. Their lender will update the borrower’s records and details and these changes will automatically get transferred to CIBIL. CIBIL will then modify your CIBIL report to accurately reflect the changes in your name. Please keep in mind that it will take at least a few months for these changes to reflect in your credit report. So, borrowers must inform their lender as soon as they change their name or name’s spelling.  

Write to CIBIL to Speed Up the Process

If you want to speed up the process of having your name change reflected in your CIBIL score, instead of waiting for your lender to pass on the information to CIBIL, write to CIBIL yourself. To get your name changed in your CIBIL records, you can either write to CIBIL or raise a dispute with them. In either case, know that you will need to provide the following information in the letter you write to CIBIL or the CIBIL dispute form you fill out on their website.  

• Your full name 

• The name that is registered with your bank 

• Your complete address 

• If you have changed your name recently, you will need to provide legal documents with your new name. So, for instance, if your name has changed after marriage or divorce, you will need to provide documents, such as your marriage certificate or your divorce settlement.  

After you have written to CIBIL, follow up with them regularly to make sure the changes reflect in your report accurately and soon.  

Check Your CIBIL Report Often

If you have changed your name, make it a point to check your credit score and credit report often to make sure all details in your CIBIL report are correct. Borrowers must, in general, check their CIBIL report at least once every six months for two reasons. First, if on checking their credit score, a borrower finds out that their CIBIL score is low and wouldn’t help them qualify for any type of loan, they will need at least six months to take the required corrective measures and for these measures to reflect on their CIBIL score. Second, if you see any errors in your credit report or if you have changed your name recently, know that CIBIL will take at least a few weeks to months to rectify these errors or changes in your name and for these changes to reflect in your credit report. So, it is always better to keep some time at hand.  

Final Words

If you have changed your name recently, please notify CIBIL as soon as possible. It is crucial that you do so because an incorrect name in your CIBIL report can lead to CIBIL matching your profile with a different borrower. If that happens, your lender will either reject your loan application or take a call on it based on someone else’s credit score and credit report.  

Also Read: Five Reasons Why a Bad Credit Score Could Lead to Loan Rejection