Credit score gone from Excellent to fair for no reason?
Discussion
As per title, Checked my Experian score last month and was "Excellent" but checking it this month it's dropped by "167 points" for no reason at all? I have taken out no new credit, no hard searches only car insurance renewal, no late payments, no large amount of spending on cc and everything paid on time etc so why the massive drop??
I have also checked on noddle which is also showing the same... Is this their tactics to get you to upgrade to their premium services?
I need to apply for a mortgage in couple weeks time so will this screw me up now??
I have also checked on noddle which is also showing the same... Is this their tactics to get you to upgrade to their premium services?
I need to apply for a mortgage in couple weeks time so will this screw me up now??
MX5_Nuts said:
Only thing I can think of is paying the car insurance monthly?? Would this really effect it this much?
If you are paying monthly for insurance, then the insurance company would have given you a credit facility, which may have an impact on your credit score.Also, your score might have been reduced because you are now in a demographic that is looked upon less favorably. (This is just a guess).
Three weeks ago I decided to treat myself to an iPhone 7 Plus. So I went to AppelStore, selected it and checked out.
Paying outright on credit card was not a problem. However I noticed there was a PayPal offer of 12-month interest-free credit.
OK. Let's use someone else's money for a year.
I have an unblemished 10-year PayPal history. And I have an EXCELLENT rating from Noddle with 684 points.
So I clicked the PayPal button and waited for the on-line application to be accepted. What could possibly go wrong? Who knows? But the application for a pissant £75 a month was rejected.
Then came a polite email from PayPal confirming it had been rejected and I should ask Callcredit Consumer Limited for the reason.
Callcredit Consumer Limited is the trading name of Noddle - the very same organisation that rates me EXCELLENT with "No Negative Factors" affecting my credit score.
So I asked them. They didn't have a clue. Said it was all down to PayPal.
I asked PayPal. They didn't have a clue. Basically 'computer says no'.
The words "Kafkaesque" and "Catch 22" come to mind.
Paying outright on credit card was not a problem. However I noticed there was a PayPal offer of 12-month interest-free credit.
OK. Let's use someone else's money for a year.
I have an unblemished 10-year PayPal history. And I have an EXCELLENT rating from Noddle with 684 points.
So I clicked the PayPal button and waited for the on-line application to be accepted. What could possibly go wrong? Who knows? But the application for a pissant £75 a month was rejected.
Then came a polite email from PayPal confirming it had been rejected and I should ask Callcredit Consumer Limited for the reason.
Callcredit Consumer Limited is the trading name of Noddle - the very same organisation that rates me EXCELLENT with "No Negative Factors" affecting my credit score.
So I asked them. They didn't have a clue. Said it was all down to PayPal.
I asked PayPal. They didn't have a clue. Basically 'computer says no'.
The words "Kafkaesque" and "Catch 22" come to mind.
I always pay monthly for insurance and really had no idea it could effect credit rating as severe as this! Oh well will be interesting if I get accepted for mortgage now. I've spent months ensuring its squeaky clean prior to applying and paying for car insurance monthly has f
ked it up just beforehand. What utter bks!
ked it up just beforehand. What utter bks!I really wish that people would stop associating the number generated by Equifax/Experian/Noddle/Clear score/Any other entity..........with your ability to secure credit//..........this is what they want..............they want you to keep monitoring it.........and logging back in every few weeks to see if it's changed................and maybe, just maybe, you might click on one their sponsored links for new credit card or a loan etc...........
I've seen clients with 999 scores be declined and low scores be accepted. There are so many factors to be accepted for a mortgage or any other credit, than an arbitrary number produced by entity trying to extricate money from you.
Pay the monthlies every month without fail and you'll be alright!!
I've seen clients with 999 scores be declined and low scores be accepted. There are so many factors to be accepted for a mortgage or any other credit, than an arbitrary number produced by entity trying to extricate money from you.
Pay the monthlies every month without fail and you'll be alright!!
Edited by Sarnie on Saturday 25th March 22:59
I have really stopped bothering with the score and trying to figure out how they score you etc.
I comes down a basic point of if they can make a decent amount of money from you. Like Sarnie said you could have a poor credit history but if you can show you can afford it and recent figures show your ok, they give you a high rate and job done.
I have had this in the past, get a mobile contract with 3 big networks but not the forth.
Been rejected by banks for even a normal bank card but go to a different one and you get the full works of credit from them etc
It depends what sort of profile of customer they are looking for and how much they can make. No point bothering to ask why you got rejected, they are never going to tell you, we can't fleece you enough or your such a piss pot we will loose to much money.
I am applying for a mortgage now and just realized I have dipped into a overdraft just last month, could it impact my application? Maybe, I am not sure, do I give a fk? no. because if they have two brain cells they will check the savings account and know I sweep the bulk of funds in there etc etc
Just its a screwed up system of controlling what you do and how you do it
I comes down a basic point of if they can make a decent amount of money from you. Like Sarnie said you could have a poor credit history but if you can show you can afford it and recent figures show your ok, they give you a high rate and job done.
I have had this in the past, get a mobile contract with 3 big networks but not the forth.
Been rejected by banks for even a normal bank card but go to a different one and you get the full works of credit from them etc
It depends what sort of profile of customer they are looking for and how much they can make. No point bothering to ask why you got rejected, they are never going to tell you, we can't fleece you enough or your such a piss pot we will loose to much money.
I am applying for a mortgage now and just realized I have dipped into a overdraft just last month, could it impact my application? Maybe, I am not sure, do I give a f
k? no. because if they have two brain cells they will check the savings account and know I sweep the bulk of funds in there etc etcJust its a screwed up system of controlling what you do and how you do it
Having no credit is actually worse than having credit which you keep up to date.
Some clarifications:
Car insurance: it only affects your score if they actually register it as a credit agreement and report payment data to the agencies: i've paid monthly for years and not one of the agreements showed up on my credit file - so unless you see a credit agreement on your file it's not being reported - most don't.
Not using your overdraft or credit cards is a negative score - they want to see you use credit then pay it off. A classic way to improve your score is to have a credit card then buy your fuel on it and settle it in full every month - you get points for every credit agreement you make on time every month - this includes your utilities like gas, eletric, phone, water rates.
Hard credit searches have a negative impact - more than 3 credit applications in 12 months will hit your score, so spread out your applications to avoid negative scoring.
Don't keep credit agreements open you don't use - your total credit line is calculated even if you don't use it.
Avoid using more than 75 percent of your available credit balance - the closer you are to your limits the more negatively you are impacted.
Don't be a rate tart - the more you switch accounts the worse you will score - mostly the crecit provider wants to make a profit from you - if you are using zero rate deals and paying off early they don't want you.
Having no credit at all is the worse thing - i have had no credit since 2008 and am still classed as 'poor' according to equifax with a completely clean history, experian on the other hand gives me a maximum score of excellent based on the same data. Even though i could pay cash i put 50 percent of my car on finance purely to get some credit history - i got 30 points more for just one payment.
Paid in full agreements help - but only after 50 percent of the term has passed.
Ultimately the scores are meaningless beyond telling you where you;ve been naughty - too much credit, too little credit, late or missed payments, defaults and CCJ's. Beyond these things if you have 'normal' agreements like a credit card, mobile phone, utilities and car finance your rejection is not based on credit data but commercial underwriting decisions about your customer profile vs what they want - it can be diwn to your income, job history, where you live, age, etc - for example mainstream lenders don't like to see agreements with 3rd tier credit providers - ideally you want credit cards with big banks, car finance with prime lenders like black horse, barclays or santander and not small houses and a long history with the same providers showing they can make money from you.
Ironically most people are rejected for interest free deals because they are likely to pay them in full rather than end up on the 37+ percent interest they want you to pay after the free term. Also the paypal deal can be down to the type of purchase - mobile phone finance fraud is one of the highest in the industry - really you are better off taking a contract deal to oay for the phone - divide the RRP phone price by contract payments to work out the cost of the package - a good deal can see you paying only a couple of quid a month over the cist of the handset effectively meaning you are getting an interest free loan for the handset from the network.
Bear in mind that not everyone reports to callcredit - lloyds for example report to both equifax and experian but only credit check experian - there is a list of who uses who on the web - depending on where your accounts report to you can be rejected by a finance house who uses equifax and passed by one that uses experian simply because one holds better data than the other - very few mainstream lenders report to callcredit so any finance provider who uses them is likely not going to see your full history.
Most of these things won't affect your mortgage - the only things that will affect that are late payments, defaults, and CCJs or large outstanding credit balances that suggest you are living beyond your means, your score is meaningless to them since they will apply a rate for risk based on your job, income, age, the property, deposit etc - a interest free deal score criteria is likely much tighter than a mortgage application because its a pure algorithm decision where your mortgage is assessed based on your entire financial circumstances.
Some clarifications:
Car insurance: it only affects your score if they actually register it as a credit agreement and report payment data to the agencies: i've paid monthly for years and not one of the agreements showed up on my credit file - so unless you see a credit agreement on your file it's not being reported - most don't.
Not using your overdraft or credit cards is a negative score - they want to see you use credit then pay it off. A classic way to improve your score is to have a credit card then buy your fuel on it and settle it in full every month - you get points for every credit agreement you make on time every month - this includes your utilities like gas, eletric, phone, water rates.
Hard credit searches have a negative impact - more than 3 credit applications in 12 months will hit your score, so spread out your applications to avoid negative scoring.
Don't keep credit agreements open you don't use - your total credit line is calculated even if you don't use it.
Avoid using more than 75 percent of your available credit balance - the closer you are to your limits the more negatively you are impacted.
Don't be a rate tart - the more you switch accounts the worse you will score - mostly the crecit provider wants to make a profit from you - if you are using zero rate deals and paying off early they don't want you.
Having no credit at all is the worse thing - i have had no credit since 2008 and am still classed as 'poor' according to equifax with a completely clean history, experian on the other hand gives me a maximum score of excellent based on the same data. Even though i could pay cash i put 50 percent of my car on finance purely to get some credit history - i got 30 points more for just one payment.
Paid in full agreements help - but only after 50 percent of the term has passed.
Ultimately the scores are meaningless beyond telling you where you;ve been naughty - too much credit, too little credit, late or missed payments, defaults and CCJ's. Beyond these things if you have 'normal' agreements like a credit card, mobile phone, utilities and car finance your rejection is not based on credit data but commercial underwriting decisions about your customer profile vs what they want - it can be diwn to your income, job history, where you live, age, etc - for example mainstream lenders don't like to see agreements with 3rd tier credit providers - ideally you want credit cards with big banks, car finance with prime lenders like black horse, barclays or santander and not small houses and a long history with the same providers showing they can make money from you.
Ironically most people are rejected for interest free deals because they are likely to pay them in full rather than end up on the 37+ percent interest they want you to pay after the free term. Also the paypal deal can be down to the type of purchase - mobile phone finance fraud is one of the highest in the industry - really you are better off taking a contract deal to oay for the phone - divide the RRP phone price by contract payments to work out the cost of the package - a good deal can see you paying only a couple of quid a month over the cist of the handset effectively meaning you are getting an interest free loan for the handset from the network.
Bear in mind that not everyone reports to callcredit - lloyds for example report to both equifax and experian but only credit check experian - there is a list of who uses who on the web - depending on where your accounts report to you can be rejected by a finance house who uses equifax and passed by one that uses experian simply because one holds better data than the other - very few mainstream lenders report to callcredit so any finance provider who uses them is likely not going to see your full history.
Most of these things won't affect your mortgage - the only things that will affect that are late payments, defaults, and CCJs or large outstanding credit balances that suggest you are living beyond your means, your score is meaningless to them since they will apply a rate for risk based on your job, income, age, the property, deposit etc - a interest free deal score criteria is likely much tighter than a mortgage application because its a pure algorithm decision where your mortgage is assessed based on your entire financial circumstances.
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