Credit Rating error

[5150]

Been wondering why I've been refused a credit card application twice in the last 6 months, so I signed up to Experian to check.

Turns out a small debt of £18 for an unpaid mobile phone bill, which I sorted about two years ago while remortgaging, has for the last year plus, still been flagging up as defaulting!

So, month by month, my credit score has gone from 'Excellent' to 'Fair' through no fault of my own.

Anyone else had a similar issue? There's a number to call with Experian to deal with it, and I have supporting paperwork from last year to show the debt was paid.

Thanks in advance,

[jogger1976]

5150 said:

Been wondering why I've been refused a credit card application twice in the last 6 months, so I signed up to Experian to check.

Turns out a small debt of £18 for an unpaid mobile phone bill, which I sorted about two years ago while remortgaging, has for the last year plus, still been flagging up as defaulting!

So, month by month, my credit score has gone from 'Excellent' to 'Fair' through no fault of my own.

Anyone else had a similar issue? There's a number to call with Experian to deal with it, and I have supporting paperwork from last year to show the debt was paid.

Thanks in advance,

Without wishing to sound unduly harsh,it's YOUR responsibility to check and alert reference agencies regarding errors to your credit score, so the fact that your score has gone down is YOUR fault. The sooner you get it removed, the better.

[PurpleMoonlight]

5150 said:

Turns out a small debt of £18 for an unpaid mobile phone bill, which I sorted about two years ago while remortgaging, has for the last year plus, still been flagging up as defaulting!

Did you never default, that is make all payment when due, or did you default and then pay the debt when you remortgaged?

[DocJock]

jogger1976 said:

Without wishing to sound unduly harsh,it's YOUR responsibility to check and alert reference agencies regarding errors to your credit score, so the fact that your score has gone down is YOUR fault. The sooner you get it removed, the better.

All well and good, but IT SHOULD be the responsibility of agencies collecting and selling information about individuals to third parties to ensure their information is correct.

[Driver101]

Do people use credit agency checks on a regular basis?

In the past I did sign up just to have a look, but there wasn't much to see and it didn't offer any value at £10-15 per month.

Does it harm your rating when you keep checking yourself?

[E31Shrew]

I had the same with Experian a few years. I financed an Espace through Renault Financial Services. They then transferred all to Nissan Financial Services but in the meantime mislaid 1000's of records.
Like a pillock [ and being a Company Director so extremely wealthy ] I hadnt checked my statement for 6 months so hadnt noticed that they werent taking the monthly payments. Got in touch with Renault / Nissan and all was resolved with me paying the full amount O/S. Called Experian who checked with Renault / Nisaan and rating went back to the previous figure.

[Funk]

Checking your own credit files doesn't have any impact on your credit 'score' at all and it's worth checking regularly to make sure everything is as it should be.

I hadn't checked my files for some time and found that BT hadn't cancelled a monthly payment of £1.50 for retaining my old BT email address (long since defunct). The card that was used to make the payment was also obsolete long ago and as such the payments (which I believed were cancelled) were bouncing every month! Cue one very angry call to BT and it being subsequently removed. My credit files were corrected by them.

Worth noting that you can check your Equifax score for free via ClearScore and your CallCredit free one via Noddle. The only one you have to pay for is Experian - get the £2 statutory check rather than forking out £15/mo for nothing. Worth noting there appear to be some horror stories about cancelling the subscription as well; apparently Experian don't make it easy!

[5150]

Thanks all . . .

I'd discovered the £18 debt whilst I was looking at remortgage deals early last year, so that was how the debt was brought to my attention in the first place.

Hopefully they can tidy it up tomorrow and restore things back to how they should be!

Cheers

[Nickyboy]

If the debt led to a default that was recorded on your file it'll stay on there regardless of whether you paid it in the end. A default is a default whether it's settled or not. It stays on there for a while.

I had the same with Argos, they recorded a default because i paid £2.30 short on my account. I paid it immediately i noticed but the default had already been recorded

[Funk]

Nickyboy said:

If the debt led to a default that was recorded on your file it'll stay on there regardless of whether you paid it in the end. A default is a default whether it's settled or not. It stays on there for a while.

I had the same with Argos, they recorded a default because i paid £2.30 short on my account. I paid it immediately i noticed but the default had already been recorded

Interesting; the record of the BT account is completely gone from my records - perhaps it wasn't recorded as a default even after all that time.

[Nickyboy]

Funk said:

Interesting; the record of the BT account is completely gone from my records - perhaps it wasn't recorded as a default even after all that time.

I could be wrong but i'm sure once the default is recorded it's on there for something like 3 years. It doesn't matter if you settle it. Would defeat the object of the report

[Funk]

Nickyboy said:

Funk said:

Interesting; the record of the BT account is completely gone from my records - perhaps it wasn't recorded as a default even after all that time.

I could be wrong but i'm sure once the default is recorded it's on there for something like 3 years. It doesn't matter if you settle it. Would defeat the object of the report

Defaults stay on for 6 years from the date of default. A cursory look suggests that, if asked, a lender can remove the record from your file. I would imagine you'd have to prove the default was erroneously added and have quite strong evidence.

Edited by Funk on Sunday 11th September 22:37

[5150]

Nickyboy said:

Funk said:

Interesting; the record of the BT account is completely gone from my records - perhaps it wasn't recorded as a default even after all that time.

I could be wrong but i'm sure once the default is recorded it's on there for something like 3 years. It doesn't matter if you settle it. Would defeat the object of the report

Sure, I understand that. Thing is, it's still going down as a default every month, 18 months after it was settled!

[Funk]

5150 said:

Nickyboy said:

Funk said:

Interesting; the record of the BT account is completely gone from my records - perhaps it wasn't recorded as a default even after all that time.

I could be wrong but i'm sure once the default is recorded it's on there for something like 3 years. It doesn't matter if you settle it. Would defeat the object of the report

Sure, I understand that. Thing is, it's still going down as a default every month, 18 months after it was settled!

What is the date of the default recorded as? That's the important date and the account should show as settled/satisfied under 'closed accounts' if it's not still being shown as 'live'.

[shep1001]

Driver101 said:

Do people use credit agency checks on a regular basis?

In the past I did sign up just to have a look, but there wasn't much to see and it didn't offer any value at £10-15 per month.

Does it harm your rating when you keep checking yourself?

Its free from the likes of Clearscore. I get a report every month or I can log in to my account & check things.

[Zoon]

Or noddle.co.uk

[Funk]

Noddle shows Call Credit file
Clearscore shows Equifax file
Experian file can only be obtained through them, £2 one is fine once you decipher it.

[shep1001]

Funk said:

Noddle shows Call Credit file
Clearscore shows Equifax file
Experian file can only be obtained through them, £2 one is fine once you decipher it.

Out of interest what is the difference - do they not show the same detail even if the number they use to rate your credit score is different?

[anonymous-user]

shep1001 said:

Out of interest what is the difference - do they not show the same detail even if the number they use to rate your credit score is different?

In theory the core data should be the same, but st happens

You can get the data with the a data protection act request then get the company whose data is incorrect tor amend it.

If still not happy with the outcome appeal to the DPC.

[Funk]

desolate said:

shep1001 said:

Out of interest what is the difference - do they not show the same detail even if the number they use to rate your credit score is different?

In theory the core data should be the same, but st happens

You can get the data with the a data protection act request then get the company whose data is incorrect tor amend it.

If still not happy with the outcome appeal to the DPC.

Exactly.

In theory the data should all be the same but there can be errors or discrepancies. Some lenders use one or two agencies when credit checking, some use all three. It's important to keep an eye on all three. Call Credit and Equifax were spot on for me but I had to correct the Experian one a few times - they seem to be the most difficult/least accurate of the lot!