Credit rating damaged by name size

jneves · 17 January 2018 at 8:46PM

Hi,

This is just to share my latest anecdote, which obviously won't apply to others, but I do think it shows how random credit ratings are.

So I was stoozing £3k and tried to get a balance transfer card for it. Tried a Barclaycard no fee deal and it was denied. My experian credit rating is 999, so I was surprised. Setup an account with Clearscore to check my equifax one to find out it's 423.

Checking why it was "low" I find out they have me as not present in my electoral roll (I am). I complain to them and they say my name doesn't match, but there's someone in my address with a very similar name (I wonder who that person is...). My name is abbreviated in the electoral roll because it's long.

So, in the end long names do affect the credit rating...

Have fun,
Joao

daveyjp · 17 January 2018 at 8:53PM

Those numbers aren’t your credit rating. They are for marketing purposes.

Carrot007 · 17 January 2018 at 8:58PM

daveyjp wrote: »

Those numbers aren’t your credit rating. They are for marketing purposes.

As thrilling as you rabbited staement is (which is often true). The thing here is having a name shortened on the electoral role could indeed also impact your ability to apply for credit. Stick to the important info. Pointless repeating of well known statements helps no-one.

surreysaver · 17 January 2018 at 9:50PM

In which case your Electoral Office is acting illegally under the Data Protection Act by holding incorrect information

Shakin_Steve · 18 January 2018 at 7:51AM

Or, Joao, use you first name, one of your middle names and your last name. I’m afraid our systems aren’t set up to accommodate much more than that. What would be the point?

[Deleted User] · 18 January 2018 at 8:46AM

You don’t have a “rating” to be affected.

What does your name say in the electoral roll report on Experian compared to Equifax?

eco_warrior · 19 January 2018 at 6:57PM

An error in spelling of a name either on the Electoral Roll or during the credit application service can lead to a decline on credit score as the search isn't finding the correct info.

It works the same with address, if you stay in a flat but the format isn't quite right when you fill in an application it mightn't pick up your details in the search and therefore cannot score/rate you on the credit you have.

Least it did when I used to do credit searches for customers. Would sometimes take a couple of searches to pull through the correct info to get the application approved.

triple_choc_chip · 20 January 2018 at 10:11AM

I had a similar problem with Equifax. The farm I lived on had a long name and had been abbreviated to 'Fm'. So when I wrote 'farm' it was deemed incorrect and I failed the check. I had emails and telephone calls going back and forth for a while until i realised they may speak English but they didn't understand it! I asked them to check other houses on the farm as proof that 'farm' is indeed correct but they refused to believe the others would have the same postcode because they couldn't grasp the concept of several barn conversions sharing one entrance to/from the farm.

jneves · 22 January 2018 at 8:38AM

Experian and Call Credit both report me has being on the electoral roll.

Credit rating damaged by name size

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free