Credit Rating: How it works and How to improve it discussion area

harryhound

I am having a problem with a supplier, who has had a "please refer" result from these
people:
http://www.tracesmartcorporate.co.uk/

I cannot find out what the problem is but it might be that his firm, that has grown like a weed since its formation 10 years ago, has decided that I don't exist; or if I do I'm some sort of crook.

Do I have any rights as with a credit rating agency, to find out what their records say about me?

It seems that tracesmart is becoming a integral part of some financial institutions fraud/money laundering procedures!

never-in-doubt

harryhound wrote: »

I am having a problem with a supplier, who has had a "please refer" result from these
people:
http://www.tracesmartcorporate.co.uk/

I cannot find out what the problem is but it might be that his firm, that has grown like a weed since its formation 10 years ago, has decided that I don't exist; or if I do I'm some sort of crook.

Do I have any rights as with a credit rating agency, to find out what their records say about me?

It seems that tracesmart is becoming a integral part of some financial institutions fraud/money laundering procedures!

Have you got anything in the GAIN section of your Experian report? That's the first place to check (i.e. moved without letting a lender know whilst having a debt for example)...

However, you can SAR them - use the following template and send a tenner off and they will have to send you everything they have about you. #6

maxiner

Hi, I was trying to get car finance and was refused. I knew I had an excellent score/record as I had obtained the report the week before.

I found on the report though that I wasn't listed on the electoral role. Spoke to Experian and was told this was down to the way the council had submitted my address.

Experian were able to find my electoral role address and it now shows on the report.

This address is quite different to what I have currently been using with other companies (vodafone, next etc) should I therefore ask these companies to follow the Councils format?

I live in some apartments and there is a number for the flat and then a number for the road. I have seen lots of variations of the address.

Anyway, the car company still refused me as wasnt being shown on the electoral roll in time of their further searches.

Having re-ordered my report and score, my score had now gone from excellent to poor! The car finance company had searched on me 8 times using, what I was told a further broker?

I dont know why I was searched against 8 times, I would have expected only a maximum of three = 1st search, 2nd search, perhaps a manual search.

I have been advised by them to add a note to the report due to the variation of my address.

Can I further complain about these 8 searches?

I am sure alot of people have this problem due to variations of address.

I am in process of buying a property, although have not exchanged contracts. The original credit check was fine, but am now worried that the above may have an effect. Will the bank do any further searches? I am awaiting the valuation?

Any advice appreciated.

Joe_Bloggs

I do not think it was wise to attempt car finance whilst in the process of buying a property. It may make more sense when your new address is settled and you are on the electoral role as seen by the credit reference agencies.

It may be wise to inform companies, that you deal with, where you reside in case they send you confidential information that could be a potential source of identity theft.

Phone records, utility bills are also in limbo when moving house or be in between properties. Some may suspect that you may even have skipped town.
J_B.

Nuuk

A friend of mine who now lives abroad uses my address for a credit card. I recently received a letter from 1st Credit saying that he owes a certain bank a sum of money and they have been appointed to reclaim it.

I have notified him of this but he is adamant that he does not owe the bank anything, and to just ignore the matter. However, am I correct in thinking that this could backfire on me if my address is associated with an outstanding debt?

laura_1987_19

Hello,

I have debts that show as defaulted on my credit file, they have been passed on to debt collection aganecies and are being paid off via CCCS.

This agreement isn't showing on my credit file so it just shows as defaulted as payments were missed then the agreement was set up.

I spoke to both the original company today who I took the credit out with and the debt collection agency who have now bought the debt and they have both said that once the debt is paid off in full it will show as satisfied on my file, will this mean that my credit rating will look better or does it still show that before it was satisfied payments were missed?

Thanks!

izools

Once an account defaults it cannot be un-defaulted.

The default marker will remain on your credit report for six years from the date of default, and drop off after this period, whether or not the debt has been paid

The original default balance, and the current balance taking payments into consideration, will show, and once the debt has been paid the default will be marked as satisfied with a nil balance, unless it takes more than six years to clear, in which case all record of the default will be gone before the debt is clear.

You will find it hard to get mainstream credit until the six years has lapsed unless it is just one default on your file, and if you clear it in full, some mainstream lenders will consider you once the default has aged, i.e. 3+ years old, depending on the rest of your credit file, and the application information.

Most sub-prime lenders like Capital One, Aqua, and Vanquis will consider you as long as the default is more than a year or two old and you have serviced your other credit accounts properly in the mean time.

On a lighter note I wrote to RBS about incorrect default dates, and upon checking my credit files with Equifax and Experian today, the defaults have dissapeared altogether! W00t!!

Eric_Pisch

ElkyElky wrote: »

Think about it, MBNA has 0% deals on every card, usually between 9-16 months. Imagine how much money they are loosing from thousands of customers taking up these deals? In my opinion, APR hikes are to be expected once the deal comes to an end, at least to try and recoup some of the money lost during the deals. Plus with the recession, they are even more desperate for profit.

I guess they are just doing what any other business would do... stopping themselves from going under.

yeah, i saved £3,500 in interest with them:rotfl:

underthematress

maxiner wrote: »

Hi, I was trying to get car finance and was refused. I knew I had an excellent score/record as I had obtained the report the week before.

I found on the report though that I wasn't listed on the electoral role. Spoke to Experian and was told this was down to the way the council had submitted my address.

Experian were able to find my electoral role address and it now shows on the report.

This address is quite different to what I have currently been using with other companies (vodafone, next etc) should I therefore ask these companies to follow the Councils format?

I live in some apartments and there is a number for the flat and then a number for the road. I have seen lots of variations of the address.

Anyway, the car company still refused me as wasnt being shown on the electoral roll in time of their further searches.

Having re-ordered my report and score, my score had now gone from excellent to poor! The car finance company had searched on me 8 times using, what I was told a further broker?

I dont know why I was searched against 8 times, I would have expected only a maximum of three = 1st search, 2nd search, perhaps a manual search.

I have been advised by them to add a note to the report due to the variation of my address.

Can I further complain about these 8 searches?

I am sure alot of people have this problem due to variations of address.

I am in process of buying a property, although have not exchanged contracts. The original credit check was fine, but am now worried that the above may have an effect. Will the bank do any further searches? I am awaiting the valuation?

Any advice appreciated.

I would try complaining. I used to work for a motor company and my managers would send off HP applications to each and every lender until one accepted the customer. Always starting with the one that would pay th most commission first. Often if they were getting rejected we would phone thm after 2/3 and tell thm we could search more for them. There used to be quite a few sub prime lenders. most peoplke don't realise that these searches affect their score. I certainly didn't.

It's horrible not knowing what your score is. The other poster is right, try avoid applying for car loans when applying for a mortgage, I am in the process now with my flatmate and the lender has said they will take off whatever she owes on the car off her salary before multiplying it..which is alot depending on what car you are going for! Another lender said they will mulitply the loan (she owes 4k) and take that off the amount she could normally borrow--very excessive if you ask me!

bristolleedsfan

Moggles wrote: »

Yes, the dormant a/cs are shown on your credit files.

Unless a card has a particular benefit, then I would close it down. Firstly, having loads of credit, even if not used, can put off potential lenders and secondly, by cancelling a card you can re-apply to that provider as a 'new' customer and take advantage of any introductory deals on offer.

How long does it take for credit files to reflect cancelled CC accounts pse.

I recently took out Play.com CC, Amazon CC, Halifax CC all for Cashback incentives, last week I cancelled Amazon CC, Halifax CC and my long term Nationwide CC leaving me with just Play.com CC.

Im keen to do another CC application for Cashback reasons but dont want to ride my luck too much.