Experian Credit Score

cruzier

Apologies, if this is in the wrong forum.

However, both myself and my friend ordered our Experian Credit Score and even though I have 8 defaults and over £70k worth of credit/debt, my score was higher than hers and she has no missed payments on her 7 credit accounts ever and she has no adverse information, yet her score is 120 less than mine.

Does anyone know the reasoning behind the scoring? and how mine can be more than my friends?

Chris.

Bismarck

the score is pretty much meaningless - it's a lucrative scheme from experian that has limited real value. your score could be higher because of how long you've lived where you live/ voters roll information, job details etc.....but the reality is that providers have their own set of rules and having a good/high credit score means nothing when you come to try and get credit...you may have a high score and get nothing if you apply...because they base their decisions on their own criteria.

exel1966

Having a 'score' of 120 less will not mean she'll be able to get credit anymore than you as it's all down to the individual companies scoring process.

As all companies have their own individual criteria these marketed scores from the likes of Experian are pretty much worthless as there is no such thing as a national score to which it can be compared with. The score you have is just a comparison of the clientelle on their books and is not fully representative.

cruzier

Ahh okay well thanks guys for your advice.

jimbo26

Just goes to prove what a waste of money it is.

Bismarck

jimbo26 wrote: »

Just goes to prove what a waste of money it is.

to be fair they do try and market it well, I bet there's a lot of people who have paid for their score at least once just out of curiousity.

Moggles_2

Judging from the posts on here, it's easy to be lulled into a false sense of security by these numbers. Then it comes as a shock, when your application is turned down. Equally, some posters are put off building a credit history at all, because of low scores.

Credit reports, when ordered directly from Experian and Equifax, are valuable. After all, this is the information lenders search when you apply for credit. Additional services like credit scores are a nice little earner for the credit reference agencies, but of little practical value to cc applicants and certainly not worth paying extra for. I wouldn't let these numbers distract you from tackling the things that really matter.

For tips to improve your chances of credit card acceptance, have a look at the *Credit Rating: how it works and how to improve it guide*, especially Martin's *Manage and Improve your credit score* article

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/credit-rating-credit-score#improve

tictax

if only there was a way that i could convince people that i knew their credit scores. i would be raking the money in!!

amizaki

Better, without giving any personal information check your credit score for free from following link...
http://www.checkmyfile.com/score.asp
It will not give you accurate score, as nobody can give u...but u can get a rough idea from that.

Paul_Herring

amizaki wrote: »

It will not give you accurate score, as nobody can give u...but u can get a rough idea from that.

Rough as in out by +/-1000. I wouldn't trust any numbers coming out of it.