Credit Files

Garry_3

Hi guys

Does anyone know how often financial institutions pass on information to the credit file agencies? I've been working on reducing the amount of credit available to me by closing two old credit cards and reducing the limit that I had on another. My plan is to then apply for other new cards to make use of their introductory offers (Sainsburys, lloyds). I'm just wondering how it would take before my credit file shows that I no longer hold a couple of my old cards. I hope that makes sense!

Cheers

CollieDog_3

Hi Garry

I'm sure there's a past article on this by Martin somewhere on main site. There is certainly one on credit cards and you should follow the advice re closing them - they often don't but just let the account lie dormant. :-/

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johannamse

I have read on here that people say you need to wait a couple of months for the data from company to credit agencies to filter through.

Mr_B_13

From my understanding, the credit file is updated monthly.

Yesterday evening, by coincidence, I discovered a 30 day free trial to the Experien credit reference online service (beginning to wonder how I am doing as I have applied for a couple of cards in the past month).  See http://www.creditexpert.co.uk. Their site also includes FAQ about different aspects of your credit files.

Kind regards

Mr B

Martinslovechild

It varies from lender to lender. Most report monthly but some can take longer.

Also - if you are planning to get hold of copies of your credit files, be aware that there are now 3 companies that hold this information.

Experian
Equifax
Callcredit

Garry_3

Thanks for your replies. I have read the articles on the site about closing dormant credit card accounts, that was what spurred me on to close them in the first place. My idea was that by reducing the total amount of credit currently available to me, a new card company may see fit to offer me a higher limit. Not an exact science, I know, but couldn't do any harm.

As far as I know the two cards that I cancelled have been closed. In my letter to the companies I made a point of asking them to 'cancel my card and close the account'. I can no longer access the accounts online, so I'm assuming that they are now closed. Is there any other way to check that the account is actually closed, other than ringing them to ask they have done what I asked them to do?

I think I'll just make an application for those new cards in the next week or so and see what happens.

Thanks again,
Garry

Martinslovechild

If they are only updating the files monthly, wouldn't it make sense to apply for a number of cards at the same time as, once the file is updated, you have less chance of getting more cards?

The credit card companies don't all send updates to Experian et al on the same day so this doesn't quite work Mr B.

Also, obtaining additional cards is not an exact science - for instance, my wife was able to secure a credit card with one company that I also applied for at the same time - she was approved - I wasn't!!! When I wrote to them asking why, they sent me a letter saying that I was now approved - odd!!! No explanation - the card came through a week later.

Do searches show instantly and therefore every time you apply, lenders will know that you have tried/been accepted elsewhere as well and take that into consideration?

Yes - searches are made electronically and would therefore be available for other credit companies to see from that moment onwards. Lenders take a number of factors into consideration when determining whether to give you a new card, including:-

i) Total amount of credit currently available to you
ii) Amount of debt you've currently borrowed
iii) Repayment history
iv) Postcode
v) Salary

oh, and probably a host of other things too!!

I haven't been accepted for the Lloyds card yet, but if the credit file isn't updated (as I only took out Egg earlier this month), then the balance may not be showing despite the fact that it exists? Could this cause complications transferring it too early?

I doubt it. I've transferred 'non-existant' balances many times from Egg to the new card so that I can take advantage of then transferring these amounts from Egg to my current account and then on to my flexi mortgage account.

With those online application systems that say they can give you an instant decision - are they checking against your credit file (can it do it that quick, automatically?) or ignoring it? ???

I would suggest that about 99% check against your credit file. I have reason to believe that HSBC possibly don't check your credit file but certainly will if you miss a payment or default, but assume that everyone does - it's safest.

By the way, Credit Scoring is done differently by every lender, so don't assume that getting accepted by one guarantees acceptance by another.

Also, go steadily - don't go crashing in applying for lots of cards in a short period. Take it steadily and you should be able to build up slowly. Also, try to negotiate with your existing card companies at the end of 0% periods to see whether they it may be possible to extend the period (particularly if they think that you're about to walk!!).

Read some of the other threads on this subject. There's lots of useful help here on MSE.

Martinslovechild

My idea was that by reducing the total amount of credit currently available to me, a new card company may see fit to offer me a higher limit.  Not an exact science, I know, but couldn't do any harm.

Possibly, but then again, maybe not. Other posters report that getting high credit limits is down to either transferring large balances from existing cards (which may or may not have 'real' balances ) or phoning the lender up and asking them if they'll match your existing card because you're considering transferring a balance over to their card. Sometimes, they'll do this on day 1. Other times, you may need to call back after maybe 3 months once they've seen some indication of your payment history etc.

In my letter to the companies I made a point of asking them to 'cancel my card and close the account'.  I can no longer access the accounts online, so I'm assuming that they are now closed.  Is there any other way to check that the account is actually closed, other than ringing them to ask they have done what I asked them to do?

The only way to check for sure is to check your credit files. One lender told me that they'd closed my account but it was still showing as active some 9 months later on my credit report, at which point they got a phone call from an angry young man >:(

cifpower

This thread is FIVE years old. You would be best starting a thread of your own.

lisyloo

Why is it having an adverse effect?
What happened in th elast 4 months that will make a difference (information stays on for years, so if it was bad 4 months ago it will probably still be there).

Can you not provide other evidence to the mortgage company? e.g. credit card statements and expain that the credit file has not been updated?

Personally I'm struggling to see how 4 months would make that much difference, but perhaps you haven't given us ebough information.

lisyloo

the only problem is the Lloyds entry indicating I have a £14k available credit and £4k loan. The information is in fact wrong when I have a £5k available credit and a £0 balance

So are they really saying that the addition £13K available credit (that's not being used) is a barrier to your mortgage?
or simply that they will reconsider with the new information.

Personally I'd be surprised if this was stopping you getting a mortgage.

Have you asked them to update it manually as YorkshireBoy did?