Are Credit Agencies Changing Our Ratings?

brighterlight_2

I got my credit report from http://www.CreditReport.co.uk and it's the same report as I got about two years ago. But my credit score has gone down. Are the Credit Agencies downgrading credit scores because of the Credit Crunch?

JohalaReewi

Credit scores are made up numbers and are basically meaningless. As long as your credit history is correct, don't worry about the score given to you by a credit agency.

See Martin's article...
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/credit-rating-credit-score

brighterlight_2

Yes makes sense. If the lenders are using credit scoring to help them find profitable borrowers as well as avoiding bad risks, it is still concerning to see credit scores going down. I would have thought scores would at least remain the same, assuming your circumstances have not changed.

I wonder whether all the credit report agencies are lowering their credit scores across the board because of the Credit Crunch.

Bagette

I think it is not just the credit agencies that may be reducing your credit scores. I think the credit card companies like MBNA and American Express may be revising the credit limits too.

Has anyone else had the credit limit on their account reduced?

brighterlight_2

Bagette wrote: »

I think it is not just the credit agencies that may be reducing your credit scores. I think the credit card companies like MBNA and American Express may be revising the credit limits too.

If the credit agencies are downgrading everyones credit rating then maybe its no coincidence if your creditcard company has reduced your credit limit.

PROLIANT

Your credit rating is not held with Experian, Equifax or Call-Credit.
The lender has their own scoring system of which includes data provided by the latter.

brightonman123

i thnk card co's may reduce limits for all, if only to keep their exposure to any bad risks in check (think- ok, run about in this small area, where i can see you- not in that big field..)

the monthly totals on credit ratings may not change, but how they are interpreted.

brighterlight_2

PROLIANT wrote: »

Your credit rating is not held with Experian, Equifax or Call-Credit. The lender has their own scoring system of which includes data provided by the latter.

Does anyone know what the data is that is provided by Call-Credit for the lenders scoring system? Why does Call-Credit provide credit scoring data to the lender and not the other two companies?

benf90

brighterlight wrote: »

Does anyone know what the data is that is provided by Call-Credit for the lenders scoring system? Why does Call-Credit provide credit scoring data to the lender and not the other two companies?

Have another read of the article that was linked to by JohalaReewi.

If you read it carefully and take the time to understand it then it should answer the questions you've asked.

You basically need to forget anything to do with a 'score' or 'rating'. Whatever number they decide to pluck out of the air is meaningless.

Credit Reference Agencies store data about you and your credit history. Every lender will have their own set of criteria on how they interpret that data.

Call credit, Experian and Equifax are competitors. If they all shared data with each other then there wouldn't be any need for 3 separate agencies, there would just be one.

TheKeyMaker

Creditreport, checkmyfile, etc., are all middle-man and they will sell you anything. If you want your current update credit reports do get them from the 3 agencies directly.
I have done it myself and there’s nothing in common what you do get from both sources.

brighterlight_2

PROLIANT wrote: »

Your credit rating is not held with Experian, Equifax or Call-Credit. The lender has their own scoring system of which includes data provided by the latter.

Yes I think I understand the point about credit scores being only part of the process and subjective, but why does the latter agency - Call-Credit - provide data to the lender and the other two agencies do not? It must be significant data if it is used to help the lender with their scoring system. What is it?