Credit Card Companies Settled but not on Experian

creditcardnewbie

Hello to you all,

I had a look on the forums for an answer to this one but could not find anything - apologies if it has been posted before.

My problem is this - I have 3 accounts which have all been settled now over 6 months but each time I get my credit report from Experian it shows that each account is still active.

One is a HSBC credit card with a £5,000 limit on it and another is a Thomas Cook card with a much smaller limit of £1,000 - the other is a Nationwide loan.

I have spoke to all three organisations on numerous occasions, sometimes with a Manager - on each occasion I am assured that the accounts are definitely closed and Experian have been notified. Each organisation has said all they can do is notify Experian again that I have closed my account.

Is there any other approach I can take on this one? I have spoke to Experian about this but they keep telling me the same thing - that the company needs to tell them to close the account. So, I feel like I am going round in circles with this one.

I am very concerned that this is affecting my credit rating because of the amount of credit available, especially the £5,000 HSBC card.

Any help or advice with this would be greatly appreciated.

creditcardnewbie :beer:

thriftymomma

Phone the organisations in question and ask for written confirmation that the accounts are closed. Then with that evidence, if it still not correct on your files you can tell experian/equifax to look into it again and copy and forward your letters to them. Good luck.

Brian64

creditcardnewbie wrote: »

Hello to you all,

I had a look on the forums for an answer to this one but could not find anything - apologies if it has been posted before.

My problem is this - I have 3 accounts which have all been settled now over 6 months but each time I get my credit report from Experian it shows that each account is still active.

One is a HSBC credit card with a £5,000 limit on it and another is a Thomas Cook card with a much smaller limit of £1,000 - the other is a Nationwide loan.

I have spoke to all three organisations on numerous occasions, sometimes with a Manager - on each occasion I am assured that the accounts are definitely closed and Experian have been notified. Each organisation has said all they can do is notify Experian again that I have closed my account.

Is there any other approach I can take on this one? I have spoke to Experian about this but they keep telling me the same thing - that the company needs to tell them to close the account. So, I feel like I am going round in circles with this one.

I am very concerned that this is affecting my credit rating because of the amount of credit available, especially the £5,000 HSBC card.

Any help or advice with this would be greatly appreciated.

creditcardnewbie :beer:

I had the same problem.It was only resolved when i disputed the accounts with experian.If you dispute then experian will contact the organisations on your behalf and update your report.Whilst accounts are in dispute experian will place a notice of correction on your account.Once your accounts are corrected you should then ask experian to remove the NOC

creditcardnewbie

thriftymomma wrote: »

Phone the organisations in question and ask for written confirmation that the accounts are closed. Then with that evidence, if it still not correct on your files you can tell experian/equifax to look into it again and copy and forward your letters to them. Good luck.

Hello Thriftymomma,

Many thanks for your reply - that is a good idea. I will definitely start asking for everything in writing so I can build up a paper trail.

creditcardnewbie :beer:

Brian64 wrote: »

I had the same problem.It was only resolved when i disputed the accounts with experian.If you dispute then experian will contact the organisations on your behalf and update your report.Whilst accounts are in dispute experian will place a notice of correction on your account.Once your accounts are corrected you should then ask experian to remove the NOC

Hello Brian,

Many thanks for your post - that is very interesting and an excellent idea - thank you.

I shall definitely proceed with that.

creditcardnewbie :beer:

byebyedebt

Make sure that when the credit file is updated it shows the correct date of settlement ie months ago. If you dont it will stay on file for 6 yrs from now, rather than 6 years from the original date of settlement.

creditcardnewbie

byebyedebt wrote: »

Make sure that when the credit file is updated it shows the correct date of settlement ie months ago. If you dont it will stay on file for 6 yrs from now, rather than 6 years from the original date of settlement.

byebyedebt,

That is a very interesting point and an excellent piece of advice - thank you for that.

I will see to it that Experian takes that on board.

Many thanks,

creditcardnewbie :beer:

Brian64

Hi Newbie,
Best to do everything in writing.You can use the contact us button if you have access to your experian report on line.

creditcardnewbie

Brian64 wrote: »

Hi Newbie,
Best to do everything in writing.You can use the contact us button if you have access to your experian report on line.

Hi Brian,

Yeah - I was going to register with Experian for their free 30 day trial in a bid to get this mess sorted and then cancel it afterwards. I did take out this trial before in the past but it was a very long time ago as far as I remember, maybe 3 years or more. Fingers crossed I am eligible for another. Will check it out.

Many thanks again for all your replies - you have been extremely helpful.

creditcardnewbie :beer:

noah271007

The information that needed amending on credit files is down to the organisation that put it there. You will need to contact the lender responsible for the data to get it corrected.

Basically the CRA's are bookkeepers, and they maintain and process data on behalf of their clients.

One of the issues i have with CRA's is that defaults stay on credit files for UP to 6 years. There is no law or statute to suggest defaults stay on credit files for 6 YEARS as ONLY CCJs and backrupties are covered in law at present. It is down to individual lender to remove defaults or any other adverse data except for the CCJ and bankrupties!

Brian64

noah271007 wrote: »

The information that needed amending on credit files is down to the organisation that put it there. You will need to contact the lender responsible for the data to get it corrected.

Basically the CRA's are bookkeepers, and they maintain and process data on behalf of their clients.

One of the issues i have with CRA's is that defaults stay on credit files for UP to 6 years. There is no law or statute to suggest defaults stay on credit files for 6 YEARS as ONLY CCJs and backrupties are covered in law at present. It is down to individual lender to remove defaults or any other adverse data except for the CCJ and bankrupties!

You are correct Noah it is down to the organisation to amend the cra's records.The op has already contacted them and been told they have informed experian so there is a communication problem between the lenders and experian.I had this problem myself and informed experian the accounts were settled experian were very helpful they said they would contact the lender on my behalf.IT took several weeks but the problem was resolved and accounts updated to settled:T

noah271007

Brian64 wrote: »

You are correct Noah it is down to the organisation to amend the cra's records.The op has already contacted them and been told they have informed experian so there is a communication problem between the lenders and experian.I had this problem myself and informed experian the accounts were settled experian were very helpful they said they would contact the lender on my behalf.IT took several weeks but the problem was resolved and accounts updated to settled:T

Several weeks??? I had the same issue but with Equifax (as I have a subscription with them) and it was resolved within 1 week!! The data from Equifax was corrected and ive checked with Experian and Callcredit on the same day and it was amended as well! I believe some lenders do have direct access to CRA's files.