Credit Reference Agencies - Who Really Uses Who? II

jaykay28

Hi folks, thanks this thread is really useful. Wonder if i could ask a bit of advice as i'm very new to all this.

I've got a 'good' score on Experian Credit Expert, but there is an 'arrangement to pay' account for Barclaycard on there which i've not had any dealings with since the 90's. It says that everything is satisfactory on the account, and that i have 350 credit with them, but i really can't remember whether that account was settled. There are no defaults or anything bad showing on my report at all, just this arrangement to pay. Barclaycard put the notice on in 2009, but i've not spoken to them in well over 10 years. Will this affect my application for a bank account with Halifax?

As i say, the credit 'score' is great, but i've seen people mention that arrangements to pay are bad. How can this be, if the score is good?

Sorry if this is a stupid question, i'm new to all this and trying to build up credit again after being in the credit wilderness for years....!

Miles30

star-fire wrote: »

If you are doing which retail stores use who..
Pcworld-HFC-Experian
Currys-HFC=Experian

I have tried both Pcworld and Currys instore but they said they don't do finance anymore.

never-in-doubt

Miles30 wrote: »

I have tried both Pcworld and Currys instore but they said they don't do finance anymore.

HFC say otherwise - http://www.hfcbank.co.uk/

*Website could be out of date as they still say beneficial offer loans lol - yea right!!

Currently, HFC Bank Ltd provides financial services through retailers such as B&Q, Currys, Dixons and PC World and manages Beneficial Finance personal loans from a central operations centre

ElkyElky

Miles30 wrote: »

I have tried both Pcworld and Currys instore but they said they don't do finance anymore.

That's correct. http://www.bitterwallet.com/pc-world-and-currys-cant-offer-credit-to-customers-statement/28783

izools

jaykay28 wrote: »

Hi folks, thanks this thread is really useful. Wonder if i could ask a bit of advice as i'm very new to all this.

I've got a 'good' score on Experian Credit Expert, but there is an 'arrangement to pay' account for Barclaycard on there which i've not had any dealings with since the 90's. It says that everything is satisfactory on the account, and that i have 350 credit with them, but i really can't remember whether that account was settled. There are no defaults or anything bad showing on my report at all, just this arrangement to pay. Barclaycard put the notice on in 2009, but i've not spoken to them in well over 10 years. Will this affect my application for a bank account with Halifax?

As i say, the credit 'score' is great, but i've seen people mention that arrangements to pay are bad. How can this be, if the score is good?

Sorry if this is a stupid question, i'm new to all this and trying to build up credit again after being in the credit wilderness for years....!

If the AP with Barclaycard is the only negative thing on your file and you have other up to date accounts with no history of arrears then getting a current account shouldn't be much of an issue, Halifax approved my OH with one satisfied and one outstanding default, so they aren't that strict with current accounts it seems. Is the Barclaycard account showing as settled or open? Does it show an outstanding balance? Does it show a special indicator start and end date or just start date?

I wouldn't pay any attention to the Experian score though, for two reasons. First and foremost all creditors have their own way of working out your score and there is no such thing as one score fit's all creditors.

You'll find some may consider you a good risk whilst others consider you a bad risk.

Not only that, but Experian themselves don't take into account arrangement to pay markers when calculating your score - however Equifax (and every creditor in the land no matter who they search) do. For a more accurate view of how creditors rate you the Equifax score is much more on the ball IME; that is, as on the ball as they can be given that each creditor has their own scoring techniques anyway...

jaykay28

[QUOTE=izools - Is the Barclaycard account showing as settled or open? Does it show an outstanding balance? Does it show a special indicator start and end date or just start date?

...[/QUOTE]

Thanks Izools....

The Account Status seems to be Open, with a Balance of 340, but all is showing Green and Satisfactory with no amounts in any of the boxes at all. It shows a Special Indicator start date of 01/09/2009 but i'm sure this was settled and closed absolute years ago (over 10). The account start date is 1996!. I don't want to contact B'card, as everything is showing Satisfactory at the moment. I'm worried that if i call them to dispute it, they might start putting bad things on my file that might take me back years.........:(:(

paulmcerlean

ElkyElky wrote: »

That's correct. http://www.bitterwallet.com/pc-world-and-currys-cant-offer-credit-to-customers-statement/28783

I cant see the decline rate going down with Barclays as the finance provider. Quite the opposite actually.

TFD_2

paulmcerlean wrote: »

I cant see the decline rate going down with Barclays as the finance provider. Quite the opposite actually.

I disagree, DSG won't have made this change lightly.

A friend of mine offers consumer finance through his company and has changed to Barclays who offered a much better acceptance rate than his previous lender, which dropped from something like 60% of the applications they were sending through to maybe 2-3%.

Innocent_Guy

Spam reported

Tarquinkrikery_2

I have tried both Pcworld and Currys instore but they said they don't do finance anymore.

I was in PC World on Monday the 31st and they were offering credit.

They check using Equifax and the finance was through Creation I believe and showed up the next day on my report.