credit reports

lampeter

i have just checked my credit report and scores

Experian gives me 999 excellent but credicall gives me 549 poor, how can they differ so much

CHR15

More to the point... why have you wasted money buying them?

the scores mean diddly squat, neither of those companies are lenders so who cares what random figure they give you.

Maybe you think the ones who gave you 999 was money well spent but you feel ripped off by the others.

Maybe one scores out of 1000 but the other scores out of 550...who cares??

Save your money and stop throwing it away for meaningless numbers.


It is important to look at your credit file though. Not all lenders report to all agencies so you may have something amiss on one, which isn't reported to the other.

The credit file is £2.

lampeter

i get my experian credit report with my card and id protection free, and the credit report is sound with all up to date in or settled

Tixy

Probably worth looking at your callcredit report to see if there is anything there that is incorrect. Or whether any credit accounts appear on there that are not on experian.

Hax

One thing I have noticed with CallCredit is they show your last SIX years of payment history - whereas Experian (Credit Expert) show only three. So, it may be the case that you have some bad markers from further back that Experian no longer consider in their scoring, but CallCredit do.

Regardless, as everyone else has said, the numbers are fairly meaningless as each lender has their own scoring criteria.

credit-geek

Great Thread....Looks like i have the same results.



Just checked my credit report with Experian’s Credit Expert, Equifax and Callcredit:


Credit Expert - 999 - credit rating defined as excellent (max is 999)
Equifax - 522 in excellent category (max is 900)
Callcredit - Credit Score = 594, Credit Rating = 3/5 - basically average.



At first i was alarmed, but they reading an Experian pdf, doc on their credit reports, basically Individuals do not have one credit score or rating, lenders work out your score every time you apply for credit or finance. These scores can differ between different products, you are applying for, for example credit cards versus loans. Lenders understand the profile of an excellent customer and use your application details and credit report to mark you against this.


So after reading this, i am less concerned of my scoring and investing time working out why the scores are different, as my score from Credit Expert was also 999, this gives you a false sense of security, for example you could have this experian credit score, but still be turned for a product, on the basis, your salary is too low, you are self-employed etc....Lenders change their scoring mechanisms regularly based on their risk models.


My callcredit credit report was the most detailed and went back the furthest historically, which is probably why my score is not as good...credit expert seemed to focus on the shortest credit history for myself.



I am now focusing on improving my credit report, and not spending £5.95 a time for credit scores with Credit Expert or Equifax (callcredit gives you one per month included in the membership cost)....


Other than your credit report contents, i think it is important to review the credit product, and understand if you meet their criteria, an example of this is with Capital One, who explain their requirements for each card.

rene2b

i paid for a check via Experian £2
and the details came this morning in the post for me to go on line and read ma ratings
question is...it just as details of card,council n store cards but no numbers
most people on here r saying they getting ect:50%..99% ratings
mine as none!
please can someone explain about more about it in 'english'
thnks

Hax

The numbers that people are talking about are "credit scores". These are derived from the information in the credit report and every institution and lender has their own way for calculating this score.

For this reason, the credit scores from the credit reference agencies are irrelevant when it comes to applying for credit as every lender will have their own scoring criteria.

In short, don't waste your money on the scores!

rene2b

thanks,but how do i kno if i have a good or bad credit rating?

Hax

By checking the information on your credit report. Late payment markers, defaults, arrangement to pay markers will all have a negative effect on your credit rating.

Also, having large outstanding balances, credit cards used up to their limits or large numbers of recent credit searches will all have a negative impact on your credit rating.

However, as I have already said, all lenders have different criteria. Some may put more weight on your ability to afford the repayments (by considering your income again your existing commitments) than they would on late payments from two years ago.

There is no "magic" definition of what a lender considers a good or bad risk. However, every negative on your report is likely to hinder your ability to obtain new credit.