Aviva crfedit searches - MoneySu

zudecke

Hi guys,

After finding 3 "Aviva Central Services" credit searches on my account in the past 12 months I started investigating with Aviva as to how they were generated without my strict consent.

I have finally received an email from Aviva who have discovered the source of these recurring searches and have pasted it below:

Dear Bla,

Following our investigation, I can confirm that we have been able to verify the source of the credit checks as having come from two aggregator sites.

Searches for motor insurance quotes were carried on Compare the Market on 26 March, 2011 and Go Compare on 8 February 2011.

When using this type of site their terms and conditions do state that credit searches may be carried out by the company or their underwriters at quotation stage, prior to purchase for underwriting purposes. These terms and conditions can be viewed in more depth via their websites.

Due to the searching of credit files being clearly mentioned on the comparison sites we will be unable to delete these searches from your credit file as they have been authorised by yourself, when completing the above mentioned quotation.

Please be aware that unless you manually un-subscribe from these sites they can continue to use your data, normally this is around the time of your renewal date to show that they have companies who may be able to offer you a lower premium. This, in turn, may cause another imprint on your credit file and will also be stated within the sites terms and conditions.

Regards,

Aviva

It's absolutely insane that these comparison sites have the ability to tightly word into their small print the absolute power to carry out credit searches against your name whenever they want.

I know I'll probably receive a barrage of snide comments about how I should have read the T&Cs, which may be true to some extent. But seriously, how often am I going to read T&Cs? I never ever thought such power could be afforded to companies and that strict consent had to be provided by the customer when approving a credit search... Not recurring searches.

So I'm screwed .

Regards,

Z

Tixy

Its cr ap that its allowed, but it is allowed.

One way to shop around for car insurance is to put in incorrect data - ie use a different name etc so they won't appear on your credit file. It will still give you a pretty good idea of the quotes before you do a final search (and so should at least restrict it to one search on your file).

However given how old the searches are they shouldn't be having any impact on you now or your ability to get credit.

.1xp

They should only be 'soft' searches that don't show up to other lenders though

zudecke

Soft searches? How can I confirm their softness? Aviva should/would have said something about that no? Reading their mail, they almost imply that it IS indeed a negative thing to have on your report?

ChopperST

I too was going to post this as it has happened to me as well when shopping for my car insurance. It is a full blown credit search and is hidden away in the T&C's of comparison sites. Absolutely ridiculous they search you before 1. You even decide you want to go with them and 2. You may well pay for car insurance in full and not want to pay monthly!

zudecke

Yeah, it's seriously annoying. T&Cs.. What a joke.