Credit report has my parents details on it, and affected credit score

lucozade50

Hi

I checked my credit report on Equifax. Under credit agreements, there were 3 accounts, all in my name, and all in good order, with no late payments or anything at all. Further down, there is a section that says attributable data, and under here, there are over 10 other accounts that belong to my mum and dad, some of which aren’t in very good order. I have no financial connection to any of their accounts, and never have done. The only thing I think which is linking us is the address (all at the same address).

I spoke to Equifax who told me to complete an online dispute form, which I have done so, and they said it could take a month due to banks updating their records with credit agencies every month. By completing the online dispute form, does that mean that Equifax will investigate the other names and remove them from the report after they are satisfied, or will they need to go the banks too?

I asked Equifax if there was a quicker way, and they said that I could go the banks which my parents have accounts with, and ask them to remove it. Lots of them seemed puzzled at the request, and they said how it would have to go through back office etc. and it would take a month they think.

I still haven’t got certain answers, and I really want to resolve this as soon as possible. Could you tell me what I should be doing to fix this issue? I am going to be renting a place in the next month, and will need to take out a loan to help me move, and I think this could affect my chance of getting a loan. Would a lender check the credit score on its own, or check the credit report too?

If anyone reads the report properly, they will clearly see that the other accounts don’t belong to me, the dates of birth and names are different. They have also come under the attributable data, and the report says this:

“If there is information in the Attributable Data section, it indicates that the data could belong to you but cannot be definitely identified as yours. A lender can see this data, but should obtain proof that it does belong to you before it is used in a lending decision. For example, if there are similar names at the same household, attributable data is likely to be returned.”

Also I checked my credit score last year and it was a high score, and pretty much nothing has changed (although this report was with Experian). I was wondering if I should check my report with Experian as well and see what theirs says, and possible try and resolve any issues there, or would it be the same as with Equifax? I’ve heard that more checks can reduce my credit score. Does checking my own credit file affect the score?

What are my next steps?

Any help is appreciated

Thanks

MoneySaverLog

What you need to do is file a "Notice of Disassociation" with Equifax. You should also check all 3 credit reference agencies - Equifax, Experian and Call Credit to ensure they don't have the same associations and if they do you'd need to do the same with them.

lucozade50

I’ve completed an online dispute with Equifax which is in progress. Will I need to complete a notice of disassociation in addition to this?

I googled “notice of disassociation form Equifax” and followed the first link. Is this the correct form? (I’m not allowed to post links as I am new to this forum)

Regarding the other 2 agencies, will I need to buy a credit report from each of them, and then file the notice of disassociation. I’m assuming they wont tell me of any associations unless I buy the report?

How long can I expect for the associations to be cleared?

Will checking my credit reports so many times affect my credit score?

Thanks

MoneySaverLog

lucozade50 wrote: »

I’ve completed an online dispute with Equifax which is in progress. Will I need to complete a notice of disassociation in addition to this?

Yes

lucozade50 wrote: »

I googled “notice of disassociation form Equifax” and followed the first link. Is this the correct form? (I’m not allowed to post links as I am new to this forum)

Ask the CRA's for one

lucozade50 wrote: »

Regarding the other 2 agencies, will I need to buy a credit report from each of them, and then file the notice of disassociation. I’m assuming they wont tell me of any associations unless I buy the report?

Yes cost you £2 for each Statutory Report

lucozade50 wrote: »

How long can I expect for the associations to be cleared?

You should allow them 28 days

lucozade50 wrote: »

Will checking my credit reports so many times affect my credit score?

No personal searches are not seen by anyone other than yourself.

Also as a side note any "score" given by a credit reference agency is not worth the paper it's written on. They do not grant credit. Each lender would score differently based on their own scoring criteria.

guesswho2000

Equifax are a bunch of morons, I've had the same situation with attributable data, to this day it still hasn't been removed (over four years).

I've read elsewhere (consumer action group forum) that some people have had success removing it by threatening them with an ICO complaint, I've just given up as it doesn't appear to be affecting my ability to obtain credit.

I assume your name is similar to that of one of your parents? Mine stems from me sharing a first initial with my father.

lucozade50

MoneySaverLog wrote: »

Yes



Ask the CRA's for one



Yes cost you £2 for each Statutory Report



You should allow them 28 days



No personal searches are not seen by anyone other than yourself.

Also as a side note any "score" given by a credit reference agency is not worth the paper it's written on. They do not grant credit. Each lender would score differently based on their own scoring criteria.

Ok, I’ll get the credit report from the other agencies, and get the forms from them tomorrow.

I’ve spoken to the other banks to try to remove the associations. Should I keep going with trying to remove the associations as well as completing the notice of disassociation? Will them doing this somehow show up as more searches on my report?

Regarding credit scores, I’m assuming they’ll still be able to access the attributable data section?

Question on loans in general. Assuming they do check the attributable data section, and this impacts the score given by the lender, would they then check out the rest of the report rather than base any decision solely on the score?

lucozade50

guesswho2000 wrote: »

Equifax are a bunch of morons, I've had the same situation with attributable data, to this day it still hasn't been removed (over four years).

I've read elsewhere (consumer action group forum) that some people have had success removing it by threatening them with an ICO complaint, I've just given up as it doesn't appear to be affecting my ability to obtain credit.

I assume your name is similar to that of one of your parents? Mine stems from me sharing a first initial with my father.

That's terrible. I'll consider that if it doesn't get sorted.

My parents and me share the same surname, but the initials are different, so not too sure why it's come up.