'credit rating' issue - whats going on?

laurence.cockayne

I know there is no such thing as a credit score but i am really confused as to why i am failing various checks against my name.

I have had regular credit since i was 18 (i am now 26). I have VERY rarely missed a credit payment, have successfully cleared loans and credit cards. I have a small amount of credit now. Not a lot at all. I consider myself very comfortable financially not in that i earn a lot but i have very little debt.

I have been on the electoral roll at my rented property for around 4 years since i moved in with my partner.

Now i have encountered some issues with obtaining credit. I know it is now harder to get credit. But i can't get any. Not a bit. Not a credit card. Not even an ipad contract from Three.

My partner on the other hand, was declared bankrupt around 6/7 years ago. This has now been discharged. However, when i failed my credit check with 3 for a £25 per month ipad contract i asked my partner to apply for the contract (i wanted the ipad!). She passed. Not problems at all. So we have the contract in her name.

This set alarm bells ringing for me. And this is why. I applied for a credit card with Santander as i do a lot of travelling and thus filling up the tank. So i wanted a 1,2,3 credit card. Failed. This was before the 3 issue. So i did both an experian and equifax credit check. They both said i have a near on excellent credit score. A very high rating and explained that i should find it easy to obtain credit.

All very strange.

Today i decided i wanted to set up a direct debit with the national lottery. I set up an account about a year and a half ago but never did anything with it, the reason being is a found it hard to set it up. now i know why. I couldn't log in so i had to phone the national lottery. They said that when i applied in march last year my name failed their checks. Maybe because i wasn't on the electoral roll or for some other reason.

I need to get to the bottom as to why i am a) regularly failing credit checks and b) i am failing checks against my name. Is something shady going on?

What can i do? Can i contact anyone? Is there an issue with my address maybe? Can i get this looked into?

I need to get to the bottom of this. I am saving up a deposit for a mortgage and i have no chance of getting one at this rate.

laurence.cockayne

Off the top of my head a few. Not many though i don't think. The issue that has alarmed me is the national lottery one. That was back in early 2011. I hadn't done any credit checks in a long time around then. I have done a few in the past 6 months so i can sort of understand why i might fail a check now.

I really do think there is something underlying. To do with my name or address.

NeverEnough

Get a copy of your full credit reports from Experian and Equifax - the £2 statutory ones, no need to sign up to £7 a month subscriptions! Also don't bother paying the extra for credit scores as they are meaningless in the big scheme of things- as you have seen your high scores have not meant you could obtain credit.

Check through all the entries carefully - your name may have been muddled up with someone elses details, check the accuracy of all entries and if any adverse credit accounts are shown, like defaulted accounts on your report in error (it happens!)

Then let us know on here once you have the credit agency reports and what they show, and people may be able to help with advice.
Do you have a stable job? Regular salary? There may be a fraud marker on your account for some reason- check the reports very carefully.

laurence.cockayne

Silky89 wrote: »

National Lottery would have carried out an identification search and not a full credit check.

Have you looked at your credit file with all three CRAs? - And you say you have very rarely missed payments, when where these payments missed exactly?

Also, you say you are on the ER, when you check your report, make sure that the address format is the exact same you type on credit applications.

I really can't remember when these were. Haven't missed one in years. Think i missed 1 credit card payment when i was like 19/20. Other than that maybe 1 returned DD payment. Nothing substantial at all.

So i have failed an identity check could this link to the failed credit checks?

laurence.cockayne

NeverEnough wrote: »

Get a copy of your full credit reports from Experian and Equifax - the £2 statutory ones, no need to sign up to £7 a month subscriptions! Also don't bother paying the extra for credit scores as they are meaningless in the big scheme of things- as you have seen your high scores have not meant you could obtain credit.

Check through all the entries carefully - your name may have been muddled up with someone elses details, check the accuracy of all entries and if any adverse credit accounts are shown, like defaulted accounts on your report in error (it happens!)

Then let us know on here once you have the credit agency reports and what they show, and people may be able to help with advice.
Do you have a stable job? Regular salary? There may be a fraud marker on your account for some reason- check the reports very carefully.

Ok i will do that.

Yes i have a stable job with a decent regular salary.

I will definitely check over the records and if there is anything a miss i will come back and get some advice!

BugsyBrowne

James jones of experian looks like you've got another unhappy customer where your generated score has told the OP he's excellent for credit and you've guessed it he is not!!!

BugsyBrowne

Silky89 wrote: »

The 'Score' is a load of old tosh :D

Some people really do take the score too seriously.

But people will keep falling for it silky as Experian & Equifax are big companies that the banks do use so that's why people trust these type of companies.

laurence.cockayne

OK so i have done a credit report with equifax and it says i am financially linked to my sister. I have no idea what her credit situation is.

laurence.cockayne

No. I a joint mortgage search was completed in 2007 when we looked into the possibility of buying my mum's house. We never pursued it though.

laurence.cockayne

I am 99% certain this is the reason as the dates match. The question is, will this be affecting me as described in the first post?

Can i get this link removed?

JohalaReewi

laurence.cockayne wrote: »

I am 99% certain this is the reason as the dates match. The question is, will this be affecting me as described in the first post?

Can i get this link removed?

1. Probably - if you are financially linked to people with a bad credit record, it can affect you too.

2. Yes! Been there, done that.
Contact the CRA and say that the financial link is incorrect. There isn't and never has been a financial link. There should be a reference number for your credit report, and a section/item number for the financial link. You can report it online too. The CRA will check with the company that reported the link and should confirm that the link is false and then the CRA will remove it.