Experian vs. Equifax

dc

Sorry YB, the fact that you think this thread is a waste of time.

I think Gals' list is true in the main, and the exceptions are for reasons below.

IMHO I think each credit company sticks mostly to the agency it trusts and has the best relations with. (Mostly on grounds of cost of using both, why pay twice for info you trust)

Only if it suspects risk or in some cases lack of profit (i.e. stoozers/tarts) then they use the other too, hence reportedly seeming to use both at different times.

HTHs dc

garyclay

I don't think the principle of the thread is a waste of time but I think we need to have the information sourced from the lenders in an official way rather than from peoples credit files. As we have seen a number of times we get conflicting information from different members.

YorkshireBoy

dc wrote:

Sorry YB, the fact that you think this thread is a waste of time.

Thanks for clarifying dc.

However, I'm still of the opinion that the providers will continue to "chop and change" CRA's, just as they continually tweak the algorithms that they have developed to help them make their lending decisions. However, I think "innovate" summed my comments up better when he/she said...

I think this thread was a very valuable exercise, if only for demonstrating that there isn't really a set pattern, and that trying to keep a 'clean sheet' with all the agencies is prudent for anyone who wants credit.

I didn't mean to in any way decry what we were trying to do here - just to highlight some discrepancies between the contents of my report and the contents of others' recent posts. I can assure you that, despite my own views, I will continue to update the thread with my own experiences as and when I can.

RichyRich

Strange that, according to 1st post BoS and Halifax use different agencies when they are the same group and lots of the products are administered together (e.g. Hfx and BoS credit cards all administered by the same call centre I believe).

I have sent off for all 3 of my credit reports today and yesterday. Last time I did it (oooh maybe a year ago now) Equifax didn't send me it due to an error and I didn't bother reapplying, but Orange and Capital one definitely searched, and reported to Experian from what I remember. Barclaycard searched Experian.

Hope this helps

R

Matt83UK_2

Hfx and BoS credit cards all administered by the same call centre I believe

Same call centre, different software/systems, with different agendas, e.g. debt collection is much tighter on one vs the other apparently.

RichyRich

Good to know. Thx

Niteflyer

This is an extract from o2's website

"Which credit reference agencies' records does O2 search?

Generally, the agency O2 uses will be dependent on whether you are connecting to a consumer or business tariff. For consumer tariffs, O2 uses a company called Equifax and for business tariffs O2 uses a company called Experian. If you wish to know which company we have used in respect of your application for service, please ask a member of staff."

That should answer that one

Matt

Galstonian

garyclay wrote:

I think we need to have the information sourced from the lenders in an official way rather than from peoples credit files. As we have seen a number of times we get conflicting information from different members.

Lenders do not have to divulge this information, many consider it a confidential part of their business and most can use either of the main CRAs anyway. By all means ask away but I think most will refuse to tell you in advance of an application which agency they routinely use for searches.

My intention when starting the thread was really to help with stoozing. Its nice to know in advance if your application will go to a particular CRA as this can help spread the applications out further, however, you should ideally be in a position where it doesn't really matter all that much which CRA is used.

As for HFX and BoS using different services I'd say it is simply a matter of integration not being anywhere close to instant, they are still working on it.

RichyRich

Just got my credit reports from Equifax and Experian. Still waiting from Call Credit.

The information I have is as follows:

LTSB Create services search Experian
Morgan Stanley Credit Cards search Experian
Admiral Insurance search Experian
Zopa search Equifax
'3' Mobile search Equifax

Barclaycard report to Experian and Equifax
Abbey National (Bank account) report to Experian
Capital One report to Experian and Equifax
'3' report to Equifax
G E Capital Store cards report to Equifax
NatWest Credit Cards report to Experian andEquifax
ARG (Argos Store card) report to Experian
RBS Credit Cards report to Experian and Equifax
Virgin Mobile report to Equifax
Orange report to Equifax and Experian

Hope this helps
Rich

jay78

Bump! I know a list has been drawn up on the main site, but I still think this thread is useful. Anyone else got there reports at the ready?