Flat number or not: what to do

redonion

I've seen a lot of threads "warning" about the poor way that credit reference agencies handle flat numbers, but those threads don't say what to do about the issue.

So here's the thread to tell people what to do. I'm going to suggest how it should be handled, as a victim, sorry, consumer, and then hope that people better in the know will correct me where I'm wrong.

In all cases, get your new address on the electoral role.

If you're moving into a new flat and post either gets delivered to a common location, omit the flat number, and do so consistently everywhere.

Otherwise... stay lucky. No, there are some actions you can take, though the faceless bureaucracy may or may not go in your favour.

If you don't have an individual mailbox but have already been using a flat number in correspondence, stick to that address consistently everywhere.

If you have an individual mailbox, you don't have much choice: use the flat number consistently everywhere.

With some agencies, you may not see all of your credit history until you you add your new address. If there are multiple forms of your address because of flat number issues, you may never see those details, but lenders may still see them. So update your credit reference agency file yourself with your current and previous addresses, where they are not already present. Check your credit report periodically and if incorrect addresses appear, raise the issue promptly to correct them where they are wrong. With Equifax, you can currently sign up for a free trial with Equifax, then cancel, and they will offer you a longer free trial of their alert service, which will notify you of new linked addresses. Accept that and put the date you'll need to cancel it in your diary. After that if you don't want to pay for the alerts you can check your record by paying 2 pounds each time. With Experian, the market leader, you can also get a free trial, but there's no longer free alerts service that I know of, so it's just pay the 2 quid every so often. An alert from the Equifax service may tip you off that Experian and Callcredit may also get incorrect details that will need correcting.