Problems with Experian

EddyJ_2

I recently tried to transfer a credit card debt and got rejected (nothing new there). The problem started when I checked my details with Experian (as the credit card company said they used Experian to check my records):

Many years ago, when I was still at uni, I signed up for a 30-day free trial with Experian in a bid to sort out my finances. I have since moved from the student digs and made sure I updated all my addresses with the bank and council throughout the years.

I was surprised to find that according to Experian (and therefore, the information they must have sold to this credit card company), I was still listed at the student digs. It would appear that the only information they have on me is the information I provided them many years ago.

I checked my credit records with Equifax and Noddle and althought they couldn't find me at first, Equifax found my electoral roll and everything (Noddle's website couldn't verify me and it seems they don't want my business at all).

I updated my records at Experian and almost immediately found my credit score drop from over 800 and something to a minus figure. They also claimed that I have not been registered on the electoral roll for the last two addresses which is simply not true (Equifax, after all, managed to find that info after a day).

I went on the council's website to ask for some kind of proof that I have been registered (not really sure how to proof that I was registered at the previous address as the only info they provide is my current record) and sent the email confirmation to Experian to no effect.

I have to pay Experian to see the credit records they have on me and they sell the incorrect records they have if I apply for a credit card.

So far, I have seen no attempt from Experian to actually check whether the information they have on me is true.

I have also heard from friends that despite having many changes in their lives, they simply keep their banking and electoral roll at their parents all these years (and we're talking about fully grown adults now) and even though it's not true, because the records match, Experian think they're the bee's knees.

Thrugelmir

EddyJ wrote: »

Experian think they're the bee's knees.

Experian doesn't care. As Experian makes money from providing information to lenders not providing finance.

EddyJ_2

I understand the credit score means very little, but surely there's something fundamentally wrong when Experian make money from providing false information to lenders.

In time, I can control and correct my negative factors but I can't do much about companies telling porkies that affects my financial life.

Is there anyone I can complain to instead of ranting online?

sfax

EddyJ wrote: »

I understand the credit score means very little, but surely there's something fundamentally wrong when Experian make money from providing false information to lenders.

In time, I can control and correct my negative factors but I can't do much about companies telling porkies that affects my financial life.

Is there anyone I can complain to instead of ranting online?

Experian just report what lenders, the council etc tell them about you. They may get something wrong or mix up your record with someone else's and when they do, you simply need to contact them and ask them to correct it.

You don't need a subscription. You only need your £2 statutory report from them and you can then request corrections if there are inaccuracies. Having a subscription may expedite the resolution but it certainly isn't necessary.

Noddle is free and you should try to validate with a different credit card as not all cards work. Even if this fails, just get your £2 statutory report from CallCredit.

The old address is nothing to do with information you provided to Experian. It will be information from the council (assuming you're talking about the electoral roll) or from a credit agreement you took out when you lived there. If you are on the electoral roll at your new address and it has been published, just tell Experian and they'll update it

Experian_company_representative

EddyJ - The issue when you signed back up to CreditExpert was simply because you needed to update your membership profile to ensure you were seeing your full report, because you had moved home since you were a member before. This does not affect what lenders see. They will always carry out a search with your up-to-date details.

We hold electoral rolls from all councils going back many years, so if you should be registered at a previous address for a spell and this is not shown on your credit report please tell us and we can check.

Data quality is a top priority and something we invest a lot of resources into. Lenders don't want to base their decisions on bad data.

James

The_Boss

Experian_company_representative wrote: »

Lenders don't want to base their decisions on bad data.

James

Which is one of the reasons why they don't use your scores

Experian_company_representative

The_Boss wrote: »

Which is one of the reasons why they don't use your scores

We build scores for most major lenders, but the score you get with your credit report is limited to appraising that information, not the wider selection of data at a lender's disposal.

James