Credit rating dropped massively

interstellaflyer

I've just had an alert from Credit Expert notifying me of a change to my credit rating, on logging in I see it has dropped 100 or so points from being well seated in the good area down to fair, the problem seems to be with a new mobile internet contract I took out last month with Hutchinson Telecom (3) which is a rolling contract, Experion are saying this is possibly fraudulent or Identity Fraud, which it ain't, would this be enough to drag my credit rating down so much? I do have some older records of poor credit showing but nothing recent, I only have £400 of debt (on a credit card with limit of £1100) I own outright my house (no mortgage) I have a few thousand in the bank and I work so I can't see how my rating could change downwards except for the new mobile contract. Any help/advice would be appreciated.

Tixy

Don't pay much attention to the scoring (most would say don't even waste your money on paying to find it out), its not a figure any potential lender ever sees. If what is on your file is accurate that is what is important.

Whether you work or not, how much you earn, how much savings you have are not in anyway reflected on your credit score. As the credit reference agencies do not know that information.

A new mobile agreement is unlikely to have a negative impact on how a potential lender would view your credit file.

The_Boss

Yep. You don't have a credit rating. You are only scored when you apply for financial products and scored differently depending on lender and product. Experian are trying to justify their existance and I'd recommend cancelling if you are paying for a monthly subscription product.

Experian_company_representative

The score mirrors how most lenders score your credit report, but they score other data as well so it's not your 'credit rating' - you don't have one. Taking on a new credit agreement will see a temporary reduction in your score, which is why we encourage people to spread credit applications out if possible.

James

JuicyJesus

Experian_company_representative wrote: »

The score mirrors how most lenders score your credit report

These lenders being Bank of Narnia and the Lilliput Savings and Loan.

Keep defending the indefensible (and ludicrously expensive - for all the hoohah about bank charges, at least they've done something useful for the money.)

interstellaflyer

Thanks for your help everyone, I've decided that I will cancel my Credit Expert/Experian account, the only reason I did it in the first place was that I went through a very dark period where I got heavily in to debt mostly because I went from a well paid job where I could afford to pay the level of credit I had to a low paid job where I couldn't, then to cap it all, rather than deal with it, I buried my head in the sand, I started to pull myself back about 4 years ago and used my Credit Report as a guide to how I was building my rating back up. I'm a little confused as to why my current financial status has little or no relevance to would be lenders, surely earnings, residential status and financial standing are relevant and why does Experian say I'm using 85% of my available credit? I have one Credit card (Capital One) with a £200 limit and nothing owing on it, One credit Card (Aqua) with an £1100 limit and £400 owing and 2 mobile phone contracts, EE £30 per month and 3 @ £15 a month, put that against my financial standing, earnings and assets and I would say that the reason I am using such a high percent is that the amount of total credit I have is very low.

Tixy

I'm a little confused as to why my current financial status has little or no relevance to would be lenders, surely earnings, residential status and financial standing are relevant

They are relevant to your ability to get credit. They are not relevant to the credit score that the credit reference agencies will sell to you.

and why does Experian say I'm using 85% of my available credit? I have one Credit card (Capital One) with a £200 limit and nothing owing on it, One credit Card (Aqua) with an £1100 limit and £400 owing and 2 mobile phone contracts, EE £30 per month and 3 @ £15 a month,.

Are the balances on your cards the current balances or what shows on your credit report? Are they all your debts?
Usually 85% of your available credit means exactly that. So if your limits were £1000, your outstanding balance would be £850.

put that against my financial standing, earnings and assets and I would say that the reason I am using such a high percent is that the amount of total credit I have is very low.

That may be the case. When experian gives their guidelines and information they can only base it on what they know. So they can calculate how much of your total credit your are using, they cannot compare that to earnings and savings as they do not know those figures.