Credit score clarification

NewbuyerNE

Hi all,

my partner & I have decided to buy a home so I've become obsessed with my Equifax account!

I'm not sure how it works so was after some guidance please.

I've had this account since December and credit which has long since been paid off has started to change now, ie my bank loan which was paid off last year with no missed payments is now saying I missed a payment in 2010. I know this not to be true but how do I tell if other credit information is accurate if its off an few years ago? I had a Very account also which I paid off and I know I was late on some payments for that but how do I know if amount of payments on credit report is right?

On the subject of missed payments, my very account was the only one I was really bad with. I sorted out my act 2 years ago, started paying on time and its now paid off. I have no debts & three accounts still going (2 bank accounts & phone). My credit score is 473. How would I looked upon when applying for a mortgage considering my bad debt was 3 years ago & now I'm debt free?

I only closed the accounts last year so they won't drop off for another 5. Don't really want to wait that long for a mortgage.

Thanks

pvt

The credit score that Equifax provide is meaningless. THEY DON'T LEND MONEY.

All lenders apply their own criteria to calculating your creditworthiness. They obviously don't reveal what these criteria are, even to equifax. And if they did, that would mean Equifax would have to provide a different "credit score" for each potential provider - which proves what a nonsesense the credit scores provided by Equifax and the other CRAs are.

I hope you didn't pay Equifax any money to get this lottery number?

You-kip

As above your Score you buy from Equifax & Experian are nothing but a moneymaking machine bought in by CRAs to boost profits.

Individual Credit scores don't exist as scoring is done only when the applicant puts through a credit application.

NewbuyerNE

pvt wrote: »

The credit score that Equifax provide is meaningless. THEY DON'T LEND MONEY.

All lenders apply their own criteria to calculating your creditworthiness. They obviously don't reveal what these criteria are, even to equifax. And if they did, that would mean Equifax would have to provide a different "credit score" for each potential provider - which proves what a nonsesense the credit scores provided by Equifax and the other CRAs are.

I hope you didn't pay Equifax any money to get this lottery number?

The credit report is provided free but there's a monthly subscription of £8.

So is this information completely irrelevant? The fear is really put up you once you say you're saving for a house about debt, missed payments etc

Candyapple

You should also get a copy of your reports from Experian and Noddle. If you're certain you never made a late payment for your bank loan, then get proof in the form of your statements and write to the bank and ask them to change the late payment marker on your file from 2010.

As for how late payment markers will affect a mortgage, some are more strict than others, however you won't know until you actually apply for one whether this would be a deal breaker. Obviously the older they are the better chance you fare, that and also the larger your deposit size will also help you greatly.

Were the late payment markers 1 or 2 months late or more than that? ie does it show up as '1' '2' '3' etc?

NewbuyerNE

Candyapple wrote: »

You should also get a copy of your reports from Experian and Noddle. If you're certain you never made a late payment for your bank loan, then get proof in the form of your statements and write to the bank and ask them to change the late payment marker on your file from 2010.

As for how late payment markers will affect a mortgage, some are more strict than others, however you won't know until you actually apply for one whether this would be a deal breaker. Obviously the older they are the better chance you fare, that and also the larger your deposit size will also help you greatly.

Were the late payment markers 1 or 2 months late or more than that? ie does it show up as '1' '2' '3' etc?

Predominately 1 or 2 but there's one '3' on there from three years ago.

I've requested the information be changed via equifax, they're really speedy in things like this because its not the first time it's happened (they don't charge additional for corrections). I know I wasn't late in paying because I benefitted from a money back promotion they offered for loans paid off with no missed payments.

kingstreet

Do not assume all three versions of your credit file will contain the same information. You often find information visible on one, but not the other two.

If you neglect one or more of your credit files, you may shoot yourself in the foot if you then use a lender which only provides information to, or accepts information from one particular CRA, if that CRA is one you have neglected.

For example, these three lenders use only one CRA;-

NatWest
Skipton
Nationwide.


One uses Equifax, one uses Experian and one uses Call Credit.

Consider signing up for https://www.checkmyfile.com to get access to all three versions in the same place, but cancel any subscription before you start to pay for it. As has been mentioned, CRA "scores" are meaningless and do not guarantee you credit of any kind. There are several "999 and declined" threads throughout this site.

NewbuyerNE

kingstreet wrote: »

Do not assume all three versions of your credit file will contain the same information. You often find information visible on one, but not the other two.

If you neglect one or more of your credit files, you may shoot yourself in the foot if you then use a lender which only provides information to, or accepts information from one particular CRA, if that CRA is one you have neglected.

For example, these three lenders use only one CRA;-

NatWest
Skipton
Nationwide.


One uses Equifax, one uses Experian and one uses Call Credit.

Consider signing up for https://www.checkmyfile.com to get access to all three versions in the same place, but cancel any subscription before you start to pay for it. As has been mentioned, CRA "scores" are meaningless and do not guarantee you credit of any kind. There are several "999 and declined" threads throughout this site.

That's fab, thank you.

I went to sign up for Call Credit this morning but its really hard to find their charges on their website which I don't like. I'll give this one a go.

YorkshireBoy

kingstreet wrote: »

Consider signing up for www.checkmyfile.com to get access to all three versions in the same place

...but also consider the T&Cs before doing so, specifically condition 10, which states their reports do not contain the same content as you'd get by going direct to one of the CRAs and paying £2 for your statutory report.

In short, don't waste your money on a checkmyfile report!

kingstreet

TBH I've always provided the links to obtain statutory files from the CRAs directly;-

Equifax

https://www.econsumer.equifax.co.uk/consumer/uk/order.ehtml?prod_cd=UKSCR

Experian

http://www.experian.co.uk/consumer/statutory-report.html#orderReport

CallCredit

https://www.callcredit.co.uk/stat-report-online/index.php?action=basket_add&tpl=setRegister&package=63&amount=1&mode=clear

but I found many wouldn't bother getting all three, so checkmyfile seemed like an alternative which might get more use.

Thanks for the "heads-up."

NewbuyerNE

I've checked & I'd rather be with a lender who checks EQ rather than Call Credit, they're really thorough!

Tbh, there's nothing much I can do about my negative attributes because they're missed payments & the accounts have since been paid off & closed, but is there anything else I can do to make me more appealing?

It's all rather a chance game because CMF says some lenders might like someone who's missed a payment because then they can make money off them!

Any advice on lenders that aren't majority low risk?