Experian - Secrets of Your Credit Rating - Channel 4 Dispatches

Experian_company_representative

Our full response to tonight's programme is now on our website.

Dispatches didn't include my full explanation of rapid updates in their edit unfortunately.

James J

CKhalvashi

Experian_company_representative wrote: »

Our full response to tonight's programme is now on our website.

Dispatches didn't include my full explanation of rapid updates in their edit unfortunately.

James J

Thanks James.

Sorry, I'm not targeting you personally, as I know it's edited (I've been on TV a lot around 10 years ago). I'm just trying to get more of an understanding into how the system works as you're probably aware, I'm an active campaigner for companies like yourself to be transparent in dealings with the public.

CK

Experian_company_representative

Understood and it's a very important role. If you're still unclear on 'rapid updates' after reading our full statement just give me a shout.

James J

CKhalvashi

I understand what I need to know now.

Thank you

forgotmyname

The alias bit was a foot in the mouth job. They are not allowed to use if for a credit decision. But it maybe important for a lenders decision?

Well which one is it? And why cant they have a marker we can see to verify whether that information is correct without the risk of them giving us someone elses details?

fermi

Experian response below, as the previous link was not very obvious.

http://www.experian.co.uk/about-us/dispatches-response.html?intcmp=exphp-dispatches-240214

Our response

We strongly refute the claims made by Dispatches, many of which were misleading, which is why we chose to appear on the show in person. We help millions of people every year to access affordable credit quickly and efficiently and in 2013 alone we provided credit reports to more than two million people and answered more than 3.5 million requests to help people to better understand and manage their credit rating and get better credit deals that they can afford to pay back. We have over 1 million CreditExpert customers, and many more who return to using our service every year because of the value it delivers and the great customer service we provide.

We would like to offer our reassurances to people in regard to the following misleading claims that Dispatches has made:

• Data accuracy and security have been and always will be our number one priority. We invest millions of pounds every year in improving the quality of the data we hold on behalf of lenders and people. One mistake is one too many and we’ll always do whatever we can to rectify it. We’d also like to assure people that the accuracy of our data is of the very highest standards, is extremely secure and in its handling, we strictly adhere with all Data Protection laws.
• Contrary to Dispatches’ claims about the incidents of data inaccuracy, we believe that the Credit Reference Agency (CRA) industry has an extremely good record when it comes to data accuracy. For example, although the CRA industry holds financial information on circa 45million individuals, for the year ending 31 March 2010, the number of relevant complaints to the industry regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office, received was 183 of which only 22 cases were upheld. More recently, in the period April 2013 to December 2013, the Financial Ombudsman Service received 407,200 complaints, about which only 74 related to the CRA industry as a whole, and of which only 25 were upheld. We actively encourage everyone to regularly check their credit report.
• The ‘Rapid Update’ process mentioned on the programme is a manual overnight update intended only for correcting significant errors that might, for example, prevent someone getting a loan. It is like a triage system in A&E to make sure the most serious cases are dealt with quickly. Up until 18 months ago our policy was to recommend to all customers to ask the lender to use this facility. We amended our guidance to staff following feedback from lenders that this was creating customer dissatisfaction because their customers were demanding use of the Rapid Update process when it was not appropriate. It is the lender’s decision when to apply a rapid update and when not and they found our previous guidance unhelpful in setting false expectations with customers. The service is also free for lenders to use when they make amendments.
• Additionally, we make it clear that having a lender-like view of your CreditExpert credit report is dependent on providing all the addresses you have lived at for the last six years. This requirement is marked on our website as people go through the process to either request their £2 statutory report or sign up for CreditExpert. However, we are looking at ways we can make this process even clearer.

As the UK’s largest credit reference agency, for over 30 years we have worked closely with consumers, finance education groups and charities, the media and Government to provide free educational advice and resources on understanding and improving credit reports.

Without the work of the CRA industry, lending would be riskier and bad debts would increase, the result of which would be an increase to the cost of borrowing for everyone. Millions of people every year rely on our help and advice and we’re extremely proud to provide this valuable support.

Experian_company_representative

'Potential Alias' data not available for credit scores until the identity of the individual has been confirmed by a lender. Only at that point is it included in the report lenders use and consumers see.

James J

CKhalvashi

Experian_company_representative wrote: »

'Potential Alias' data not available for credit scores until the identity of the individual has been confirmed by a lender. Only at that point is it included in the report lenders use and consumers see.

James J

However if not confirmed, would it be possible that this would influence a decision adversely on whether to lend to an innocent individual?

Experian_company_representative

Hi CKhalvashi

The £2 fee for seeing your statutory report is an amount the Consumer Credit Act states we charge. In reality, it obviously costs a lot more than £2 to process and send out a credit report, but we offer this service so that people can see what is held about them and can contact us if they have any queries or problems.

You can get your statutory report for free if you make your application through the Citizens Advice Bureau and debt advice charities like StepChange.

Thanks Jo

Experian_company_representative

CKhalvashi wrote: »

However if not confirmed, would it be possible that this would influence a decision adversely on whether to lend to an innocent individual?

I understand your concerns, but stress that a lender can't use potential alias information as part of their scoring process unless they have ascertained who the information belongs to. They are not allowed to include it on the off chance it applies to the applicant.

Thanks Jo