Equifax changed scoring system

tabby763

Hi

Today I contacted Equifax. My score was showing in Feb as 523 excellent. I had three very old late payments and wasn't showing as on the electoral roll. I clicked get free report (as they told me) and it updated my report to today's date. I was now showing as on the electoral roll. The late payments hadn't changed but more time had lapsed since them. Yet my score had gone down to 450 good. When I asked why it had gone down, as it was nothing I'd done (in fact things had improved with electoral roll showing) they said it was due to how Equifax had changed their scoring system in line with responsible lending?????!! They told me not to worry as it was still good. Anyone else experience this? I don't think their so called change in system is fair... Any advice gratefully received. Thanks.

Bantex_2

Nobody sees the score but you, so what does it matter?

The_Boss

Yep. They did change the scoring matrix and there were a few threads at the time. What hasn't changed is that it was worthless before and it is still worthless now.

a4a

The government (or Bank of England) did ask lenders and CRA's to adjust the way they look at people which is why your CRA score has changed.

Some believe the CRA's scoring system is worthless, some believe its not. Nobody knows for sure but I believe it does have some merit, so personally I would keep an eye on it.

The_Boss

↑ some people believe it is worthless, some do not. Those who believe it is not worthless also believe in fairies and Father Christmas.

CRA scores are utterly worthless and more evidence here that shows why.

pjread

the CRA scores are guesses, by the CRA's on criteria they decided, of what a mythical lender might come up with.

That number is never shared with anyone, except people who pay the CRA money to see their own. No lender ever sees it. What they see is the account history, etc etc, and they assess this themselves using their own criteria.

Some lenders might use similar criteria to a given CRA, most almost certainly either don't or sufficiently deviate in how they weight the importance of various factors to again make the CRA scores worthless even as comparison/'benchmark' tools.

Seriously, just look at the real data, and make sure it's accurate.

The_Boss

I reckon this a4a guy is James Jones under an alias

a4a

The_Boss wrote: »

I reckon this a4a guy is James Jones under an alias

Oh no I've been caught out !

little_monique

Just a note from my own experience regarding CRA scoring systems, I have been monitoring my score via Experian. I have been trying to rebuild my own poor credit rating for a while now - I owe nothing, have 3 previous defaults (from 2008/9/10) and now have a prepaid mastercard and a mobile contract (paid on time and up to date)

6 months ago on Experian my rating was 'Poor' (on the cusp of 'Very Poor') but more recently I thought that an 'OK' rating was within reach as old repaid debts started to come off my file. I ended up on the phone to Experian in tears this week trying to understand why my credit rating has now within 1 month (and without any changes to my credit file) plummeted by 52 points and is almost back at Very poor again - in my mind erasing all my progress. When I spoke to Experian they told me it was because their scoring system had changed but that I shouldn't worry as it wasnt the same points score that lenders used.

I have now applied for a Capital One Luma card, which I have been accepted for (I never ever thought that would happen based on my score) and I intend to use it to continue trying to rebuild my rating.

I just hope that if there is anyone in the same situation that they see this and don't lose too much sleep over Experian scores. I'm sure they are helpful to some but I have decided to focus on the future and borrowing responsibly and not focus too much on the numbers; these CRAs are after all commercial organisations who profit from people paying to see their reports.

Gordon_Hose

a4a wrote: »

The government (or Bank of England) did ask lenders and CRA's to adjust the way they look at people which is why your CRA score has changed.

Some believe the CRA's scoring system is worthless, some believe its not. Nobody knows for sure but I believe it does have some merit, so personally I would keep an eye on it.

It's worthwhile as a quick visual guide that allows people (who pay ridiculous amounts - up to them I suppose) to see if something is seriously up with the information contained on their credit file, nothing more.

It is worthless in that no bank will use it in credit applications.

tabby763

Thanks all for your replies. I had no idea that the credit score was worthless. I've been putting value to it all the time. I'll make sure all my other info is as up to date as possible. Although my late payments are over 6 years old, the account wasn't closed until December 2008 so they say they won't remove them until 6 years after the account was closed, not 6 years after the late payments were missed. Does anyone know about this? Thanks.