Credit Rating is wrong

Woogass

Hi, Could somebody help me and explain in simple terms what is going on please.

3 years ago my credit rating was very bad 1 out of 5 on noodle not for bad payments etc, just that I had been abroad a long time and no records of me were found.
I bought a new car through the company moneybarn as they were the only ones who would lend to me.
Once i bought the car my credit rating went up to 5 out of 5, which was great it meant i got an overdraft and credit card etc. I maxed all these out, but never went over and never defaulted a payment. My rating went back down to 1 out of 5 again on noodle!
Since then I had an inheritance and paid moneybarn off 2 years early, cleared overdraft and cards. On my noodle credit file the accounts are all showing as settled but my rating is still very poor at 1 out of 5. Why is that? I thought paying everything off early and being debt free would make me excellent again!?!
Im on electoral role for 3 yrs etc so dont know why?
Can anyone help please?

molerat

The number is meaningless as lenders will assess your credit worthiness using their own guidelines ......... but ........... your score is probably low due to the poor management of your credit in the past, high use of available credit, high available credit compared to income, constantly in overdraft etc. Credit worthiness is not based just on your status today but on what has happened over the past six years.

Tixy

Have you applied for credit and been declined?

Do you have any current active credit accounts on your credit files?

Woogass

Hi
Thanks for the replies.
I read about this just being a number in the rest of the forum and I struggle to believe it, noodle and experian have all your info at hand and then tell you your chances of getting credit via that number, so it must mean something otherwise why do it?

No I am completely debt free and havent applied for any credit in the last 8 months. Everything is showing as closed

Thanks

Tixy

The thing is the credit reference agencies do not have all your info at hand. They have a small amount of information available on which to assess your file in general terms.

A potential lender will consider far more than just what one of credit reference agencies know about you.

That said having no current credit accounts could make it harder to get accepted for new credit products.

The_Boss

Woogass wrote: »

Hi
Thanks for the replies.
I read about this just being a number in the rest of the forum and I struggle to believe it, noodle and experian have all your info at hand and then tell you your chances of getting credit via that number, so it must mean something otherwise why do it?

Really? They know your salary? How long you've been with employer? How did they get that information?

The_Boss

^ as for the last point - "so it must mean something otherwise why do it?", you need to think about things and be less naive.

Ask yourself why a business would market a product that they could sell to the less informed by grossly exagerating its meaning, playing on a common myth that people have credit scores, using all the right language to persuade them it means something.

You'd hardly see them advertising saying "Why not check your Experian credit score, it costs a tenner and doesn't mean anything because different lenders all use their own scoring matrices for different financial products but it's still worth the money". That's not how advertising works, is it?

matttye

Credit reference agencies do not have, amongst other things, your salary; length of time in your current job; your job name/description/industry; length of time in your current home; how much money you have in savings; your residential or marital status, i.e. living with parents, living with a partner, living alone, etc.

All of these are things that companies regularly ask for in application forms.

fatbelly

matttye wrote: »

Credit reference agencies do not have, amongst other things, your salary; length of time in your current job; your job name/description/industry; length of time in your current home; how much money you have in savings; your residential or marital status, i.e. living with parents, living with a partner, living alone, etc.

Nor any information at all on whether you have rent arrears, council tax arrears, tax debts, benefit overpayments, parking fines, criminal fines, water/gas/electric debts (with a few exceptions) or anything that was defaulted or settled more than six years ago.

cheops2006

I'm not sure I agree with the credit rating is meaningless on all fronts.

Specifically Experian the reason being is when you apply for a credit card you have to give your income per year. These details are then sent to National Hunter who then check these details out. Who owns National Hunter? Experian do so they immediately have access to those details where they can be fed into the score. Your bank also shares information with CRA's who usually know your income.

On another note I find creepy is I once got visited by my banking business manager for my company who brought with him a credit report for me and scrutinised in front of me a 10 year credit report, CRA's say things drop off after 6 years, but I have physically seen a 10 year report. The hold a lot more information on us than we physically see.

Just my view.

Thrugelmir

cheops2006 wrote: »

These details are then sent to National Hunter who then check these details out. Who owns National Hunter? Experian do so they immediately have access to those details where they can be fed into the score.

You totally misunderstand how NH operates.

N Hunter Ltd is an independent not-for-profit company, and is primarily concerned with the prevention of application fraud within the banking, finance and insurance industry; and to protect victims of fraud.

Our main role is to ensure all key stakeholders are working together to share data fairly, accurately, and effectively. To do this, our members use a system which is operated by our service provider Experian Decision Analytics.

Founded in 1993, from an initial six members, the organisation has grown significantly, all sharing application information for the purposes of fraud prevention.