Credit File Address Issue

andymmac

Hi all,

Occasional browser, first time poster.

I have an issue and wonder what people's advice is with regards to resolution.

I'm currently looking to move to a new flat and one of the requirements of the new letting agency is that I provide a credit report. When I went to register my details (with Equifax) I ran into trouble with regards to my current and previous addresses.

They claimed that the current address that I said that I lived at (45 2F1 ....) didn't exist (this is however how it appears on my lease) and that in fact the format for the address they held was 45-9. This appears to be the case for my previous two address as well. This means that absolutely nothing shows up in my Equifax file.

The man that I spoke to on the telephone at Equifax claimed that 45-9 ... is the official address held by Royal Mail and that no other form of the address exists. He then went on to say that if I wanted "my version" of the address to become official so that my credit file would be accurate then I would have to inform Royal Mail.

The person I spoke to at Royal Mail said that they would never change the address like that and that this is a common problem in Scotland where there appear to be multiple ways of denoting addresses.

My question is what should I do? My arrangements with the bank, utility companies etc all have an address that is of the 45 2F1 ... format but my credit report doesn't pull anything through because it is checking for information pertaining to the 45-9 ... form of the address (unless it works differently to that and there is some other reason why information relating to me isn't coming through).

Given that I've hit a dead end with both Equifax and Royal Mail, I'm not sure what to do other than change all the addresses of my various arrangements (bank etc) to match what Equifax and Royal Mail hold in their systems. This however won't help with any historical credit information.

Thanks in advance

Andy

Hazzinho

Equifax should display it in the format you have specified, get the £2 report with Experian (the biggest CRA) and the free one on Noddle (Callcredit) and see what they show, if they have the right format ask Equifax to explain. If Equifax are correct then no credit for most of Scotland Think the Equifax person gave you duff advice.

custardy

andymmac wrote: »

Hi all,

Occasional browser, first time poster.

I have an issue and wonder what people's advice is with regards to resolution.

I'm currently looking to move to a new flat and one of the requirements of the new letting agency is that I provide a credit report. When I went to register my details (with Equifax) I ran into trouble with regards to my current and previous addresses.

They claimed that the current address that I said that I lived at (45 2F1 ....) didn't exist (this is however how it appears on my lease) and that in fact the format for the address they held was 45-9. This appears to be the case for my previous two address as well. This means that absolutely nothing shows up in my Equifax file.

The man that I spoke to on the telephone at Equifax claimed that 45-9 ... is the official address held by Royal Mail and that no other form of the address exists. He then went on to say that if I wanted "my version" of the address to become official so that my credit file would be accurate then I would have to inform Royal Mail.

The person I spoke to at Royal Mail said that they would never change the address like that and that this is a common problem in Scotland where there appear to be multiple ways of denoting addresses.

My question is what should I do? My arrangements with the bank, utility companies etc all have an address that is of the 45 2F1 ... format but my credit report doesn't pull anything through because it is checking for information pertaining to the 45-9 ... form of the address (unless it works differently to that and there is some other reason why information relating to me isn't coming through).

Given that I've hit a dead end with both Equifax and Royal Mail, I'm not sure what to do other than change all the addresses of my various arrangements (bank etc) to match what Equifax and Royal Mail hold in their systems. This however won't help with any historical credit information.

Thanks in advance

Andy

Have you checked how RM list your address as?
Both 45/9 and 2F1 work (2nd floor,flat 1)
Given how many tenements exist in Scotland. Its no doubt a common issue and Im surprised Equifax cant link the two.

andymmac

custardy:

RM confirmed that the format of the address in their database is 45-9. As far as I know I have never missed any mail using 45 2F1 and given 45 2F1 is how it appears on my lease that's what I've always used.

As you say, it seems strange that Equifax can't connect the two. I wonder if that will be the case with the other agencies.

The man from Equifax seemed adamant that I wouldn't be able to get any credit report information until Royal Mail aligned 45 2F1 with 45-9 but the Royal Mail man said they simply don't do this.

I'm a bit concerned that if this is an issue with the other agencies then I won't be able to get hold of a credit report in time (or at all).

Gaz83

Not just common in Scotland. When working for HMRC many moons ago we encountered this frequently on blocks of flats in England and Wales.

Betsey

Hello andymmac,

I hope you don't mind me resurrecting your old thread but I've just run into exactly the same address issue with Equifax... Very frustrating!

How did you resolve it in the end? Did Equifax manage to get it right?

With thanks,

Betsey

andymmac

Hi Betsey,

In the end I gave up trying to get the credit file from Equifax as I was getting nowhere.

Once I explained to my letting agency-to-be the issues with respect to the credit check they informed me that they had their own way of carrying out a credit check. This sounded promising so I paid the £15 fee and lo and behold they carried out the check without any hitches. I'm not entirely sure what firm/data source they accessed to do this - all I saw was some personal data and a credit score.

As it was when I got home later that day, I had received a credit file from Experian that I had requested a little while before and this contained all the correct information (unfortunately this rendered my £15 something of a waste )

Applying through Experian wasn't as rapid a process as Equifax but in the end they were able to produce what Equifax couldn't. I would give Experian a try if you haven't already done so.

Hope this helps,

Andy

Betsey

Hi andymmac,

Thanks so much for the update - it's good to hear that you found a way to get what you needed without Equifax.

I've tried Experian too and they had no problem at all with my address so thanks for tip.

Really appreciate your help,

Betsey