Discrepancy between Equifax and Experian

firefly24

Hi all,

My first thread on here, so please go easy.

I need to apply for a £20,000 unsecured loan, and have already been "approved" by the soft search option offered by my bank. I have had a loan before with no issues.

I was a regular subscriber to Equifax, and managed to get all my incorrect info corrected on there, and all is well.

Today i thought it would be a good idea to check Experian too, so as to make sure i get the best possible rate, and noticed that they've scored me as "fair" - intrigued, i looked into it. It is saying I have no open credit accounts, although i have a credit card with 0 balance, current account with overdraft and mobile phone contract.

Even stranger, it's actually registered my change of address triggered by an update from EE and Natwest, but the accounts themselves aren't on my report. The report has my average age of accounts at 16 months, with this as a negative. However, if my cards and contracts were on there it would be 54 months average. Plus there's nothing there to show that I clear my balance on my credit card which is detracting from my score.

What's the best way to get the report straightened out and the correct accounts registered?

Thanks

Tixy

Hi

It could be that the credit account providers you happen to use don't report to experian. Not all lenders report to all 3 agencies.

That said the fact that you have an address change notification doesn't seem to tally.

Sometimes this kind of problem can be caused by a slight difference in address format. Is the address you used to obtain your experian file *exactly* the same as used with the bank?

If the loan you are applying for is with your own bank that has your credit card and current account then they will already know the information on those accounts so I wouldn't worry that they don't appear on experian.

firefly24

Hi Tixy,

Thanks for your reply - the credit card is with a different company, and they have the record of my previous loan with Natwest so I think it's more an error. They also have my old closed EE account but not my current one.

The main reason I want to get it straightened out (I need to apply for the loan around the middle of next month) is that the rate I'm being offered for the loan is a few % more than their advertised rate. Now maybe I'm wrong, but if this is due to my Experian report being a bit out of kilter, then I'd be silly not to try and sort it. A few % on £20,000 end up as a fair whack at the end.

EDIT: Forgot to add, yes the addresses are exactly the same

Tixy

I'd contact your card provider and bank and ask them to confirm they are reporting the accounts to Experian.

If they are not then nothing you can do. If they are then I would then contact experian, explain the situation and ask them to investigate.

Experian_company_representative

Hi Firefly24.

It’s certainly a good plan to make sure your report is up to date as you are planning on applying for a loan.

As Tixy has mentioned, not all companies will share account information with all of the credit reference agencies, but we would certainly expect that most of your accounts would show on your Experian report.

From what you have said it does sound like the problem could be with the address format in your CreditExpert profile, as this will affect the information that is retrieved when you view your report on-line.

So that we can get this checked for you could you please [EMAIL="uksocialsupport@experian.com"]email[/EMAIL] your details to us and we will take a look at this.

Kind regards

Neil