Equifax alerts a scam?

mark2312

A couple of months ago I took out the free 1 months trial of Equifax credit report.
I checked it and everything was fine as expected. No defaults, all credit up to date, no late payments, nothing and my credit score was good ( about 437 according to them).

I rang and cancelled my subscription before the trial finished and they signed me up for free alerts. So it would alert me if there were any changes to my credit file. No problem I thought.

A couple of weeks later I paid to have my report and score updated as I've just paid off a loan and wanted to take out another. Nothing on my file had changed, even the loan I have just paid is still showing as its not been updated yet. Everything up to date no defaults, no late payments etc. Except......my credit score has suddenly dropped from good to fair. Now 373. That was a week ago.

Today I get a message from equifax saying I have an alert and there has been a change to my credit file. In their words " We've detected a change to your Equifax credit file. Please log into your account straight away to check this alert in detail".
So I log on. Obviously I'm not subscribed so have to pay if I want to check what the alert is. I was a little worried as I am wanting to apply for another loan soon. So I paid for a report update.
Lo and behold my credit score has dropped. This time to poor @ 362. Again, NOTHING has changed. All up to date , no credit applications, no late payments, no defaults........nothing.

So basically in less than 2 months, nothing has changed on my file yet my score has dropped from good to poor.
Is this alert subscription just a scam to get you to keep paying for reports. And how the hell can your credit rating drop so low for no reason at all???

I honestly wish I'd never signed up as its caused my more stress over this past few weeks than is necessary and I'm going to cancel the alerts with equifax.
Anybody else had anything like this??

SnowTiger

mark2312 wrote: »

So basically in less than 2 months, nothing has changed on my file yet my score has dropped from good to poor.

Aren't details of the loan you paid off showing yet?

Sign up with ClearScore. Then you'll be able to see your Equifax report and (a) credit score for free.

And sign up with Noddle to see your Call Credit report and score for free.

molerat

Alerts are for any change to your file, usually searches both soft and hard. I now get an Equifax alert when my ClearScore report comes out.

lisyloo

I often find if I log in straight away then there is no change, but later on there is one e.g. The alerts go out too early sometimes.

mark2312

No the loan i paid off won't show till after the beginning of November when Santander decide to send their updates. I paid it off early in September. It took Santander a month to finalise it which missed the 2nd of the month (when they send their updates) which means I have to wait till after the 2nd of November before it shows on my file.
I have signed up with clearscore, but they only update once a month?

takman

When I rang up to cancel Equifax I got offered the alert service for free. But I said to the operator that I don't want it because if I get an alert I will have to pay to view what it is. To buy a one time report online actually costs the same amount as the cheapest monthly unlimited report subscription.

So I wouldn't call the alert system a scam but it's definitely a way to make them extra money when people check their reports for every little change.

darkidoe

I agree the alert system is damn annoying. Every month I received an email saying there's a change in my file, but I haven't been doing anything to my credit file unless monthly spending on credit card gets reported as a 'change'. Really annoying.

Ben8282

I wouldn't go as far as to call it a scam as such but by sending you alerts for very minor changes they are of course encouraging you to use their services again (ie pay again) to find out what the alert is about. Now if the alerts were more specific - perhaps an alert stating that a new credit account has been opened in your name - then if you had in fact opened such an account you would know what it was but if you hadn't then you could try to find out what it was.

MEM62

Have you not read sufficient posts on this site to understand that your credit 'score' is meaningless? It is a randomly generated number and any attempt to understand it is futile.

The only thing you need to worry about is the data that is shown on your credit report. That is the only information that lenders see when making a lending decision.

lisyloo

unless monthly spending on credit card gets reported as a 'change'.

No - normal monthly spend wouldn't generate an alert.
It's addition/deletion of a new account, Addition/deletion of searches etc.

I get my service for free because I had a capital one card.

It is a randomly generated number and any attempt to understand it is futile.

Surely if it suddenly drops then that is a concern?

solentsusie

MEM62 wrote: »

Have you not read sufficient posts on this site to understand that your credit 'score' is meaningless? It is a randomly generated number and any attempt to understand it is futile.

The only thing you need to worry about is the data that is shown on your credit report. That is the only information that lenders see when making a lending decision.

I completely agree with MEM62 on this, take no notice of any scores or alerts as only information any potential lender will look at is the factual information in your file. They will lend to you based on their own individual criteria.

Just keep running your accounts well, pay all bills on time, don't exceed credit limits etc. and you will be fine.

Take these alerts with a pinch of salt - and cancel them - they only clog up your email inbox.

Good luck.