I had a good credit - now it's pretty bad!

cnure

Hey all,

I've been very careful managing my credit the last 5 years and had built up a very good credit score. About a year ago someone used my identity to take out a number of mobile phone contracts, stole the phones, and defaulted on payments.

I phoned my phone company and visited my bank who assured me everything was in order and would be reversed, however I just checked my credit score (14 months later) and it has gone from well into the green to a rating of 'fair'. The only blip on my credit rating has come from the fraudulent activity, and I have a colourful message as soon as I get my report that says 'DEFAULTED', with a random address and the phone contracts that shouldn't exist.

I've contacted Equifax and asked them to help me get this removed so hopefully they can help me there. My questions are:

Can this be completely undone?
Will my credit rating go back up to normal after this?
My understanding is that companies use two major providers of credit reports for their references, Experian and Equifax. Having notified Equifax, do I also need to take out a paid account with Experian to get this dealt with?

My planned actions so far are to contact my bank again, and to contact EE to see if they can help.

Any constructive advice would be greatly appreciated. I was hoping to apply for a mortgage this year and I think I will be laughed out of the bank with this credit rating.

Thanks so much for any help provided. It really is appreciated.

[Deleted User]

cnure wrote: »

Can this be completely undone?
Will my credit rating go back up to normal after this?
My understanding is that companies use two major providers of credit reports for their references, Experian and Equifax. Having notified Equifax, do I also need to take out a paid account with Experian to get this dealt with?

1 Yes
2 Doesn't matter. No one sees it and it doesn't matter if your score is 1 or a million.
3 Request the £2 Experian report and look at Noddle too (free).

DandelionPatrol

The 'score' is irrelevant. Every provider of credit calculates their own score from the information on file. Stop obsessing over the 'score' and concentrate on getting the facts on file correct.

cnure

This is very useful to know. I have contacted the relevant parties and hopefully they'll be able to help me remove the incorrect information.

Thank you for your help.