Call Credit Credit Check Questions Plz

bowlingo

Hi all,

Im not sure if this is the right place to post this question. Basically I sent off for my credit files from Experian, Equifax and Call Credit last week as ive never checked or looked at my credit files although I have never defaulted in any way on a loan, credit card etc I thought it would be a good idea to check there is nothing unusual on there or if theres any credit cards etc that are not cancelled when they should be.

I recieved my file from Call Credit this week and ive had a look through it and most of my history is on the Call Credit file (bank accounts, credit cards, loans etc that ive had going back about 5 years). All the accounts on there marked as "settled" are the redundant credit cards and paid off loans im wondering if this means the accounts are completely closed as theres quite a few credit cards on the files that I have used for 0% interest free balance transfers of which im hoping "settled" means they are closed? As I dont want credit limits to still be available on the cards I no longer use from these companys.

Also at the back of the file theres a couple of pages of search history but no where near the amount there should be and im wondering if these pages are the searches carried out by financial institutions (banks, credit cards etc) that needed to check my credit history before they give me the loan/account and they have used Call Credit to carry out the search? As im asuming the main companies used to do the searches are Experian and Equifax and when these files arrive there will be a lot more searches on them?

Any help would be greatly apreciated as I find the file rather hard to work out.

Thanks
Alex

sicker

Yes it means they are closed.

John

smithja

I have not had a copy of my file from them yet, where a company other than themselves or checkmyfile.com have searched it to let me look at the file. I was surprised by the amount of information they hold compared to Experian and Equifax. It is very detailed. I have found pages on the web that suggest that a number of companies such as Barclaycard and Egg participate in a larger data sharing exercise than the usual information and it is run by all 3 agencies, but both Equifax and Experian have told me that what is one my file is all that a credit see's, which does not match up with their press releases.

bowlingo

Thanks for the replys,

Im wondering as of my previous post when someone checks your credit file so they use experian, equifax and call credit i.e if a bank/ cc company does a check do they use one of the above 3 then when you obtain the report you see which companys have run a search using that organisation i.e the call credit file only has a few searches in the file does this mean the organisations listed have used call credit only? As im asuming when I get my equifax and experian files there will be a lot more searches on there due to more companys using experian and equifax?

Thanks
Alex

bowlingo

Hi all,

Im wondering if anyone knows the answer to the below question please?

bowlingo wrote: »

Thanks for the replys,

Im wondering as of my previous post when someone checks your credit file so they use experian, equifax and call credit i.e if a bank/ cc company does a check do they use one of the above 3 then when you obtain the report you see which companys have run a search using that organisation i.e the call credit file only has a few searches in the file does this mean the organisations listed have used call credit only? As im asuming when I get my equifax and experian files there will be a lot more searches on there due to more companys using experian and equifax?

Thanks
Alex

smithja

Sometimes you find that when you have applied for credit, a company will have searched both Equifax and Experian at the same time and other times just one of them. It depends on the company and also within a company on the product you apply for. Natwest ddid an initial search with Equifax for a current account with me and gave a provisional yes (and I beleive when you send away your application they then search Experian, althought I decided not to open that account), but used Experian only for a credit card. I have yet to come across one that has done a search with Callcredit on me.

jay78

It's interesting that the Call Credit reports are a lot more detailed, e.g. showing how much you pay each month on your credit balance etc. However, I don't know of any companies that actually do a search with call credit with is strange seeing as the amount of extra detail will help companies make a better risk assessment.