Credit Score Dropping! Why?

Grumpy_Shunter

RG2015 wrote: »

Hi Grumpy Shunter,

Like you I have Clearscore and Noddle but no specific planned credit requirements. My interest is purely academic.

The one thing that concerns me is identity theft which may be evidenced by a credit search that I had not initiated. One thing that I have observed is that Clearscore and Noddle are very slow at recording information. I have opened new bank accounts and a new credit card account to get cashback etc but these took two or three months to appear on my credit report,

Your next report may shed some light on the changes observed. I too have had my "score" fall but I am not losing any sleep and certainly am not tempted to pay any money to satisfy my curiosity.

Hi RG - likewise, at the moment I have no great desire to have a nice looking credit score. Don'g get me wrong, I wouldn't mind further down the line when one day I may need credit for a new car or something, but at the moment, it's purely interest and curiosity.

I also found with Noddle and Clear Score that accounts do take some time to show on your monthly report. In an attempt to prove I can take on more responsible credit, I got the wife to add me to the utilities, i,e gas, electric and water bills. That information didn't appear for about 3 months!

Identity theft! I haven't really thought about that one!!

RG2015

Morning Grumpy Shunter,

I hadn't thought about utilities which are all in my name but do not appear on my credit report at all. Like my first bank account and credit card account (both still active) which also do not appear because they are so old.

HappyMJ

RG2015 wrote: »

Morning Grumpy Shunter,

I hadn't thought about utilities which are all in my name but do not appear on my credit report at all. Like my first bank account and credit card account (both still active) which also do not appear because they are so old.

Some utility companies do appear and some do not. They don't really matter too much. I would, however, avoid any company that does report to CRA's as they can use your credit record as a tool against you to force you to pay a disputed bill which you know is wrong but the customer service centre is just not seeing it. I have once moved energy suppliers and continued to be billed by two suppliers at once for the same fuel used and they just did not understand what was going on. Non-payment was the only way to get them to listen.

Candyapple

RG2015 wrote: »

Hi Grumpy Shunter,

Like you I have Clearscore and Noddle but no specific planned credit requirements. My interest is purely academic.

The one thing that concerns me is identity theft which may be evidenced by a credit search that I had not initiated. One thing that I have observed is that Clearscore and Noddle are very slow at recording information. I have opened new bank accounts and a new credit card account to get cashback etc but these took two or three months to appear on my credit report,

Your next report may shed some light on the changes observed. I too have had my "score" fall but I am not losing any sleep and certainly am not tempted to pay any money to satisfy my curiosity.

Don't forget that Experian are the main CRA for the UK so whilst Clearscore (Equifax) and Noddle (Call Credit) are free, if the majority of lenders use Experian only, any search for credit will not show on the other 2 lenders.

The same goes for account reporting, not every lender makes the data reporting available to all 3 CRAs, which is why if you want a true accurate picture, you need copies of your credit report from all 3.

I would second what HappyMJ said about being careful with having utility bills on your credit files.