Virgin Media & Clearscore

ongridwhittler

Hope I am posting in the right place.

I am looking for some advice regarding a problem I have with my credit score.

I have subscribed to Clearscore. When I check my credit score it is mediocre, and there is a "negative factor" listed saying "relatively high telecoms balance", or words to that effect. That is the only negative factor listed.

The only telecoms account I have is my Virgin Media TV/Phone/Internet account, which is just over £100 per month because I have lots of sports channels.

I pay monthly to Virgin by direct debit - never had any problems, never missed or made a late payment in 18 months with them.

I contacted Clearscore to clarify if this is correct, as I do not understand why how much I spend on my TV programs should affect my credit score. Clearscore said this is absolutely correct, my high balance is seen as a negative factor that Equifax will take into account when calculating my credit score.

But I just pay a monthly fee, and the service is actually billed in advance, so there is no credit involved. So why does how much I spend on TV programs affect my credit score?

I asked Virgin about this and they do not understand what it means. I have asked Virgin why they have to give data to Equifax and they say they must do this as it is a "legal requirement". Though he couldn't tell me what law required this to happen.

I am stuck between a rock and a hard place - Virgin apparently have to report how much I spend on watching TV to Equifax, and Equifax trash my credit score cos they think it's too much.

I can't fix this because I am in contract with Virgin and cannot cancel for another 6 months. I will have to suffer a hit to my credit score for the next six months till I can dump my Virgin contract to fix my credit score. All because, in Equifax's opinion, I subscribe to too many TV channels!!

I love the Virgin TV service, it is great, and I have no problem affording it. But just because Eqifax think I am spending to much I will have to give it up and go to Sky or BT. And how do I know if they will have the same problem with them? I guess I will have to get TV from Sky and phone from BT so I don't fall fowl of Equifax's rules.

MENTAL!!!!

Does anyone have advice as to what I can do to fix this mess?

Malmo

There is nothing to fix and you have fallen into the trap of meaningless scores.

No one in the UK has a universal or central "score". The scores sold by Credit Reference Agencies are marketing features for consumers - they are not seen or used by commercial (e.g. lenders) or public organisations (e.g. councils). Do not focus on ratings & scores. Lenders evaluate & score applicants using their own internal criteria.

Best to have a read of this MSE article for general tips & information about how credit profiling works and how to boost your general credit worthiness.

There are 3 Credit Reference Agencies in the UK. Lenders and other organisations may report to or search 1, 2 or all 3 agencies. Therefore, you will only get a complete picture of your credit history by reviewing data held by all 3 of the below:
1 - Experian
2 - Equifax (supply Clearscore)
3 - Callcredit (supply Noddle)

Noddle is a brand AND a front end for data held by Callcredit.
Clearscore is a front end for data provided by Equifax.

Continue enjoying your premium sports channels and as long as your subscription payments are debited on the due date, everything will take care of itself.

ongridwhittler

Thankyou Malmo.

I beg to differ. This is from a FAQ on Clearscore:

ClearScore shows you your Equifax credit score. The score goes from 0 to 700.

This is a three-digit number which helps lenders decide whether to give you credit.

Despite their appalling grammar (it should be "that helps" rather than "which helps"), it is pretty unambiguous to me - How can my Equifax score "help lenders decide" if the lenders do not see it?

This whole thing is absolutely mental - I have a perfect credit score on Noddle, and I have never had missed payments and always settle credit card bills in full each month. Now, all of a sudden my financial standing is trashed because of how many TV channels I subscribe to.

Next they'll be telling me I am not credit worthy because of how much I spend on my smoked salmon at Fortnum and Mason!

I simply don't understand. This monthly TV bill from Virgin Media is less than 2% of my monthly disposable income, yet because of it my credit score is affected.

I used to be with BT before moving to Virgin, and BT did not report my data to Equifax, so the answer would seem to be to go back to BT as soon as I can.

fermi

That FAQ is misleading then.

See: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/what-credit-scores-mean

Potential lenders will apply their own criteria for what they consider a +ve or -ve.

ongridwhittler

Fermi, thanks for providing that link.

I think we're both correct - the article says lenders use their own criteria. It does not exclude that one of those criteria may be the Equifax Credit Score. This is the whole FAQ from Clearscore, which I simply cannot believe can be viewed as misleading:

ClearScore shows you your Equifax credit score. The score goes from 0 to 700.

This is a three-digit number which helps lenders decide whether to give you credit. One way of thinking about it is to see it as a measure of risk to the lender. The higher the score, the better you managed your debt in the past, which makes it more likely that you will be considered low risk and therefore given a loan, or viewed favourably by a potential employer or property landlord.

A higher score means that your application is more likely to be accepted. It also means that you could be eligible for better interest rates and better deals when borrowing money or taking out a mortgage.

Your credit score is based on several factors included in your credit report. Your credit score will change every time your credit report changes, and there are a number of things which will make your credit report change:

Information about you:
Full Name
Current Address
Previous Addresses
Financial Associations (individuals with whom you share a joint credit account or have made a joint credit application together. These individuals are your financial connections, and their information will affect your credit report and score.)
Presence on the electoral roll (being registered to vote at your address).
Bankruptcies, County Court Judgments (CCJs) and IVAs (Individual Voluntary Arrangements).
Credit account information:
How much you owe
Whether you have paid on time,
The age of the account.
Any ‘hard’ searches carried out on your account (when a lender performs a check on your credit report to check whether to offer credit to you or not).
Any fraudulent activity

Even if, as you suggest, they are being totally dishonest here, and the Equifax credit score is never used by any lenders, they are still saying that this is indicative of what lenders would make of the Equifax data, and in their opinion my high TV subscription would be viewed by them as a 'negative factor'. They are a reputable company and experts in the field of interpreting credit data, so I cannot believe they would lie to mislead people.

ongridwhittler

Here's another FAQ from Clearscore:

Do all lenders use your score?

Last updated on: Jul 13, 2015
At ClearScore, we show you your credit score provided to us by Equifax. Not all lenders will use this score when assessing you as they often have their own way of calculating the score. However, Equifax will, like lenders, use your most up to date information when calculating the score and so the score we show you will is a very good indication of how a lender will see you.

OK so they admit "not all lenders use this score" but it would be totally dishonest to write that if they know the truth is actually that no lenders use this score!

But once again they point out the score is "a very good indication of how a lender will see you."



PS - That grammatical error "you will is" in the last line is as per their website. Now I'm beginning to wonder if this whole Clearscore website is something that's been cobbled together by a semi-literate numpty.

fermi

https://equifaxuk.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/682/kw/score

Can a lender see my Equifax Credit Score?

No. Although lenders can see similar information about you, they have their own scoring systems based on their individual lending criteria

I also queried what the 'similar information' part meant on that, and it means they see the factual data on your report similar to how you see it, not any form of 'score'.

fermi

ongridwhittler wrote: »

PS - That grammatical error "you will is" in the last line is as per their website. Now I'm beginning to wonder if this whole Clearscore website is something that's been cobbled together by a semi-literate numpty.

You should have seen it some time ago. :eek:

They are gradually sorting some things as a result of complaints, but there are still more than one thing very wrong in their FAQs/info.

ongridwhittler

Thanks Fermi,

So now I am totally confused. What Equifax say is totally at odds with what Clearscore (which is also Equifax) say.

I noticed on another thread that there was a Clearscore Company rep frequenting MSE, perhaps they could clarify this?

EDIT:

LOL - I just checked out the MSE Clearscore Representive. She hasn't posted since 21st December, though curiously was logged in as recently as two days ago. I have visions of someone with a hard hat on hiding just around the corner and just listening in :shhh:

fermi

Clearscore is NOT Equifax.

Clearscore has an agreement with Equifax to provide as a 3rd party access to the Equifax database, but they or their website or their statements are NOT in any way Equifax's.

When a potential lender does a check, it is direct through Equifax or another partner that provides an access service. NOT clearscore in any shape or form.

Noddle which offers a similar service for access to Callcredit reports is actually part of Callcredit. People often assume Clearscore is Equifax's direct equivalent, and run by/part of Equifax. They are not, although the service is superficially similar.