Serving Military - Credit File Problems...

aqueous

Hi all,

My first post - I've been a long time user of the main site and browser of these forums, and have always managed to find solutions to any money problems within them, but this one has me stumped...

The Background

I am currently serving with the Army, (and have been for several years), and as part of my normal duties I have been frequently moved to new 'postings' (addresses) throughout my career. This is all well and good, however I have no permanent residential address within the UK at which to register all my credit accounts, (my mother has moved abroad). This means that every time the Army has moved me, I have had to change addresses on all my bank accounts, credit cards, mobile contracts, driving license etc. etc.

This in itself is not an issue (beyond being a bit of a pain in the a*** :mad:), but it means that I have a trail of different addresses on my credit file in quick succession. This is compounded by the fact that most military barracks, (within which I live), are not handled well by the automatic post code address finders used by credit companies or even the Royal Mail. Different systems will show up many different variations in the first lines of addresses at a military post code, and often don't give the option to edit them which means I have to settle for the nearest option.

The net result of this is that I have a huge amount of different address variations - (10 previous addresses and 69 linked addresses currently on my Experian report, all within the last 10 years) - attached to my various different credit accounts.

I have always been aware that I am 'difficult to find' on automated systems - anything from credit applications to Government Gateway services - essentially anything that requires me to verify my identity with an address. However with a couple of recent credit applications and ID dependant services, I notice that it has got to the point where on most occasions I am simply rejected outright as my identity cannot be verified. This is all the more frustrating as I have generally maintained a very good credit history, (post student years...! :beer:).

I am also registered as a Service Voter and as such my details are not published on the reports that are sent to the CRAs for security reasons. However this can be remedied by me requesting proof of registration from the various electoral offices I register with and forwarding to the CRAs, although I'm not certain if this is not adding to the problem.

This has prompted me to subscribe to all the big Credit Agencies to try and get a handle on this:

• Experian: Report initially showed very little, but after several hours on the phone with a very helpful rep they managed to locate a large part my history, although it is still work in progress and all my current credit agreements are still missing. UPDATE 19 Sep 16 - having now spent 2 months in total trying to resolve this issue, and Experian's complete ineptitude in even being able to read and understand an email, I retract what I said earlier - the CreditExpert service is no better than the others and a total waste of money. Avoid!! Just use the free versions which cover all the CRAs anyway.

• Equifax: Report showed absolutely nothing. Several hours on the phone to an overseas call centre achieved very little. The Equifax service appears to be extremely limited in comparison to Experian, and as far as addresses go they are entirely slave to their automatic post code address finders - unable to search for any address variations. I would not recommend these guys to anyone - if you are going to spend £15 a month use Experian, they were much easier to deal with over the phone and their online service is much more extensive.

• CallCredit: I couldn't even pass the ID verification to register for the service!

So, I feel I have tried everything and am a bit stumped as to what to do next...

My Questions

I am hoping there is someone out there who understands this all better than me, and might be able to help with my queries below...:question:

1. Is there any way of standardising all my address variations retrospectively? A number of the missing accounts are now closed; am I able to get historic address first lines changed (keeping the same post code) so that they are easier to find?
2. Does it matter if Equifax and CallCredit can't be corrected? I seem to have made some progress with Experian and I'm hoping I can eventually get my file with them made accurate(ish). I know they are the largest CRA, but will it have a significant effect if the other 2 (which I've given up on) have incorrect/empty records on me?
3. Will the amendments made to my Experian 'CreditExpert' Report, actually reflect the data provided to Lenders when they do a Credit Check? Or is what I am seeing when I login for my benefit only? Will these amendments have any affect on my credit checks at all?
4. And finally: How do the mechanics of a Credit Check actually work? I'm not fussed about the 'scores' or approval ratings given by lenders - I know these can be very fickle. But how do the CRAs actually find and return data at a Lender's request? i.e. If I input a current and previous address into a credit application accurate to my knowledge, does the CRA only return data found for those exact name and address matches to the Lender, or does it link to all the report data it has, as in Q3 above, and return all the relevant bits from my history to the Lender?

I should point out that as far as I can tell there are no actual mistakes on my credit record, everything is just very hard to find within the 'system' with all the address variations.

If you're still reading, many thanks and apologies for the essay! Any help much appreciated...

Thanks in advance!

Thrugelmir

Have you applied for credit in any form? Card, loan, bank account, phone contract etc?

aqueous

Hi, yes I've made a couple of credit card applications in the past few months, but they also couldn't verify my ID so were unsuccessful at the early stages. I haven't pushed it any further to avoid hitting my file with many searches.

Ironically none of these credit searches are showing on my report either!

Experian_company_representative

Hi aqueous,

I understand that this whole situation is frustrating especially as you have been looking to apply for credit. In terms of your Experian Credit Report, the information which would see on your report would be seen by other lenders when viewing your report.

You've mentioned that you've made some searches which aren't appearing on your file, if these searches were made with Experian but are still not showing on your report; it is possible that these may be showing on a variation of your address. If you want to learn more about how address links work, you might want to check this link out.

As you are concerned about lenders not being able to fully see your credit report details due to the variations on your report, you might want to consider adding a Notice of Correction to your report.

What this would do is allow you to add a 200 word statement to your report which explains your situation to lenders. This also would mean that your application would not be processed automatically by lenders who will then check your report and also consider your comments during the application process. You can learn more about Notice of Correction at this link.

If you would like, I can also take a further look at your Experian credit report if you [URL="mailto:uksocialsupport@experian.com"]email[/URL] your details (name, date of birth and address) to me.

Kind regards,
Stuart

Fergie76

Some of these links may or may not be of use to you:

http://www.experian.co.uk/consumer/credit-education/credit-rating-advice-for-armed-forces-personnel.html

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/500k-to-help-armed-forces-personnel-access-credit-union-services

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/financial-top-tips-for-service-personnel/financial-top-tips-for-service-personnel

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/moneyforce

aqueous

Thanks for your responses guys, and apologies for not responding sooner - I've been on a compulsory 'holiday' courtesy of the Army . Some useful links, thanks, they've helped clear up a few things for me although I'm still unclear on a couple of points.

Stuart, your link to the Experian 'Linked Addresses' FAQ mentions the following:

If a bank or financial institution searches your credit report, they will see all of your address history and all the credit details attached to it – including the addresses you haven’t given us.

This implies that there is a separate 'file' that is sent as a response to enquiries from lenders, different to the information that I am seeing on my CreditExpert account? This leads me back to my initial question 3 above:

• Are the corrections I'm attempting over the phone with Experian customer service, (i.e. trying to find & link all my credit accounts), actually having any impact on the data returned to lenders?

Stuart, I have also taken you up on your offer and emailed you my details. I have again tried to resolve this with Experian over the phone, but after several attempts now I never hear back from anyone when promised a call back or email response .

Thanks again!

aqueous

Ok, so having emailed the address in the link Stuart posted above, it was immediately autoforwarded to the usual Experian Customer Service team, who surprise surprise didn't bother to read my email, again, and sent the usual copy and paste response, which of course is complete cr*p and bears no relation to my issue. :mad:

Completely lost my patience with Experian customer service now, and have edited my previous post intially praising their service. 2 months now I have been trying (and paying!) to get Experian to acknowledge my existence on an electoral role, and have raised 4 separate email disputes attaching the proof of registration letter from my local council - every single time Experian haven't even bothered to read the email! Not to mention the hours spent on the phone, and the promises of call-backs and update emails that have never materialised.

I revise my earlier statement - avoid Experian's CreditExpert service, it's a complete waste of time and money! You'd be better off sticking with the free versions (Noddle, Clearscore and the new Credit Club from MSE) which will cover all 3 CRAs anyway...

Anyone else had such abysmal service from Experian? :mad: