Experian Score Insanely Low?!

jamesbond1234

Hey everyone,

So first off, I know my credit rating shouldn't be good - at all - but I'm really struggling to see how my score can be THIS low...

It's currently 35 with Experian!

A quick summary:

3 Credit cards
2 Current Accs with overdraft
One personal loan with default (with a zero balance)
One short-term loan

In terms of the amount of credit I'm using it's very high - out of the 3-ish grand available, i'm around 80% of that.

And again, i know my credit rating should be shot - but 35 seems very low - is this normal lol?

No CCJ's, i am registered on the electoral roll, have perfect payment record on all current accounts and credit cards (aside from one default two years ago on the personal loan).

I ask, because I saw my friend this morning, he has 2 CCJ's, 5 defaults - and his score is 100 points more than mine!

Am I right in thinking something COULD be wrong here, or am I just being silly and this is an accurate credit score?

Thank you in advance for any help!

James

DUTR

jamesbond1234 wrote: »

Hey everyone,

So first off, I know my credit rating shouldn't be good - at all - but I'm really struggling to see how my score can be THIS low...

It's currently 35 with Experian!

A quick summary:

3 Credit cards
2 Current Accs with overdraft
One personal loan with default (with a zero balance)
One short-term loan

In terms of the amount of credit I'm using it's very high - out of the 3-ish grand available, i'm around 80% of that.

And again, i know my credit rating should be shot - but 35 seems very low - is this normal lol?

No CCJ's, i am registered on the electoral roll, have perfect payment record on all current accounts and credit cards (aside from one default two years ago on the personal loan).

I ask, because I saw my friend this morning, he has 2 CCJ's, 5 defaults - and his score is 100 points more than mine!

Am I right in thinking something COULD be wrong here, or am I just being silly and this is an accurate credit score?

Thank you in advance for any help!

James

Only silly as in believing the numbers mean much, Have you been refused credit due to your experian score?

jamesbond1234

DUTR wrote: »

Only silly as in believing the numbers mean much, Have you been refused credit due to your experian score?

I have. Had a couple really rough months financially, so managed to take out 3 payday loans, though only one appears on Experian.

Since then however yes, even £100 loan applications were denied, and I was not approved for a Barclay's current account.

Again, I expect it to be low, but can't help think 35 is excessive!

Thanks,

James

robber2

you are just being silly. Experian make the number up and they and you are the only ones who get to see it.

DCFC79

It's just a number only you can see.

How do the other reference agencies rate you ?

There's no universal credit score.

DUTR

jamesbond1234 wrote: »

I have. Had a couple really rough months financially, so managed to take out 3 payday loans, though only one appears on Experian.

Since then however yes, even £100 loan applications were denied, and I was not approved for a Barclay's current account.

Again, I expect it to be low, but can't help think 35 is excessive!

Thanks,

James

I don't really understand these payday loans, the way I see it, if one can afford the fees, then they didn't require the loan.

jamesbond1234

DUTR wrote: »

I don't really understand these payday loans, the way I see it, if one can afford the fees, then they didn't require the loan.

I knew I'd be getting money in around a week, so was well within the 14 days cooling off period or w/e it's called - only ended up paying about £30 on around £900 worth of loans.

Richey_

It's a con to get you to pay them £14.99 a month to "improve" your made up score.

Ignore the number, just make sure the data is accurate. Every bank will score you differently. Can I please recommend Noddle which is the free version of Call Credit and Clearscore which is the free version of Equifax. Be interesting if your payday loans not showing on Experian show on those sites,

Just work hard to reduce the ballences and over time your history will improve.

Fireflyaway

Did you use clear score? My score with them was low too- 94, I had 3 defaulted accounts, and various late payments and a credit card over the limit. Good news is I dealt with things the best I could and after 6 months it increased and is now 346. Not good of course but a great improvement.
Have you paid anything late recently or made lots of credit applications?
I have noticed my score change marginally for no apparent reason in the past so try not to get too fixated. I know it seems lots of people like to respond by saying credit scores are fictional and don't matter etc etc. I think they must to a certasin degree or why would lenders check them?!
The positive is with a bit of good behaviour it will improve possibly quite fast.

YorkshireBoy

Fireflyaway wrote: »

I know it seems lots of people like to respond by saying credit scores are fictional and don't matter etc etc. I think they must to a certasin degree or why would lenders check them?!

Lenders do not check your "credit score" at the CRAs. They obtain the data held, and produce their own 'score'. The number that a CRA gives/sells you is only visible to yourself and the CRA.

Fireflyaway

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

Lenders do not check your "credit score" at the CRAs. They obtain the data held, and produce their own 'score'. The number that a CRA gives/sells you is only visible to yourself and the CRA.

If that's the case, whats the need for the credit agencies to even create a score? It must relate to something? I appreciate banks etc dont look just at the score but multiple things. However these scores must be of some significance or why would they exist and why would this website give tips on how to improve it if its irrelevant?