Address links

Conniej_2

Hi

I hope this is this correct place for this question !

I see a lot of different answers regarding linked addresses!

Equifax says they are never removed, Experian say 6-8 years ? So what happens do they automatically get removed or should I ask ?

And when do creditors stop looking at linked addresses ? Is it 6 years ?

Reason I ask is I have 74 linked addresses on my file all created from 2010/2011 I moved twice to flats and it's all different variations of these flats addresses. But it's also included a shop as I was 2/2 23d first right but the shop address was 23 etc it's all looking a mess and really annoying for me.

Thanks in advance for any clear info on linked addresses.

Aced2016

I am sure Experian move them between 6-8 years !

Equifax I'm sure don't remove them.

Not really sure when creditors stop looking at linked addresses.

onthego

I have a similar problem. I have lived at 9 addresses since 2010 and have 82 linked addresses, all referring to these 9 places I have lived, due to three of them being flats and one being a house with a name.

Experian must be applying an 8 year rule not 6, as my addresses more than 8 years old have been removed - bringing it down from 131 linked addresses last year to a mere 82 that I can start thinking about looking at to correct!

What do we reckon - will 82 vs 9 linked addresses make any difference when applying for credit? It'll be fun finding out...

AngusMcFilth

Have found that Experian remove address links once they are 8 years old.


Equifax (at least according to the version of the report that I can see) only have my last two addresses on file, the oldest of which is 6 years old.


CallCredit have all my addresses on file for the past 20 years. I have made a complaint to them asking to remove addresses older than six years, but they have refused to, stating that they hold these records indefinitely.


This is most likely in contravention to Article 17 of the GDPR, the "right to be forgotten", unless they can come up with a very good reason as to how keeping records of individuals address history spanning the entirety of their adult lives is relevant for the purposes of credit referencing (which, other than public records such as bankruptcy, is only meant to span activity that took place in the last six years).

onthego

Having looked far too closely at my list of 82 linked addresses, I can now see there are actually only 14 distinct entries, but they are all duplicated up to six times. Sometimes with different spellings, sometimes with identical details of both addresses, provider company and date. I have flagged this to Experian so it will be interesting to see what they come back with.

I would be interested to hear if you have the same problem? If you are bored enough you could try searching for the date of your linked address #1 in the list, to see if there are any other entries with the same date and then check if the details are identical. It's a great way to spend an evening!