Ancient Equifax report has hindered application

LauraBora

Hello All,
I have just had a credit card application refused on the basis my Equifax details didn't match my application details. Not realising I even had an Equifax report (have everything set up with Experian), I rang Equifax to see what the craic was. Apparently, back in 2012, I signed up for a report (30days free trial) which I subsequently cancelled so I didn't have to pay for it. This means that since 2012, my details have not been updated. I have since moved 3 times and got married. I would have thought that cancelling my Equifax subscription was enough to cancel my 'footprint' within the system, but apparently not. I haven't re-activated the account, but have had to submit a load of documentation to verify my identity before I can go back to Barclaycard to revisit my application.
Has anyone else experienced this? Is there a way I can delete my Equifax history? They say no, but surely I don't have to manually inform them every time I move? How will they have any up to date details for me if they've only got data relevant to 2012?
It's a mystery....!!
Laura

ashp_2

Hi,

You have 3 credit reports. You can check all 3 of these yourself for free. Equifax (Clearscore), Experian (MSE Credif club) and Callcredit (Noddle). Just google the names in brackets and you can register and check this Information yourself for free. A lender may check 1 or more of these reports when you apply for credit.

You do not have do manually update anything on your credit report. Providing you are on the electoral role and keep the adresses up to date within your bank & credit accounts this should be automatic.

Ben8282

What is claimed in your OP is complete nonsense.

Shakin_Steve

Hi Laura. You don't update the details on your credit reports, your lenders and utility companies etc. do. I can't really see why the details held by one credit reference agency would be materially different from the other two. They may be a bit further behind, for instance my experian report seems to update monthly whereas equifax sometimes takes two months, but the details should be, more or less, the same.

DCFC79

OP you have either misunderstood what you were told or been given duff information.

binaryuniverse

I think there's a bit of confusion here. Equifax have your details (and would have before you signed up to their trial), that credit providers can check and report to. This is updated quite frequently and, at most, is 2 or 3 months behind. Certainly not 5 years. And your credit providers aren't going to suddenly stop reporting to Equifax because you've cancelled the subscription to access it.
Are you sure you were told your report hadn't updated since then? Or was it that that was the last time you had an updated copy of it?

As you paid for a copy of your report, back in 2012, this is the only copy available to you, personally, to view. If you want to see up to date information you will need to pay for another report. However, you can get a statutory one, for £2, which Equifax do actually make quiet easy to get and view online.

It's quite possible there's some other information on there, which is causing a problem. But you won't know until you see a fresh copy of your report. You could find that, with the change of addresses (and last surname?), something got missed out. An old account, perhaps, that you'd forgotten about.

And no, you don't have to inform Equifax when you move. They can get that data from your bank/credit card providers, who will link the addresses, when you change address with them, or apply for new accounts.

molerat

binaryuniverse wrote: »

I think there's a bit of confusion here. Equifax have your details (and would have before you signed up to their trial), that credit providers can check and report to. This is updated quite frequently and, at most, is 2 or 3 months behind. Certainly not 5 years. And your credit providers aren't going to suddenly stop reporting to Equifax because you've cancelled the subscription to access it.
Are you sure you were told your report hadn't updated since then? Or was it that that was the last time you had an updated copy of it?

As you paid for a copy of your report, back in 2012, this is the only copy available to you, personally, to view. If you want to see up to date information you will need to pay for another report. However, you can get a statutory one, for £2, which Equifax do actually make quiet easy to get and view online.

It's quite possible there's some other information on there, which is causing a problem. But you won't know until you see a fresh copy of your report. You could find that, with the change of addresses (and last surname?), something got missed out. An old account, perhaps, that you'd forgotten about.

And no, you don't have to inform Equifax when you move. They can get that data from your bank/credit card providers, who will link the addresses, when you change address with them, or apply for new accounts.

You do not have to pay for a report. All 3 agency reports are available free. Experian through MSE Creditclub, Equifax through ClearScore and CallCredit through Noddle.

There is obviously something adverse in your report so get all 3 and see what is there.

binaryuniverse

You can get it through Clearscore. However, I don't like how they present the data, and I feel it is somewhat incomplete, to what I would want to see. Hence why I recommended getting the £2 report direct from Equifax.