Refused broadband service from TalkTalk after failing credit check

mibosn

I recently signed up for a broadband contract with TalkTalk, but received an email today saying I had cancelled the order (which I hadn't). After calling them, I found out that I had failed a credit check.

I have never checked my credit before, but tried using the MSE Credit Club and Experian directly, but my details couldn't be verified.

TalkTalk won't give details, so I don't know if the problem is just that they couldn't verify my details.

Has anyone had this problem and been able to resolve it? It's only £26 or so per month, so I'm guessing it would take a very bad credit score to cause a problem. I suspect mine took quite a beating when I was a student a few years ago. I suppose I don't know exactly what to ask, so any insight, suggestions or experience with this would be welcome.

LazyTyper

I suggest writing to them (or emailing to their complaints team) to ask for further information.

It might be that one or more credit reference agency may have inconsistent data, so I'd try to find out which agencies they use.

Then get a report from each CRA and verify everything is correct.

Noddle (CallCredit) is free - https://www.noddle.co.uk

You can usually get a free month on Experian or Equifax, so be sure to cancel before they start extorting you. Or you can get a statutory credit report from them for £2. They will send you your credit report in the post.

macman

Moved house recently? On the electoral roll? Are your other existing credit lines registered at the current address?
Any late payments or defaults remain on your credit file for 6 years-these are what matter, not your credit score, which is meaningless.
It's not just £26pm. You could potentially run up excess charges of thousands in a month on out of bundle calls etc.

mibosn

Thanks for all your thoughts and ideas.

I have recently moved and registered to vote at my new address. Perhaps the electoral roll hasn't been updated yet. I'll give it a few more days and see if I can get my records fixed with the various agencies (or if I just need to wait for the electoral roll to be updated).

I will also try writing to TalkTalk. I get the impression they're reluctant to get into debates with people with potentially dodgy records who will insist they're trustworthy, etc., but maybe they can give me some options. You're right about calls, macman - I had no intention of using the phone, so I only considered the internet bill, but they don't know that. Maybe I'll be more successful if I ask if they can give me an option with no calls.