There are 4 Credit Reference Agencies in the UK!

takman

I have noticed that many people on here keep saying there are only 3 Credit Reference Agencies in UK when in actual fact there are four. Even a certain board guide keeps saying this after i have previously pointed this out to them..

Most people know the three biggest ones which are:

-Experian
-Equifax
-Callcredit

But there is also a forth one:

Crediva (http://www.crediva.co.uk/)

Like the others this one also allows individuals to get a copy of their credit report but i'm not sure how much information they hold.

I have also been unable to find an official list of Credit Reference Agencies so there could actually be more!

cjmillsnun

The mention of the three is because they are the most widely used. Almost every financial institution will use at least one of the big 3 whereas the use of Crediva or any others would be far less likely. Therefore it is critical that the information on the big 3 is correct. The impact of incorrect information on the other CRAs is less pronounced (although it would still be a good idea to check them from time to time)

badmemory

I think we should avoid giving yet another CRA any credibility/advertising. The more there are the more we have to cough up to check them all when one of them makes the inevitable avoidable mistake on our records. That is of course before they give all our info to the hackers. With thanks to Argentina for using such a unique username & password!

DCFC79

Theres apparently a fifth one too, Coremetrix is the name but I cant see either 1 on the ICO website as a CRA.

3 agencies are enough imo, it just means more c0ckups can be made with the error.

takman

I agree with all the points made here but I think it's easy to just say "the three main CRA's in the UK are:" if you don't want to mention the other ones. Then atleast people are aware that there are more of them that hold information about them.

I didn't realise there was more than three until someone mentioned it on here and I was surprised that there being more than three was mentioned more often.

PixelPound

takman wrote: »

I agree with all the points made here but I think it's easy to just say "the three main CRA's in the UK are:" if you don't want to mention the other ones. Then atleast people are aware that there are more of them that hold information about them.

I didn't realise there was more than three until someone mentioned it on here and I was surprised that there being more than three was mentioned more often.

People already get stressed about ensuring that the main three are up to date without worrying they have to keep checking a plethora of others. I do doubt there is a company giving consumer credit that reports to minor CRA but not one of the big 3. Given that at present if there is an error on the CRA you may well have to complain to the company providing the info and not the CRA, I would assume that companies provide the same info to each CRA they decide to report to, so don't see any reason to check anything other that the big three. I also believe giving the air of publicity to minor CRA's will only confuse consumers rather than help them.

sourcrates

takman wrote: »

I have noticed that many people on here keep saying there are only 3 Credit Reference Agencies in UK when in actual fact there are four. Even a certain board guide keeps saying this after i have previously pointed this out to them..

Most people know the three biggest ones which are:

-Experian
-Equifax
-Callcredit

But there is also a forth one:

Crediva (http://www.crediva.co.uk/)

Like the others this one also allows individuals to get a copy of their credit report but i'm not sure how much information they hold.

I have also been unable to find an official list of Credit Reference Agencies so there could actually be more!

There is indeed a "new kid on the block".

"Crediva", the UK `s fourth and newest credit reference agency.

They became fully authorized on the 30/03/2017.

Dobbibill

They don't seem to hold much information by the looks of it.

On their website it says

You can expect to see the following information:

Your personal details
Electoral Roll registration
Any public records such as County Court Judgments (CCJs) or Insolvencies
Searches on your file made in the last to 2 years

Nothing about accounts being held or 6 yrs of data like the others.

They do have a hyperlink to 'Check My File' and they say this...

Check for Credit Application searches at Callcredit, Equifax and Experian

See who is recorded as being financially associated to you at Callcredit, Equifax and Experian

All a bit vague at the moment - maybe because they haven't been up and running for a year yet.