Almost-empty Equifax report

mattdrummer

So I finally got around to looking at my Equifax report and there's almost nothing in it. :huh:

All it has is:
- My current address (from March this year)
- My childhood home (from 1998 when I must have first started voting until 2007 when I must have put myself on the electoral register somewhere else finally)

Both of those are pulled from the electoral register.

Then it also has a mobile phone contract I started in August last year.

That's it. Aside from that, nothing.

I can understand this to some extent since I was living in the US from 2011 to 2017, but it's still hard to understand why so much is missing.

Specifically, it's missing:
- All my addresses from 2007 onwards (actually I moved out of that home in 2004, or 2001 if you count university, but I guess I must have been slow to update the electoral register), and I was on the register at at least some of those as I remember voting!
- My current account with HSBC that I've had from back when it was Midland Bank!
- My credit card with HSBC that I've just started making payments on to build some history (seems pointless if they are not aware of it!)
- Two other current accounts that have been sitting empty for many years, and an empty ISA (not sure if all of these are still actually open - will check)

So... I'm wondering what I should do about this. Specifically:
1) Is there any benefit in trying to straighten out my address history? If so, how should I go about it?
2) What can I do about the fact that my main current account, which in theory should reflect stability (since I've been with them for 20+ years!), is not there, and nor is the credit card I'm trying to build history with?!

Any advice very gratefully appreciated... not sure where else to turn.

Thanks,
Matt

[Deleted User]

Have you checked the other CRA!!!8217;s?

Experian and CallCredit?

What do they show?

mattdrummer

!!! wrote: »

Have you checked the other CRA!!!8217;s?

Experian and CallCredit?

What do they show?

Just checked Experian and it's showing the same.

Moving on to CallCredit now...

mattdrummer

Noddle says:
"Thanks for choosing Noddle, we're pleased you've joined us.

We don't currently hold enough credit information about you to create your credit report at this time.

But the good news is that while we can't show you a credit report at the moment, we can give you the tools and information to help you better understand and build your credit file and eventually access your free for life credit report and score."

N.B. I was also unable to use the MSE Credit Club as they couldn't verify my identity

[Deleted User]

Well you spent 6 years of recent living in the USA so you have no UK address history and credit history for that 6 year period.

Which is also the time frame the CRA!!!8217;s hold data for.

You need to build up some credit history here now you!!!8217;re back

sparkey1

The reason you have got no reporting from your HSBC / Midland accounts is because they were opened in the years before HSBC reported to the credit reference agencies. If you open a new account with them you will be caught in the net. From then your old HSBC accounts will start reporting, but only from now. Not 20 years ago as the monthly report wont be kept. However it will show your date opened as when you opened it over 20 years ago. There an article about it here.

https://www.experian.co.uk/consumer/questions/askjames217.html

Likewise with the two other current accounts. When did you open them? Pre sharing days?

The ISA wont be counted as its not a credit account. Its a savings account.

Your old addresses are over 6 years ago. Any address moved out of over 6 years ago wont be on the report.

mattdrummer

sparkey1 wrote: »

The reason you have got no reporting from your HSBC / Midland accounts is because they were opened in the years before HSBC reported to the credit reference agencies. If you open a new account with them you will be caught in the net. From then your old HSBC accounts will start reporting, but only from now. Not 20 years ago as the monthly report wont be kept. However it will show your date opened as when you opened it over 20 years ago. There an article about it here.

https://www.experian.co.uk/consumer/questions/askjames217.html

Likewise with the two other current accounts. When did you open them? Pre sharing days?

The ISA wont be counted as its not a credit account. Its a savings account.

Your old addresses are over 6 years ago. Any address moved out of over 6 years ago wont be on the report.

Many thanks for this, very helpful. Yes the other accounts I believe are all of a 10yr+ age, more or less, so that makes sense. I'm not too worried about those, but it does seem worth addressing the situation with my main account holder - HSBC.

I'll get in touch with them then to see if they will at least share details of my credit account. That seems worth doing rather than getting a new card. I assume they won't be able to share information retroactively, as you say. A little perverse to be effectively punished for having an account for *too* long, but such is life I suppose. Should have looked at all this a lot sooner I suppose is the lesson.

On the addresses, I remained on the voter roll at my parents' address throughout that whole period, and voted regularly. My UK bank accounts and various other things were still registered at that address (though none of them are on my credit report anyway so I suppose that's irrelevant).

Still, there's no reason I can think of that this address shouldn't be on the electoral roll, and therefore can't see why it's not popping up on the credit report.

Any thoughts on whether that is worth trying to correct?

[Deleted User]

If you were living in the USA then you should have NOT been listed on the electoral roll in the UK.

sparkey1

mattdrummer If you open a new account with HSBC, your HSBC will then start reporting the data. You might get away with opening one of their regular saver accounts that pays a nice return. Im not sure that it has to specifically be a credit account.

System

We have a thing in the UK called the Statute of Limitations. That restricts how far they go back to 6 years. So your credit file only contains the last 6 years of information. You've not been here for most of that hence an empty file.