Classification of Previous Searches in Experian

taless

Hi,

Just got my Experian Online Report today (under the 1 month trial)

Everything looked fine, but I was looking at my Previous Searches: (Searched by, Application Type, Date)

1. CREDIT EXPERT REPORT, Identification Generic Check, 06/11/07

2. Lloyds TSB, Enquiry, 29/5/07 (When I applied for my first credit card with them)

3. MBNA Bank, Credit Card, 22/3/07 (When I received an invite to apply for their credit card)

4. Lloyds TSB, Current Account, 20/11/06 (When applying for current account)

5. Lloyds TSB, Identification Generic Check, 20/11/06 (Same as #4)

I have two questions:

1) Is Enquiry and Identification Generic Check a form of Credit Search, or is it a Non-Credit Search (that will not affect ur credit rating)?

2) Will it be safe for me to apply for 1 or 2 more of Credit Products in my current time period?

Thanks!!!

Experian_company_representative

taless

A search to confirm your identity does not affect your creditworthiness. Only searches that were made to help assess your creditworthiness (following you applying for credit) are seen and taken account of when you apply for new credit. As you only have three of these in the past year, this should not be an issue for you.

Searches often only become an issue for applications that are already borderline - although lenders differ on how they score searches in practice.

Most lenders only take significant note of searches when there are a lot in a short space of time, particularly in the last three months. So as long as you use credit wisely and space out your credit applications, you should be ok.

taless

Thanks JamesJones.

I was particularly interested in the "Enquiry" (not Unrecorded Enquiry).

I made a mistake in my first post - the Enquiry was actually done because I requested for a £200 O/D with LTSB. Surprisingly my application for a credit card in early May was unsearched (not shown up in both Experian and Equifax).

So I suppose the Enquiry is considered a "hard pull" - and it is something that will be seen by other lenders, is that right?

Thanks again for your kind reply.