Conflicting credit ratings

CharlesN

Hi guys,

At the end of last year my phone contract ran out with Vodafone (£56/m) and I decided to temporarily change to GiffGaff (£15/m) whilst I looked for a new contract that suited me.

I made a few attempts at getting a new one, with different networks but kept on getting rejected. Eventually I signed up to Experian and checked my credit score - excellent. Of course, this lead to further confusion as to why I was getting rejected (for contracts lower than my previous £56/m). Only recently have I signed up to Equifax and been told that my credit score is in fact poor. For someone who's very safe with their money, that was disappointing news to find out. And of course I was confused as to why I was being told I had two different scores.

I feel as if i'm now in the position where I can't get a new phone contract and I may be stuck in this hole for a while. Is anyone able to provide any help?

Thanks, Charles.

Farway

First, there is no such thing as "credit score", it is a number that is meaningless, not one that hangs round your neck

Every company decides who it does, or does not, give credit to
Every company has it's own parameters, they do not look up a magic set of numbers to decide this, they go on things such as how much do you owe, how many payments have you missed, how long have you been at current address, and loads of other things

Get your credit report, not "score" and see from there, any money owing? missed a DD some time? not paid the gas bill? 15 credit cards?
And now, lots of attempts at credit will be shown

[Deleted User]

Farway wrote: »

First, there is no such thing as "credit score", it is a number that is meaningless, not one that hangs round your neck

Every company decides who it does, or does not, give credit to
Every company has it's own parameters, they do not look up a magic set of numbers to decide this, they go on things such as how much do you owe, how many payments have you missed, how long have you been at current address, and loads of other things

Get your credit report, not "score" and see from there, any money owing? missed a DD some time? not paid the gas bill? 15 credit cards?
And now, lots of attempts at credit will be shown

And now, lots of failed attempts at credit will be shown.

d123

Colin_Maybe wrote: »

And now, lots of failed attempts at credit will be shown.

Not really, the credit file won’t show it was a failed credit check, simply that a credit check was carried out.

A number of those in a short period is bad though.

techquest

d123 wrote: »

Not really, the credit file won’t show it was a failed credit check, simply that a credit check was carried out.

A number of those in a short period is bad though.

As d123 says bad news. These days you can come unstuck over such issues that you are not really aware of. As Colin_Maybe suggests, get hold of your credit report and go through it with a fine toothcomb, you'll maybe be surprised as to what is on it. If there is anything on it you disagree with then you have the right to dispute it. Sadly once you have been drawn into such circumstance then it's difficult to get anyone to see common sense.

CharlesN

Thanks for all the replies guys!

I have a full credit report from equifax, and it seems that the main issue is the credit searches.
I have only ever owned one credit card and I never missed a payment. I think in the process of this search for a credit card there may have been a few failed ones in there, which could have affected my credit score. Fast forward a few years and applying for new phone contracts and being confused as to why I was being rejected could have just piled on the misery.

Does anyone have any advice on how I can start to build my credit score again? I'm a little worried about applying for a new credit card, just incase that affects my score again, but that seems to be one of the main suggestions out there to help increase a score.

Thanks in advance

grumbler

CharlesN wrote: »

I think in the process of this search for a credit card there may have been a few failed ones in there, which could have affected my credit score.

It's JUST searches, not FAILED searches. And normally any search has effect lasting no more than 6 months.



Read MSE article - Credit Scores

mobilejunkie

It won't show "failed" searches. It is just the number - but I believe they add up over 12 months.

Having more well-managed credit (rather than just one credit card) is a plus. The amount of credit available can be a minus if excessive, as can outstanding debt telated to income. However, there are so many factors you'd need to research - Gas, electricity (unless pre-paid) and lots of other things should be on the files too. One late payment (or worse, outstanding) will stay on there for 6 years and be a big negative.