Equifax Updating Disputes / NatWest

s03jlord1

Hi all - first post here.

Long story short: I applied for my first ever mortgage with Natwest, got an AIP, passed all affordability checks and even paid for a surveyor to value the house - it felt like i was 99% complete in the process when out of the blue i was called by the underwriter to tell me my application was on hold due to adverse findings on my equifax report.
They couldn't/wouldn't tell me exactly but stressed that i passed the credit checks earlier but something adverse was on my equifax file and urged me to check it out as that is what they use.

I immediately registered with equifax for the first time ever and low and behold, there was 1 default on the account, flashing red from April 2014 that had been 'alerting' every single month since for a company i had never heard of before and as such my score was deemed 'Poor' with a score of 170 / 600. How i passed the credit checks in the first place i will never know but this was the only adverse entry on my account history.
I then immediately called equifax who ran through a dispute and gave me the contact details of the company involved - i contacted that company and they couldn't find my details under name/DOB/Post code but COULD on my old email address. Dodgy.
After waiting on hold for several minutes a supervisor said they would email me with details - The email came through pretty quickly and they suggested that this account would be terminated and "we will remove all negative reporting from your credit file immediately".
Fast forward a week and i'm still waiting for them and equifax to connect the dots to clear the entry so i can carry on with my mortgage application. Equifax are waiting for this company to acknowledge their incident number and this company are not answering emails.

I have faith that this will sort its self out but what i am curious to know is if a default has been 'alerting' since April 2014 - April 2019 would it have destroyed my credit rating to show a score of 170? And when its deleted, will my score be backdated with clean entries that will shoot my score up to something respectable/high? I dont have many credit facilities as i dont need them so it could be that i'm 'light' on proven credit payments coupled with this long standing default that has crippled it. I'm hoping that the sensible thing will be done and they delete it and then go back through all those months, green them out (they are bright red) and apply some algorithm to improve my score. The worse case scenario would be for them to delete it/marked it as satisfied and then my score doesn't change....

Other info:
There are no other adverse/late entries on my account.
I use to have a small overdraft that i rarely used - £750
I have a credit card with a current balance of £50 , fully up to date that i use for amenities.
My mobile phone is provided by my employment and paid by them.
I live in a house owned by my wife (she purchased before we met)

Hope that all makes sense and you guru's have some good answers :T

[Deleted User]

You're the only one who ever sees your score, and it's not particularly real, so don't worry about that at all. It's not a factor in lending.

All you need to do is ensure that the data is correctly shown.

s03jlord1

Thanks zx81
So, lets assume they remove the incorrect data asap...
That would remove the entry from my file from external eyes and improve my score when i log in for my eyes only?
I always thought the score was the public info so thanks for that.
When i log in to equifax it just says 'Poor Score' with a table comparing me to the UK average and the chart broken down into Excellent, Good, Average and Poor categories.
I was just curious to know what i should expect really on the score front and if it would improve dramatically when this bad entry is removed/closed.

[Deleted User]

The score won't necessarily go up. The CRAs (some more than others) will often drop your score with each change, whether good or bad.

So don't worry if it drops further. Lenders will only be seeing the improved data.

[Deleted User]

Ignore the scores and ratings and "UK Average" as it means diddly in the real world.

Lenders will only look at the data on your files.

If you want a high score, take a screenshot of your current score and use Microsoft Paint to crudely paint 999 over the current score.

s03jlord1

Thanks both,
I'm just concerned that Natwest have agreed to put my application on hold whilst this is sorted (equifax gave me 10 day turnaround). However the underwriter has asked that when it is updated that i download and upload my equifax file to their online portal - By doing that i 'expose' my full report to them that says i am a poor creditor, hovering below the UK Average with a score in big red writing when they are making a final, manual lending decision *
*if the score/ratings doesn't improve rapidly at time of correction.

[Deleted User]

What do you mean "expose"?

They would have already seen everything they need to see on your report when you applied for the mortgage with them.

There is no UK Average for scores, lenders don't give a monkey's about the score or ratings.

Stop focussing your attention to it, however red and flashy it looks.

Willing2Learn

s03jlord1 wrote: »

… By doing that i 'expose' my full report to them that says i am a poor creditor, hovering below the UK Average with a score in big red writing when they are making a final, manual lending decision *
*if the score/ratings doesn't improve rapidly at time of correction.

Forget about your score and ratings. Lenders neither see nor use it.

A lender credit scores you against their independent criteria and policies using:

• The data held in your credit file(s)
• The data you submit in your credit application
• The data already held by the lender if you are an existing or returning customer

A lender only looks at the data held in your credit report, (the history of how you manage credit accounts).

redux

I don't see why the underwriter asks you to obtain supply an updated correction to information they obtained via their own channels.

I'd hope it would be sufficient for you to tell them when the error has been removed, and they look again themselves.

s03jlord1

When i say "expose" i mean;
When i spoke direct to the underwriter today (couple of weeks past the automated credit check approval during the web application), they said that when they performed the equifax search manually, all they could see was blocks of green and red (red being adverse entries) where they couldn't see details of scores, lender names, amounts, financial links and all information that would be IN my downloaded/uploaded file --- the underwriter made the comment that these details was "greyed out" to her during their search.
So we if are going from that 'basic view' that they had, whereby they couldn't see any of that, to me downloading my full credit report to .pdf and uploading it with all the other details where wording, averages, colors and scores are in an underwriters face, when they are making a manual decision at their desk - isn't that an issue, Surely its not absolutely meaningless?
If it is meaningless its absolutely pathetic of equifax to put that on the front screen with wording in multiple separate places that say "Your score - Very Poor" , "Below UK Average", "Repayment Assessment - Poor" due to this one entry that might not even change those statements once cleared.

[Deleted User]

It's meaningless but they know that a lot of their customers love numbers. It drives website traffic.