Why is my credit score so out of Whack

Goldie-K15

I have used Clearscore for many a year (as was recommended by Mr Lewis way back when).

It seemed great and all OK over the years, however recently my score has plummeted, reducing by 107 in the last month alone.

Now some may say that there is a reason behind this, however i would love to now what.

Setting the scene. In the past i have had car Finance, loans and NEVER had a problem EVER with missing a payment, last year was fortunate enough to be able to clear all credit, with the exception of a fairly small mortgage, which due to redemption penalties, it is cheaper to keep and run and over pay each year for next 2 years, than to settle now.

I have a credit card, this is used every month for living and is cleared every month.

No other credit at all, never missed a payment and never asked for credit on anything for years.

So why is my credit rating going down when the only changes each month is my mortgage balance going down by the monthly repayment.

My credit file has NO bad items on it, so I am struggling to make sense.

To be honest this is mere frustration than anything else, as i will never need credit again in the future, but still?!

Willing2Learn

Is there any negative data recorded on your actual report? (Things like missing payments, late payments, defaults, CCJs)
Are you on the Electoral Register at your current address?
Is all the data accurately recorded on your file? (as you say you've never had problems managing your credit accounts).
Do you have any financial associations recorded on your file?
Are there many credit searches listed on your file?

And do not worry about your score as lenders neither use it nor see it.

[Deleted User]

Goldie-K15 wrote: »

Now some may say that there is a reason behind this, however i would love to now what.

There almost certainly isn't.

etienneg

Well, this is an ideal example of why regular posters on here say credit scores from the CRAs are meaningless, made up numbers!

Only you will ever see this number. If you apply for credit, the credit company would be given the data in your file but not this number. They would then "score" you from the data according to their own criteria to see if they want to give you the credit, and if so on what terms.

So, just completely forget the score from the CRA. Don't even bother to look whether it's going up or down. Stop "struggling to make sense" of it. Stop getting frustrated. Do something more enjoyable with your life!

[Deleted User]

Your credit score/rating isn't seen or used by lenders.

The likely reason why is that the temperature has dropped a few degrees so your "score" is compensating for this drop as well.

(READ - your score can safely be ignored - just make sure the data on your files is correct and up to date).

boo_star

Any searches done in the month when it dropped? Clearscore knocked nearly 100 points off my score for a mortgage application credit check and several months later it hasn't really recovered.

Not that I'm bothered about what the CRA's think my "score" is but just to point out that even fairly innocuous changes can result in fairly ridiculous reactions from the CRA's scoring systems.

molerat

I am sure that if you give them some money they will tell you how to bring it back up again

PRAISETHESUN

As above, ignore any reference to your "scores" and focus on the contents of your credit file. The numbers will jump around for any and no reason at all and are not even seen by lenders, so they are not a marker of creditworthiness in any sense. If there are no substantial negative changes on your files (missed payments, defaults, etc) then there is nothing to worry about - keep using your credit cards and paying off your mortgage as usual.

I would also suggest that you check your files from all three CRAs (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion - ClearScore uses Equifax data just FYI) as the info contained on them are likely to be slightly different, since not all lenders report to all CRAs. By not checking all your files you run the risk of problems being overlooked, especially if they are not reported to your ClearScore file.