Invisible To Creditors Anomaly

DarylHume

Hi All,

I have sent a similar version of this into my local MP, but I don't know how much they will be able to help and thought somebody on here may have encountered or experienced something similar

Basically, my wife has been unable to secure credit from various lenders, not due to a poor credit history but due to none of them being able to locate her

She has a bank account with RBS, however , this is a legacy account from when RBS visited her school many years ago and opened accounts for a number of children on the day
She is on the electoral register (albeit , ex-directory), she works getting paid weekly paying Tax and NI

Examples of who she has tried to open accounts with include but is not limited to Littlewoods / Very / Vodafone

Even more unusual, when trying to get a different type of account with RBS, they said they couldn’t give her what she wanted as they couldn’t find her, and she banks with them.
Halifax have also said the same even though we went in with various proof of ID such as Working Tax Credit Letters / Driving Licence (provisional) and Passport

As she was struggling, we contacted both Experian and Noddle – none of them could locate her to tell her what her credit score looks like

I spoke to Man City Council electoral team, and confirmed that to secure acceptance onto the register you have to provide a valid NI# / DOB and Address – all of which she has clearly done, as she is able to and does vote
Beyond that, we have been issued with her unique ‘Electoral References’ , which I do not believe are pieces of information which are common knowledge. As far as they are concerned everything is in order and they cant understand whey the various companies / institutions cant find her

I’m summary , she clearly exists but the people we are contacting to secure credit or get credit scores are pulling the data from the same location, so the issue must lie deeper within the records being kept about her

That is why I thought of sending it to my MP, hoping somebody will put some time aside and see if there is a seemingly small administrative error that is causing the issue

However, if anybody has come across something similar we are open to suggestion as its damned frustrating!

Thanks in advance all
Daryl

Barney_Rubble_0403

Has she had any credit in the past. Loans, credit cards? Lack of history might be the problem.

Assuming that she has signed up with the free cra's reports - mse do one with experian, it would be interesting to see what offers of credit cards are available and at what interest rates.

Assuming high rates, take one and as long as it is paid off each month, it will help to build a credit history.

Sign up with all3 cra's to ensure accurate data is held.

fwor

DarylHume wrote: »

Basically, my wife has been unable to secure credit from various lenders, not due to a poor credit history but due to none of them being able to locate her

I suspect that you have two completely separate issues here. Firstly you are probably misunderstanding what prospective lenders are telling you. They are probably just telling you that they cannot find anything about her in terms of her credit history. If she has no credit cards and has never taken out credit before, that is not surprising.

And secondly, it may simply be that the two accounts that she had with RBS and Halifax have been dormant for so long that they have been ceased. This is something that banks have been doing for a long time - it's nothing new.

Neither is in anyway exceptional, and I doubt that your MP would be able to help in any way.

rtho782

Old old current accounts don't report to CRAs. It was only sometime in the 90s that T+Cs changed to allow them to report, so she probably has no history whatsoever.

PRAISETHESUN

From what I'm understanding here, it sounds like your wife has a very thin/non-existent credit file which is why she is having trouble getting credit. Having a bank account will help, but if it is not being reported to the CRAs then other lenders will not be able to see anything when she makes a credit application, as as such she will likely be declined (as it sounds like she has already been).

I was in a similar situation when I first moved to the UK, since prior to that I did not exist in the eyes of the CRAs. What she needs to do here is write need to all three CRAs (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) and request copies of her statutory credit reports - they are obliged under GDPR to provide this information if requested. Ignore any third party services who use this information, such as Noddle, for now. If/when they write back saying that they are unable to find your wife's file, they will usually request identification documents to verify her identity. Do this without delay. Once you've got access you can see what else might be on her file - but most likely she will need to start (re)building her credit - see the link below for some guides for the best way to do this. See :https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/bad-credit-credit-cards/. Ignore any reference to the "score" or "rating, since this is a marketing gimmick by the CRAs which lenders cannot see and focus instead on building and maintaining the positive contents of her credit HISTORY.

Give it time and as she demonstrates that she can manage credit responsibly, she will become eligible for better deals.

DarylHume

thanks for the replies so far, just to clarify;

@Barney Rubble - she has never been able to secure credit from any lenders, should have said we are now early 30's and this goes back to our late teens

She cant get a card, as they all refuse her on the grounds she cant be found , aka doesn't exist

@fwor - she still banks with RBS, her account is active. As i say, she works and gets paid weekly, paying Tax and NI, which goes into RBS. RBS rejected her when she applied for a different bank account, she then called and pointed out she already has an account. They still wouldn't give her as when they do their 'checks' they couldn't find her, which is completely nonsensical but this is the situation we are in.
She has never banked with Halifax, as they refused her even with us presenting all the material i listed - that was an example to say we have tried different banking institutions which resulted in the same response

@rtho - as the account is actively being used, with monies going in/out, even thought the account is old i imagine over the years RBS will have updated the T&C's numerous times bringing it up to date and therefore making it 'visible' (for lack of a better way of saying it)

[Deleted User]

Is she from the UK or elsewhere?

So the CRA's cannot locate her either?

DarylHume

Born in the UK, UK birth Certificate and so on

Correct, although of the 3 listed by @Praisethesun, we have only contacted Experian and that was on the phone. Will try the other 2 in writing as suggested, but in the mean time, any other input is gratefully received

PRAISETHESUN

DarylHume wrote: »

thanks for the replies so far, just to clarify;

@Barney Rubble - she has never been able to secure credit from any lenders, should have said we are now early 30's and this goes back to our late teens

She cant get a card, as they all refuse her on the grounds she cant be found , aka doesn't exist

@fwor - she still banks with RBS, her account is active. As i say, she works and gets paid weekly, paying Tax and NI, which goes into RBS. RBS rejected her when she applied for a different bank account, she then called and pointed out she already has an account. They still wouldn't give her as when they do their 'checks' they couldn't find her, which is completely nonsensical but this is the situation we are in.
She has never banked with Halifax, as they refused her even with us presenting all the material i listed - that was an example to say we have tried different banking institutions which resulted in the same response

@rtho - as the account is actively being used, with monies going in/out, even thought the account is old i imagine over the years RBS will have updated the T&C's numerous times bringing it up to date and therefore making it 'visible' (for lack of a better way of saying it)

Sounds like the old account might be a legacy one which doesn't report to the CRAs.

A few other things to consider - ensure she is on the electoral roll at your current address (doesn't matter if you opt out of the open register, as long as you are registered) as this is commonly used to verify your identity. Otherwise have you enquired with banks about a "basic" current account? They are typically only made available to those who cannot get any other bank account, since they actually cost the bank money. As long as long she has enough documentation to prove her identity and address, then she will be able to open one. These accounts are reported to the CRAs so may also help assist in tracking down her file if lenders are having trouble.

EDIT:
Your assumption that updates to the T&C may should have made the account "visible" may be flawed - I recall someone in a similar situation saying that this might be the type of information where explicit consent has to be given. These days the consent is given during account opening, but for older accounts you might need to write to them separately to grant consent to report data to the CRAs perhaps?

[Deleted User]

Have you tried obtaining Statutory Credit Reports from the 3 CRA's?

jimbo26

As @!!! suggests. No point ringing the three CRAs. Just go online and request a copy of her credit report from the three main agencies. This is now free to do. Experian don't highlight the free report very well (they are keen for you to subscribe to a pointless product)

Experian - https://www.experian.co.uk/consumer/statutory-report.html

Equifax - https://www.equifax.co.uk/Products/credit/statutory-report.html

Call Credit - https://www.callcreditstatreport.co.uk/