Everyone always says on here your credit score means nothing, no one uses it or sees it etc...

sourcrates

RG2015 wrote: »

I just think that it is poor use of language for a board guide on credit files and ratings to describe an opinion as a well known fact.

I happen to share this opinion but I would never describe it as a fact, let alone a well known fact.

Sorry, I should have said its well known here.

boo_star

Ben8282 wrote: »

No because the CRA's don't provide the scores to them therefore they can't use information that they don't have.

Uh, they do.

If you want, as a business, you can choose to buy the scores. Most choose not to but the option is there if you want it.

spikyone

[Deleted User] wrote:

Your score of 400 could have been out of 500 for example, or one I did recently with Rightmove was out of 700, CRA's online typically score out of 999 so none of them can be compared.

Nope. Transunion (provided free by Credit Karma) use 710, Equifax (free through Clearscore) use 700, Experian (free through MSE Credit Club) use 999.

For those that don't believe these companies are using their score to get you to pay for their service, here's what Equifax have to say about scoring:

Equifax wrote:

Credit scores generally range from 300 to 850

Equifax wrote:

Although ranges vary depending on the credit scoring model, credit scores from 580 to 669 are generally considered fair; 670 to 739 are considered good; 740 to 799 are considered very good; and 800 and up are considered excellent.

So the advice on their website is that you need 740+ to be considered very good, yet the maximum score they will actually give you is 700. They also say this:

Equifax wrote:

Those with credit scores from 580 to 669 are seen as “subprime borrowers,” meaning they may find it more difficult to qualify for better loan terms. Those with lower scores – under 580 – fall into the “poor” credit range and may have difficulty getting credit or qualifying for better loan terms.

Clearscore claim the average score in the country is only 414, so apparently the vast majority of the country are not even subprime using Equifax's own scoring model! Nowhere on the page I linked does it say that Equifax will score you a maximum of 700. In my opinion, that is deliberately misleading and bordering on dishonesty.

I'd say that's fairly objective evidence that your score is (mostly) no more than a tool to get you to buy stuff. I challenge anyone on here to provide evidence that it's possible to score 710 through Transunion or 700 through Equifax. I don't believe it ever happens. It is, however, possible to be scored 999 by Experian.

[Deleted User]

spikyone wrote: »

Nope. Transunion (provided free by Credit Karma) use 710, Equifax (free through Clearscore) use 700, Experian (free through MSE Credit Club) use 999.

For those that don't believe these companies are using their score to get you to pay for their service, here's what Equifax have to say about scoring:





So the advice on their website is that you need 740+ to be considered very good, yet the maximum score they will actually give you is 700. They also say this:



Clearscore claim the average score in the country is only 414, so apparently the vast majority of the country are not even subprime using Equifax's own scoring model! Nowhere on the page I linked does it say that Equifax will score you a maximum of 700. In my opinion, that is deliberately misleading and bordering on dishonesty.

I'd say that's fairly objective evidence that your score is (mostly) no more than a tool to get you to buy stuff. I challenge anyone on here to provide evidence that it's possible to score 710 through Transunion or 700 through Equifax. I don't believe it ever happens. It is, however, possible to be scored 999 by Experian.

People do get the"higher scores".

But as you already pointed out, it's complete twaddle

TurningANewLeaf

spikyone wrote: »

Clearscore claim the average score in the country is only 414, so apparently the vast majority of the country are not even subprime using Equifax's own scoring model! Nowhere on the page I linked does it say that Equifax will score you a maximum of 700. In my opinion, that is deliberately misleading and bordering on dishonesty.

Can't stand Equifax. Got a free trial with them, but for some reason they weren't showing me as registered on the electoral roll. So, I rang them up, they said they'd investigate, might take up to 10 days. Fine I thought. Rang them up 10 days later, they couldn't find me on the electoral roll, in fact they said I wasn't on it. I said "I bloody am, Experian have had no problem finding me on there". So they said can you get your electoral roll registration number (or reference number I can't remember). So I was like fine, I'll see if I can find out.



Rang up the council, they gave it to me, I gave it to Equifax, they said it will take up to another 10 days to investigate. I was like "fine" thinking that would be it.



Rang them up 10 days later, they said they still couldn't find me and could I get the council to post me proof I'm on the electoral roll then upload it via the help centre thing. I was like "why the hell didn't you ask me to do this in the first place, my free trial is almost up now, and what's more I can't even access your help centre, as it is saying my username/pw is incorrect despite me being able to log into the rest of their site". I told them your company is more of a mess than my credit report, your website doesn't look like it's been updated since the 1960s, and why ANYONE would trust you with provide credit histories is beyond me!



Well eventually it got sorted after the council posted me proof and I uploaded it onto their, but I ended up having to pay £7.95 as my free trial expired, and I was worried if I cancelled then I lose my line of communication with them and I might never get this sorted.


Absolute trash, boycott Equifax!!


Oh yeah, and my score hasn't shifted in months according to clearscore, despite me now showing as being registered on the electoral roll and making various other improvements. Yet my score on Experian and other sites is sky rocketing like you wouldn't believe! Okay, people will say your score doesn't matter, but I like to see progress... I mean I think someone at Equifax has pressed the freeze button on my score as punishment for being a little blunt with them.

[Deleted User]

If you want score progress make yourself bankrupt.

You’ll get top scores in all the CRA’s.

mwarby

boo_star wrote: »

At the risk of just parroting other posters it is incorrect that scores are NEVER used. Small companies such as estate agents can't really justify creating their own algorithms so may well use the CRA scores.

But generally speaking financial institutions and larger companies that may credit check you don't give two fudges about what a CRA thinks of you, they score you themselves.

Sure the agencies may provide a score to say estate agents, but the rules are if you don't share your info you don't get to see other financial institutions data (Google for Principles of reciprocity). So the score shown is likely to be a score calculated.by say Experian using only a small subset of the data they have.

Ben8282

!!! wrote: »

If you want score progress make yourself bankrupt.

You’ll get top scores in all the CRA’s.

You do seem obsessed by this anomaly. Out of curiosity, do you actually have proof of this or is it just an often repeated on this forum old wives tale?

Willing2Learn

Have a look at this post Ben...

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=75789213&postcount=9
(the 5th link down is just a classic post)

[Deleted User]

Ben8282 wrote: »

You do seem obsessed by this anomaly. Out of curiosity, do you actually have proof of this or is it just an often repeated on this forum old wives tale?

I’ve seen it before and not just on here