Do personal information details such as a minor name change affect credit ratings?

DismayedOfUK

I'm finding myself in an absolutely bonkers situation. 
I had a text from my mobile provider saying that some discount of which I was previously unaware was going to expire in June.  Our phones are out of contract and getting a bit slow etc so I thought we'd upgrade them because new phones would be cheaper after this discount is removed.  I went online and signed up with a new provider and got an email a couple of hours later saying I'd failed the credit check and to go online and look at it.  So I went online and looked at Experian and saw my rating's 999 out of 999.  So I thought I'd sign up to a new phone with the same provider that I'm with instead. It too  was rejected on credit rating grounds and I can't think why.  The only thing I can think of that has changed is that, for boring reasons, we dropped the hyphen from our double-barreled family name a year or so ago.  Could this affect my score? If so, how do I change it?  Also, the first line of our address sometimes appears differently depending on where it's looked up and we don't know why.  Can this affect things?  Everything else seems OK.  
But the silly thing now is that I can't get a cheaper deal with the same provider because they don't think I'm credit worthy enough so they're going to put the amount I pay UP!   Not only that but, and I admit I'm no expert in this, I seem to only be able to see details with Experian if I pay them £14.99 a month which seems criminal really.
Can anyone advise me on here?  I'm really niggled by all of this.  

[Deleted User]

Your score isn't anything to do with your credit worthiness.  It's the financial equivalent of your horoscope.  Fun if you like that sort of thing, but ultimately pointless.

Check the details of your three credit files carefully to see what appears.  No need to pay anyone £14.99 a month unless you are, indeed, absolutely bonkers.  Just do it for free via MSE Credit Club, Clearscore and Credit Karma.

sourcrates

A score of 999 can be achieved by most bankrupts, so i would not put much creadence in the "score".

Do you have any late payments, defaults, insolvencies, cifas markers, are you on the electoral role ? have you moved address a lot ? any of these can affect your ability to obtain credit.

You can also obtain a statutory report from each of the three main credit reference agencies for free, just look for "statutory report".

DismayedOfUK

Thanks both
I've signed up with Clearscore so will see what they come up with.  Don't have any of the late payments, defaults, insolvencies etc that you mention so it'll be interesting to find out.  

D3xt3r5L4b

Come up with and find out what?

sassy_one

You don't have a credit score, so no it won't affect it.

Name changes however shouldn't prevent you getting credit, just be sure to update it with the ER.

mcraig1

'Also, the first line of our address sometimes appears differently depending on where it's looked up and we don't know why'.

I'm guessing this is where your problem could be. I moved house over Christmas and dutifully switched over my address with mobile phone provider, utility companies, bank, etc. Everything went fine. I tried to change my bank account and was rejected (excellent credit score, on the electoral roll, no historic accounts). 
Long story short - Experian had a slightly different first line of address on file, different to the one used by the Royal Mail and literally everyone else. Therefore, because the addresses aren't *exactly* the same, I would be rejected automatically. I had to submit three complaints before they fixed their error, but it looks like it's resolved now. So check the address Experian hold for you (as that's the one most will check), and tell them to record your addresses in both formats. Good luck! 

Malkytheheed

Your credit score is known as "an educational score". 
It is just a rough estimate and shouldn't be taken at face value. Don't worry about it changing little bits here and there. Look at the data on your files 

DCFC79

Nope the name wont be the issue, pretty sure its the address. How does RM see the address as that is what matters ?
Its been covered on here before with addresses being reported differently with the reference agencies compared to what RM have it down as. 

SlovakianGuy

DismayedOfUK said:

Thanks both
I've signed up with Clearscore so will see what they come up with. 

 
You should sign up to all three websites menioned above as each of them shows you a different credit report. One from Experian, another from Equifax and from TransUnion.