I thought 'credit score' was meaningless

dunstonh

mazzetti said:

Also as it happens  (I'm sure I'm in the minority) I'm quite a fan of the Daily Mail financial section including their 'this is money' podcast but I appreciate that it is probably far too basic for most people on here

Anyone who knows anything about financial services will tell you that the money mail gets so many things wrong in its reporting. Its not dissimilar to its overall reporting.   Most typically, the articles are often sponsored. So, match the tune of the sponsor.  Or simplified so much that errors creep in due to oversimplification or they get an idea in their head but completely go off in the wrong direction.
There is a saying in financial services  (and I have heard other occupations refer to it as well) to describe a person who thinks they know a subject by reading it in the papers and becomes closed minded because of it.  They are called Daily Mail readers.

daveyjp

The credit scores are nothing more than a marketing tool.  You get a good 'score' you get more offers for loans and credit cards.

jet01

The the article quoted in the OP was simply using the term ‘credit score’ how it is normally used in common parlance. This means someone whose credit is in good standing as evidenced by their actual credit files with the major agencies as ‘a good or excellent credit score.’ True the article does make reference to Experian’s scoring system, more to categorise the population by creditworthiness than anything else, but it did suggest people should use an eligibility checker to get a more accurate picture of individual circumstances and likelihood of being accepted for individual cards. To the man in the street having a good credit score simply means to have a good credit history. Most people are not thinking of specific scoring systems when they use this term I don’t think. 

Because Martin Lewis has in the past correctly pointed out the often meaningless nature of the credit score systems, people on here seem to feel honour bound to repeat this in a mantra like fashion every time the phrase credit score is used whatever the context, like good disciple’s of their messiah. It is also worth pointing out that as card companies don’t tell us how they score applicants then we can’t know for sure that they aren’t using Experian’s scoring system or something based on it, although the majority probably aren’t and simply use the raw data to run through their own algorithms. Nevertheless there is a theory that some companies, especially American owned ones, do use off the shelf scoring systems because this is how things are done by their parent companies and it’s easier for them to do the same here. I have no way of knowing if that is true or not. 

dunstonh

Because Martin Lewis has in the past correctly pointed out the often meaningless nature of the credit score systems, people on here seem to feel honour bound to repeat this in a mantra like fashion every time the phrase credit score is used whatever the context, like good disciple’s of their messiah.

I think you will find that the mortgage brokers on the site have been saying it far longer than Martin Lewis and it has nothing to do with a mantra.  It is an accurate statement.

 It is also worth pointing out that as card companies don’t tell us how they score applicants then we can’t know for sure that they aren’t using Experian’s scoring system or something based on it, although the majority probably aren’t and simply use the raw data to run through their own algorithms.

Experian do not provide their own score. I use the Experian system commercially and can confirm that. 

femalemonarchfemalecanine

Fingerbobs said:

Personally, I love watching my Experian credit score go up and down on that nice colourful gauge they show in their app. Contrary to the perceived wisdom on these forums, I don't think it's entirely without merit. An unexpected change to the score is a good indicator that something significant has changed on my credit file, prompting a more detailed examination. 

if it went from 700 to 10 then yes, might indicate something was afoot, but the 20 point shifts for no reason at all can be ignored

jazzyja

I recently paid off 3 large credit cards and mine keeps dropping. Because according to experian paying off debt is a bad thing. Clearscore say im a good girl though

Jfk1988

jazzyja said:

I recently paid off 3 large credit cards and mine keeps dropping. Because according to experian paying off debt is a bad thing. Clearscore say im a good girl though

"Your credit limit isn't high enough and it's affecting your score!" 

*opens new account to increase credit limit *

"You've opened too many accounts recently and it's affecting your score!"

msallen

jet01 said:

Because Martin Lewis has in the past correctly pointed out the often meaningless nature of the credit score systems, people on here seem to feel honour bound to repeat this in a mantra like fashion every time the phrase credit score is used whatever the context, like good disciple’s of their messiah.

You couldn't be more wrong. I think you'll find that most of the longer standing and more knowledgeable contributors to these boards have no particular love for Martin Lewis, or indeed the rest of the site outside of the forums. The only people liable to think of him as some sort of messiah are those who know so little about personal finance as to think that credit scores are meaningful.

eskbanker

"He's not the messiah, he's...."

A journalist.

Now go away!

adamp87

I’m very surprised we’ve never been able to have someone answer a Q&A or post on here whom has worked in a company dealing with applications that can explain the process a little better for people to understand.

We do have such mixed messages posted about I’d agree with that, which makes it more difficult for people. I think the best thing to understand is ignore the score as a worthiness of credit. If you have a sudden drop of points investigate just in case it’s an error on a payment or something.

But ensure all your bills are paid on time, you aren’t living off credit to survive, spending more than you can afford, get in the electoral roll and most peoples file will be fine.