Correcting Information Supplied by Nationwide Building Society.

PRAISETHESUN

I would tend to agree with the above posters that the aliases are not likely to be the only cause of the issues you are facing. Their justification of "as a direct result of information contained in my credit report from Experian" just means they used your Experian data to assess your creditworthiness against their internal scoring criteria. It's nothing personal, just a business decision on their part - as an example, perhaps they decided they are looking for customers who they can cross-sell mortgages to and upon checking your credit file they see you already have a mortgage. Just because you have a good credit history in general (repayments on time, not going over limits, etc) and meet the published criteria doesn't mean they are obliged to accept you as a customer as there will be other unpublished criteria you are also being assessed against. Those criteria are commercially sensitive so you won't be told what they are or ifyou failed because of them.

I would definitely pursue Nationwide to get your incorrect data amended though. You'll likely need to submit a written formal complaint to get it sorted. I agree to avoid the notice of correction where possible. Just a heads up that if you make a dispute with Equifax they automatically put one on your file, so as a part of your dispute include that you don't want the notice of correction so they deal with it as a part of your complaint, rather than as an extra thing a month or two later.

reliquit

Looking back through the thread, I realise that I have not been clear about why I am so convinced that the aliases are the problem. I understand that aliases per se are not necessarily a barrier - but in my case I have some knowledge of the person (Mrs L....... W.......) that the alias connects me to. About two years ago I had a Notice of Disconnection from British Gas alleging unpaid bills, which came as a big surprise to me as I pay my gas by direct debit. Several phonecalls later I was able to establish that British Gas also thought that I was Mrs L......W......., despite the fact that I had had an account with British Gas at my current address for about 15 years, and the alias person lived (then) several streets away. I receive letters every few weeks addressed to Mrs L...... W......, which I always return to sender with an appropriate note. I have also (a few years ago) been visited by someone who was clearly a debt collector seeking this person.

I check all three CRA files about twice a year, and I have never had alias information before, but clearly there are some companies out there who are still pursuing this person. That's why I think it was such a big red flag to the Co-op.

ThisnotThat

reliquit said:

Looking back through the thread, I realise that I have not been clear about why I am so convinced that the aliases are the problem. I understand that aliases per se are not necessarily a barrier - but in my case I have some knowledge of the person (Mrs L....... W.......) that the alias connects me to. About two years ago I had a Notice of Disconnection from British Gas alleging unpaid bills, which came as a big surprise to me as I pay my gas by direct debit. Several phonecalls later I was able to establish that British Gas also thought that I was Mrs L......W......., despite the fact that I had had an account with British Gas at my current address for about 15 years, and the alias person lived (then) several streets away. I receive letters every few weeks addressed to Mrs L...... W......, which I always return to sender with an appropriate note. I have also (a few years ago) been visited by someone who was clearly a debt collector seeking this person.

I check all three CRA files about twice a year, and I have never had alias information before, but clearly there are some companies out there who are still pursuing this person. That's why I think it was such a big red flag to the Co-op.

Again, it's not a red flag at all to the Co-op.  Nor does BG erroneously sending you someone else's bill have anything to do with it.

Either there's something else on there that you're overlooking or you don't fit their lending criteria at the moment.  That might change in 6 months, it might not.  But if you're accepted or declined when you reapply I can assure you it has nothing to do with aliases.

reliquit

UPDATE: I raised a complaint with Nationwide, and they agreed to remove the alias information from Experian. After obtaining a new copy of my statutory credit report to confirm that the information had in fact gone, I wrote to Co-op and asked them to reconsider my application in the light of the corrected report. I am pleased to say that yesterday I had a letter from them confirming that my application for a 3-year fixed rate credit card had been accepted.

I take the point that alias information may not be considered adverse in all circumstances, but I think my experience shows that it would be a mistake to assume that it is NEVER considered adverse. I understand that there are many valid reasons (maiden name, previous married name, etc) for an alias to exist - but in my case the insinuation that I was using two personas (the correct one a 70-year-old male, and the "false" one a 42-year-old female) to simultaneously apply for credit must sound a warning somewhere.

Anyway. All's well that ends well. I have a credit card at 8.9% for three years for purchases and balance transfers (which means purchases in my case as I don't have any balances to transfer) and 18.3% thereafter. Rather better than the 39.9% of my previous card!