Wrong Information on Credit File

fortgrange

I’m sure this has been done to death but checking my file today noticed 2 out of 5 credit card accounts were wrong.

The 3 correct accounts are all zero balances and haven’t been used for months if not years so they should be correct.

The M&S card which is used for food and cleared monthly is lagging behind, not alarmingly but not correct.

The MBNA card is all over the place. I use this for my self employed business costs. Varies month to month but again cleared. Current balance on clearscore is £250, which is too low but there’s a note saying it’s going up to £1200 when my file updates in a day or 2. It’s never had a balance that high!!

Concerned I jumped on the MBNA app to check I hadn’t been scammed, my statement and transactions were spot on. £600 usage this month which will be cleared on 4th Feb.

Generally I wouldn’t be concerned but having just applied for a small Mortgage I don’t want an incorrect report to jeopardise it. Utilisation is still below 15% with the wrong amounts so I don’t think it will be an issue.

Having been a bit lax checking my credit report on a regular basis in recent years, are they often so far out with their figures?

[Deleted User]

Your files will show whatever is reported by the lender - bear in mind the data you see is very out of date. I would disregard the £1200 prediction from Clearscore. Their commentary is rarely of any use. The hard data is all that matters.

In any case, as long as you're clearing in full, it doesn't really matter what balance is reported.

fortgrange

Thanks for the reply.

Am I right in thinking the Clearscore report is the least accurate, but also happens to be the only full report you can see for free, after any promotion periods end on the others.

Carrot007

fortgrange said:

Thanks for the reply.

Am I right in thinking the Clearscore report is the least accurate, but also happens to be the only full report you can see for free, after any promotion periods end on the others.

No, you can see all your reports for free. Mentioned on here many many many times.

penners324

Credit cards report the debt on the last day of the month. So it'll be the statement balance plus what you've spent up to that date

PRAISETHESUN

fortgrange said:

Thanks for the reply.

Am I right in thinking the Clearscore report is the least accurate, but also happens to be the only full report you can see for free, after any promotion periods end on the others.

You need to check the data for all 3 CRAs (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion) - not every lender reports to every CRA, so you won't get the complete picture unless you check all 3. You can check them all for free by either requesting a "statutory credit report" directly from the CRA under GDPR rules, or signing up for third party services which offer the same: Clearscore (Equifax), MSE Credit Club (Experian) and Credit Karma (TransUnion).

And as above, as long as you're paying off your card(s) in full then the reported balances/utilisation don't really matter. Lenders will see a history of repaying your debt on time, which one of the the main things they are looking for.