CRA dont have info on me.

Boohoo

Hello.

My brother is going to apply for a credit card in a months time and we were chatting about this and i said check your credit files before he applies for one.
He said he did an elegability check and there were a few that were 95% likely to be approved but he knows that doesn't mean you will get one.
He tried Clearscore and Creditkarma but they both come back as having no info/data on him so he could not go any further with the registration.
I went to house and we tried MSE credit club but that came back as the same result.
We tried Experian and it said the same and we had to answer a few more ? like did or did not take out loans,credit or mobile contracts on a certain date and he failed that part so we tried again and the we got to his bank details where he had to give 2 digits from his sort code and 6 fromm account number but that came back failed.  We inputed them again(same details as before) and it said he had to send proof of his passport and a photo of him holding the passport which we did send.

He has lived in rented home for 10 years and is on the ER, worked at the same firm for 20 years and has had a Lloyds bank account for over 15 years.

He has had 2 credit card in the past but stopped them 5 years ago an he did have mobile contracts for over 10 years but he went over to Smarty in November when his 2 year contract ended o he has had credit.

Is there something seriously wrong that he cant get his credit reports or register with any of them or does this thing happen all the time?

[Deleted User]

It's easily possible to have little or no credit history - if you have not had a credit card in the last 6 years (a 5 year old closed account should still be on whichever agency/agencies the lenders report to, so maybe it was more than that?) then it's quite possible to have nothing. I would suggest asking Lloyds first, if he's had an account for 15 years, at least they can see his earnings etc. If they won't do it, then try someone like Vanquis or Capital One - try the eligibility checker on their site, not the third party ones. Ignore the rate as he'll be paying back in full every month (right?) and thus never pay any interest.

Boohoo

Deleted_User said:

It's easily possible to have little or no credit history - if you have not had a credit card in the last 6 years (a 5 year old closed account should still be on whichever agency/agencies the lenders report to, so maybe it was more than that?) then it's quite possible to have nothing. I would suggest asking Lloyds first, if he's had an account for 15 years, at least they can see his earnings etc. If they won't do it, then try someone like Vanquis or Capital One - try the eligibility checker on their site, not the third party ones. Ignore the rate as he'll be paying back in full every month (right?) and thus never pay any interest.

He tried Lloyds credit card checker today while he was logged in to his online account and that came back as a no.

Nebulous2

What you're saying isn't surprising. CRAs need to make sure it is you before letting you sign up. You would be very unhappy if they let others sign up to get your credit details. 

They identify you online by asking personal questions about financial products. The only way I can answer these is by having another window open with a credit report logged in to check the details.

If you fail that you need to send them documents. 

Wait until the ID process has worked then try again to apply, possibly for a sub-prime card. 

PRAISETHESUN

Sounds like a problem with a thin/empty credit file. I had a similar issue when I moved to the UK. Your accounts only stay on your files for 6 years, so it's very possibly the older, closed account are no longer being reported, effectively making you have to restart from scratch.

First thing is to contact the 3 CRAs directly (rather than using third party services like Clearscore) - Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. Request copies of your "statutory credit report" from each. If/when they can't provide you with a copy, they should then investigate further - this usually involves them asking for ID documents, which once provided should provide access to your files.

Next thing is to then start (re)building your credit file. Make sure you are on the ER and ask your bank to report your accounts if they are not already doing so. Then you'll want to look into a credit card of some sort - try either your bank, a provider you've used in the past, or failing that a sub-prime provider. Use eligibility checkers before you apply for anything. If declined, wait a few months and try again. Once successful, use it to buy things you'd normally buy on your debit card (eg. fuel, groceries, etc) and pay off the balance IN FULL each month.

[Deleted User]

PRAISETHESUN said:

Sounds like a problem with a thin/empty credit file. I had a similar issue when I moved to the UK. Your accounts only stay on your files for 6 years, so it's very possibly the older, closed account are no longer being reported, effectively making you have to restart from scratch.

First thing is to contact the 3 CRAs directly (rather than using third party services like Clearscore) - Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. Request copies of your "statutory credit report" from each. If/when they can't provide you with a copy, they should then investigate further - this usually involves them asking for ID documents, which once provided should provide access to your files.

Next thing is to then start (re)building your credit file. Make sure you are on the ER and ask your bank to report your accounts if they are not already doing so. Then you'll want to look into a credit card of some sort - try either your bank, a provider you've used in the past, or failing that a sub-prime provider. Use eligibility checkers before you apply for anything. If declined, wait a few months and try again. Once successful, use it to buy things you'd normally buy on your debit card (eg. fuel, groceries, etc) and pay off the balance IN FULL each month.

Clear Score, Credit Karma are both free front ends run by Equifax and TransUnion themselves, they're not like the MSE Credit Club and Experian

You can't "ask your bank to report your accounts", they either do or they don't, that is a policy for them, you can't tell them to do it

[Deleted User]

Boohoo said:

Hello.

My brother is going to apply for a credit card in a months time and we were chatting about this and i said check your credit files before he applies for one.
He said he did an elegability check and there were a few that were 95% likely to be approved but he knows that doesn't mean you will get one.
He tried Clearscore and Creditkarma but they both come back as having no info/data on him so he could not go any further with the registration.
I went to house and we tried MSE credit club but that came back as the same result.
We tried Experian and it said the same and we had to answer a few more ? like did or did not take out loans,credit or mobile contracts on a certain date and he failed that part so we tried again and the we got to his bank details where he had to give 2 digits from his sort code and 6 fromm account number but that came back failed.  We inputed them again(same details as before) and it said he had to send proof of his passport and a photo of him holding the passport which we did send.

He has lived in rented home for 10 years and is on the ER, worked at the same firm for 20 years and has had a Lloyds bank account for over 15 years.

He has had 2 credit card in the past but stopped them 5 years ago an he did have mobile contracts for over 10 years but he went over to Smarty in November when his 2 year contract ended o he has had credit.

Is there something seriously wrong that he cant get his credit reports or register with any of them or does this thing happen all the time?

Is this protocol now ?
I've not heard of this before.

Boohoo

[Deleted User] said:

Boohoo said:

Hello.

My brother is going to apply for a credit card in a months time and we were chatting about this and i said check your credit files before he applies for one.
He said he did an elegability check and there were a few that were 95% likely to be approved but he knows that doesn't mean you will get one.
He tried Clearscore and Creditkarma but they both come back as having no info/data on him so he could not go any further with the registration.
I went to house and we tried MSE credit club but that came back as the same result.
We tried Experian and it said the same and we had to answer a few more ? like did or did not take out loans,credit or mobile contracts on a certain date and he failed that part so we tried again and the we got to his bank details where he had to give 2 digits from his sort code and 6 fromm account number but that came back failed.  We inputed them again(same details as before) and it said he had to send proof of his passport and a photo of him holding the passport which we did send.

He has lived in rented home for 10 years and is on the ER, worked at the same firm for 20 years and has had a Lloyds bank account for over 15 years.

He has had 2 credit card in the past but stopped them 5 years ago an he did have mobile contracts for over 10 years but he went over to Smarty in November when his 2 year contract ended o he has had credit.

Is there something seriously wrong that he cant get his credit reports or register with any of them or does this thing happen all the time?

Is this protocol now ?
I've not heard of this before.

He got a email from Experian saying his documents were approved and his account was ready for him to see.
Later that day we checked it and there was very little info on it.
For payment history there was all upto date with no missed payment till July 2021 and the rest were down as not reported.
His bank account was down as reporting to them and there was no history of his old credit card of his last 3 mobile contracts which the last one ended November when he went over to Smarty.

He applied for a Vanquis credit card on Sunday and he got a sms/email saying he has been accepted for a £500 limit and to text ACCEPT to get the card and he did.

I told him to use it for small purchases and then pay the balance off IN FULL every month and keep checking his credit file every month to see if it has been reported on there.

PRAISETHESUN

Deleted_User said:

PRAISETHESUN said:

Sounds like a problem with a thin/empty credit file. I had a similar issue when I moved to the UK. Your accounts only stay on your files for 6 years, so it's very possibly the older, closed account are no longer being reported, effectively making you have to restart from scratch.

First thing is to contact the 3 CRAs directly (rather than using third party services like Clearscore) - Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. Request copies of your "statutory credit report" from each. If/when they can't provide you with a copy, they should then investigate further - this usually involves them asking for ID documents, which once provided should provide access to your files.

Next thing is to then start (re)building your credit file. Make sure you are on the ER and ask your bank to report your accounts if they are not already doing so. Then you'll want to look into a credit card of some sort - try either your bank, a provider you've used in the past, or failing that a sub-prime provider. Use eligibility checkers before you apply for anything. If declined, wait a few months and try again. Once successful, use it to buy things you'd normally buy on your debit card (eg. fuel, groceries, etc) and pay off the balance IN FULL each month.

Clear Score, Credit Karma are both free front ends run by Equifax and TransUnion themselves, they're not like the MSE Credit Club and Experian

You can't "ask your bank to report your accounts", they either do or they don't, that is a policy for them, you can't tell them to do it

I personally would still recommend requesting statutory reports directly from the CRAs as a starting point, rather then adding on an extra step to talk to them via the free services you mention, to make it clear OP is formally requesting their data under GDPR. One less potential step for something to go wrong/their request to be misinterpreted. Clearscore/ Credit Karma are fine to use to monitor your files moving forward once access has been granted.

My point about asking the banks was in case they have an old account that pre-dates reporting - I recall reading some old threads somewhere where people had to specifically opt in to have their accounts reported to the CRAs. I otherwise agree that if the banks don't want to report to the CRAs for whatever reason then they won't, and you can't force them.

PRAISETHESUN

[Deleted User] said:

Boohoo said:

Hello.

My brother is going to apply for a credit card in a months time and we were chatting about this and i said check your credit files before he applies for one.
He said he did an elegability check and there were a few that were 95% likely to be approved but he knows that doesn't mean you will get one.
He tried Clearscore and Creditkarma but they both come back as having no info/data on him so he could not go any further with the registration.
I went to house and we tried MSE credit club but that came back as the same result.
We tried Experian and it said the same and we had to answer a few more ? like did or did not take out loans,credit or mobile contracts on a certain date and he failed that part so we tried again and the we got to his bank details where he had to give 2 digits from his sort code and 6 fromm account number but that came back failed.  We inputed them again(same details as before) and it said he had to send proof of his passport and a photo of him holding the passport which we did send.

He has lived in rented home for 10 years and is on the ER, worked at the same firm for 20 years and has had a Lloyds bank account for over 15 years.

He has had 2 credit card in the past but stopped them 5 years ago an he did have mobile contracts for over 10 years but he went over to Smarty in November when his 2 year contract ended o he has had credit.

Is there something seriously wrong that he cant get his credit reports or register with any of them or does this thing happen all the time?

Is this protocol now ?
I've not heard of this before.

This is fairly common for online banks (Monzo Starling, etc) where they take a video of you holding up your ID document, and use facial recognition to match the two. Not seen it used for the CRAs yet, but it makes sense if they are asking for it.