Why does my credit score keep dropping?

Golden_Glow90

I need a get a new car, selling my old one won't give me enough to buy a new car (I have 2 young children with big carseats so most cars under £5000 are either not big enough or they're very old and may be more likely to have problems) so I'd need to get finance.  Problem is, my credit score is dropping and I don't know why.  I have recently moved house but since moving my credit score has gone from around 800, to 600 and now less than 500!  I haven't taken out any new credit, I haven't got any missed payments, the last hard credit search was from my mortgage lender before we moved.  I did a soft search with the bank to see if I could get a loan to buy a new car but that was rejected.  The only thing I can't check is if I'm on the electoral register.  I put myself on and was told that our area was then updated the beginning of September so I should be on it but I have no idea how I can check this and if I am on it then I don't know why my credit is getting so bad and I'm worried that I won't be able to buy a new car. Any advice?  

sourcrates

Any advice......yes, apologies, but this has been asked in various ways 1000 times on this board, ignore the silly score, its meaningless, and only you see it.

Check your credit history, it`s likely there may be late or missed payments, do you have any defaults? old insolvencies, could be you have a thin file, not much credit history, it could be one or more of 100 different things, all you can do is check your 3 main credit files, and see what information there is there about you.

Credit karma can be accessed online for free, Experian and Equifax you can request a free statutory credit report.

The "score" you see rises and falls with any minor/major change, it`s never used in lending decisions, creditors use their own, secret scoring system, the public are not privy too.

Dobbibill

Your score is purely the interpretation of how the CRAs view you - they don't do any lending so a pretty pointless view. 

When you move property, it will take a little while for everything to catch up - the change of address on your bank account(s), mobile phone, utility bills and anything else that reports to the CRAs. Check to see if the electoral register is up to date yet on your files. Check your credit file with all 3 CRAs, not just one and make sure every entry is accurate.  

MalMonroe

Hi, as sourcrates says above, the credit score means nothing BUT you say you have recently moved house and that really can affect your credit reports. You seem to have done all the right things, putting yourself on the electoral register, etc., but it may be a couple of months or so before things settle down. 

There's info here -

https://help.creditclub.com/hc/en-us/articles/115015605327-Why-has-my-Experian-Credit-Score-dropped-since-moving-house-

and although it's from this very site and focuses on credit scores, as we know, nobody but you ever gets to see them. 

If you live in England, Scotland or Wales you can check if you are on the electoral register by clicking the following link to -

contact your Electoral Registration Office 

You can also get free credit reports from Experian, Equifax and TransUnion - just to find out what information they hold about you so you can get it corrected if it's wrong.

More info here, from this very site again -

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/check-free-credit-report/

I hope that's helpful, all the best. 

Golden_Glow90

Thank you. I’m just a bit worried about being declined finance since we really need a new car. I am getting 100% preapproved loans come up on comparison sites but my banks are offering me no personal loans (not sure if this is just because of the state of things at the moment but they used to always pester me with personal loans)

asingledad

I found that Transunion had me (wrongly) down as not on the electoral roll for an year after I moved. Was fairly easy to sort out - sent them a correction on their website.