Equifax argh! No record of my council tax, b'band, gas, elec and water.

4strings

Has anyone else suffered absolute frustration when trying to deal with Equifax?
The story - Applied for a new mobile phone contract with Virgin and was turned down, which was a shock. They told me to contact Equifax, who they use for their credit checking. This I did. I signed up for an account and was shocked to see I had a score of 600. I had a look through the summary and there were a number of errors.

No note of my previous address (I moved 4 years ago) even though it appeared as an address for my previous gas/elec supplier. (Now solved)
Incorrect address for current mobile supplier. (Now solved)
A financial associate. (My sis following probate for my deceased parents). (Now solved)
No note of my current credit agreements for my council tax, gas/elec, broadband or water supply.

It does show my two credit cards at my correct current address.

I have had to jump through hoops to get them to correct the first three issues (including a ridiculous auto response that could not be completed) but now they just keep saying I need to talk to the companies of the missing credit agreements and make sure my details are available. I don't see that this should be my job. I have supplied Equifax with current statements for the four companies but apparently they are not interested. Also they have my bank details so could check the utilities are regular monthly payments.

Is there a way to solve this?
Oh, I later remembered I have an Experian account which I checked, and unless I read it wrong I have a score of 999.

Help!
Thanks. Mark

MorningcoffeeIV

Fear not.  The scores are made up nonsense and the CRAs only report accounts which report to them. 

So stop them sending them statements, put up your Christmas tree, pour yourself a glass of egg-nog and relax.

TadleyBaggie

I’ve never had council tax reported to a CRA, might be just my council. Other utilities may or not report, it is not a cause for concern, and does not affect the fictitious credit score number. 

Ebe_Scrooge

As above, ignore your score.  It's not used, nor even seen, by any lender.

Also, I do hope you're not paying to access your credit reports?  All 3 are available for free.

That aside, bear in mind that not all lenders report to all 3 agencies, so it may simply be that your utility providers don't send data to Equifax.

But since Virgin told you they use Equifax, that's the one to check in this particular query.  The inconsistent addresses were likely the culprit, so since you've got those corrected you should be good to go.  If your utility companies don't report in to Equifax, there's not a lot you can do about that (remember, the CRAs only report on data supplied to them by lenders, they can't "make up" data).

It's always a good idea anyway to check all 3 of your credit files periodically anyway (no need to pay, you can get them all for free: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/check-free-credit-report/ )

Ignore the scores, also ignore any waffle about "affordability" or "credit utilisation".  But just check that the underlying data is factually correct (with, as mentioned, the proviso that not all companies will report to all 3 CRAs).

cymruchris

4strings said:

I had a look through the summary and there were a number of errors. It's recommended you check your files regularly and update anything that's out of place.


Incorrect address for current mobile supplier. (Now solved) Had you not updated it? Or had the mobile company recorded it incorrectly? Either way, a quick call to the mobile supplier updating it would have trickled through to the credit report in a month or two.
A financial associate. (My sis following probate for my deceased parents). (Now solved) Factually was correct - there was a financial link as you opened a jointly named account - but easily corrected as you have no ongoing financial relationship.
No note of my current credit agreements for my council tax, gas/elec, broadband or water supply. Not all utilities will show on a credit report, and not all utility providers report to all credit reference agencies. I've never seen council tax on a credit report, or a broadband provider, and only some gas/electricity and water companies report. So it's not unusual to not have these showing. 

It does show my two credit cards at my correct current address.

I have had to jump through hoops to get them to correct the first three issues (including a ridiculous auto response that could not be completed) but now they just keep saying I need to talk to the companies of the missing credit agreements and make sure my details are available. I don't see that this should be my job. I have supplied Equifax with current statements for the four companies but apparently they are not interested. Also they have my bank details so could check the utilities are regular monthly payments.

Is there a way to solve this?
Oh, I later remembered I have an Experian account which I checked, and unless I read it wrong I have a score of 999. The score means nothing as only you see it - see the sticky post at the beginning of the thread for more details.

Help!
Thanks. Mark

I've added a few responses to the above. And it can take a while to get changes implemented, as data exchanges between companies and the credit reference agencies aren't instant in many cases. So as you're putting it all straight, be patient  

sleepyjones

I think the main thing regarding the council is to make sure you're on the Electoral Roll for your current address.
Council Tax payments don't get recorded (Some energy suppliers don't update either, Bulb being the one I use that doesn't record (unless maybe you miss payments)).

4strings

Thanks everyone for your input. I feel a fair bit less stressed now.

I think I have ticked all the boxes I can to ensure my data is clean and up to date and now understand that the scores really mean little. The system does seem a bit of a nonsense to me.

cymruchris

4strings said:

Thanks everyone for your input. I feel a fair bit less stressed now.

I think I have ticked all the boxes I can to ensure my data is clean and up to date and now understand that the scores really mean little. The system does seem a bit of a nonsense to me.

It's good that you've gotten everything in order though - it's only a panic if you're applying for a mortgage and you decide to make sure the data is all right the day before you put your application in, and then realise it takes a few weeks to get any corrections updated. I'm sure you'll keep a close eye on your files ongoing to make sure everything stays accurate  

Ebe_Scrooge

4strings said:

The system does seem a bit of a nonsense to me.

What you need to remember is that the Credit Reference Agencies do provide a valuable service to lenders, by collating all relevant data about your credit history and circumstances.  They make their living by selling this data to lenders.

In America, the score issued by the CRAs is used by a lender (worth bearing in mind if you're ever searching for information and end up on an American financial advice website without realising it), and I'm sure they would love the same thing to happen over here.  But as it stands, a lender looks purely at the data contained in your file, they churn it through their systems, and they generate their own internal score - which no-one is privvy to.

Meanwhile, the CRAs are feeling a bit miffed, so make up all sorts of nonsense to try and get the general public to sign up to nonsensical schemes to boost their score.  You can't blame them, I suppose - they're a business, pure and simple, so anything to bring in a bit of extra revenue is a good thing.

So yes, their relationship with lenders is based on a perfectly valid business model.  But their relationship with Joe Public is somewhat flawed.  All you need to do is make sure that all the data they hold on you is factually correct, end of story.  You can pretty much ignore anything else they try and tell you or sell you.