Credit Karma

Andrew30000

Hi I'm not sure where is best to post this. Or if I should email MSE directly. But I was wondering why they recommended this company given their poor reviews on their Facebook page. My experience is they send out alerts for credit searches that they are responsible for creating themselves. It's alarming if a search with your details comes up but it wasn't you. How are they a recommendation? Maybe I should known better with such a stupid company name

CliveOfIndia

They are just a front-end to give you free access to your TransUnion data.  I suspect the searches you're seeing are just soft searches - if that's the case then there's no need to be alarmed, as a soft search is only seen by you.

All of the CRAs get something of a bad rap, and with some merit - they do have a habit of trying to sell you stuff you don't need, often by making reference to your credit score or their view of your credit-worthiness, neither of which mean anything.

But in terms of giving you free access to your credit data and history, which is what really matters, they can be pretty useful - just as long as you filter out the guff and concentrate on verifying the raw data, which is what really matters.

Nasqueron

Turn off the alerts 

I assume Experian felt they weren't getting value from MSE or wanted to increase the charges so MSE have chosen to take the business decision to move. I assume Experian will create some front end like Credit Club/Credit Karma/Clear Score else they won't get the business from people who buy into their nonsense improvement "service" as it'll be moved to TransUnion

Andrew30000

Nasqueron said:

Turn off the alerts 

I assume Experian felt they weren't getting value from MSE or wanted to increase the charges so MSE have chosen to take the business decision to move. I assume Experian will create some front end like Credit Club/Credit Karma/Clear Score else they won't get the business from people who buy into their nonsense improvement "service" as it'll be moved to TransUnion

CliveOfIndia said:

They are just a front-end to give you free access to your TransUnion data.  I suspect the searches you're seeing are just soft searches - if that's the case then there's no need to be alarmed, as a soft search is only seen by you.

All of the CRAs get something of a bad rap, and with some merit - they do have a habit of trying to sell you stuff you don't need, often by making reference to your credit score or their view of your credit-worthiness, neither of which mean anything.

But in terms of giving you free access to your credit data and history, which is what really matters, they can be pretty useful - just as long as you filter out the guff and concentrate on verifying the raw data, which is what really matters.

I know it's not going to affect anything I just was worried someone had applied for credit or used a comparison site using my details. I'm not worried now I know but I think they should tell you this when you sign up.

Nasqueron I've deleted my account.

CliveOfIndia

Andrew30000 said:

I just was worried someone had applied for credit or used a comparison site using my details.

Any credit application would have resulted in a hard search - if you see an unexpected hard search then yes, you're right to be suspicious.

Soft searches are done for all sorts of reasons.  Sometimes it's just an identity check, sometimes insurers will run a soft search at renewal time before they send out the letter with their renewal offer.

If you've ever done a price comparison for anything, a lot of insurers/service providers will do a soft search prior to sending an "invitation" letter - "Is your insurance/broadband/whatever up for renewal soon?  Try us, we'll give you a great price".

Soft searches are nothing at all to be worried about, really.

Andrew30000 said:

Nasqueron I've deleted my account.

It's entirely up to you, of course.  But it's handy to have access to all 3 of your credit records, purely to keep an eye on things, make sure there's nothing unexpected on there, and to check that the data they hold on you is correct.  Yes, you have to wade through a lot of meaningless waffle, but it's pretty important to make sure the actual data is correct.  Not all lenders report to, or consult, all three CRAs, so you need to keep an eye on all 3.

<"Lender" can mean anyone who is effectively giving you a loan.  Loans, credit cards, car finance are obvious.  But it also includes things like mobile phone contract, broadband and utility providers, as well as any insurance that you pay monthly rather than in an annual lump sum>

Nasqueron

I get email alerts for hard searches from Clear Score/Credit Karma which are enough for me, only stuff I apply for ever shows up normally but it's useful to have