Experian Report Reporting a Loan I don't have - Identity Theft?

thriftytracey

I signed up for the free version of Experian last week and the report was clear.

I had an email from them today to say "Your Experian Account has been updated"

I logged in to see the following:-



Stating I have a loan of £193  3 accounts and 2 credit cards.

I have checked the three bank accounts and two credit cards and there are no debits or pending transactions for this amount.

I have no loans of any description,  credit cards are zero, no mortgage, no car loan or any other loans.

I have searched online to see if I can find out how I can get more detail but all I get are various organisations charging a fee.

I am really worried, this could be a a first test by criminals.

I am very careful with documents, shred them.  I haven't given out my passport or driving licence details.  However, I have been the victim of a couple of data breaches by two well known, large organisations last year.  I am always careful with calls and emails.  I block every "suspected scam" call and immediately delete phishing or other suspicious emails without reading on them or clicking on any links.

Please can anyone advise?

CliveOfIndia

thriftytracey said:

I have no loans of any description, 

Do you pay for your car or house insurance (or any other form of insurance) monthly rather than in one lump sum?  If so, that might be it - when you pay monthly, the insurance company lends you the money which you repay in monthly instalments over the year.  That's why it's more expensive to pay monthly - you're paying interest on the loan.

Although many people don't think about it, it's a loan just like any other, and may be reported to the CRAs.

thriftytracey

CliveofIndia - the only change I have made since last week is to renew my car insurance with an existing provider.  This is an annual payment which isn't £193 and it is not being taken until 15th May.

I do have some monthly insurance premiums, for pet insurance, however these have been ongoing for many months.

I tried to contact Experian but it is hopeless trying to talk to a real person, and in any case, I expect they will say I have to sign up for their paid service. 

Nebulous2

Any mobile phone contracts? Some of them report the cost of the phone itself as a loan.

thriftytracey

Nebulous2 - no, no mobile phone contracts!

I have emailed Experian, but I expect they will want cash to provide more information 

CliveOfIndia

The screen shot you posted originally appears to be a summary.  Is there a section where you can get more details - each card and loan itemised individually to say who it's with?

Phoenix72

As above, there must be a breakdown somewhere of the £193. 

Bare in mind that the balance reported can be a month or 2 old. Have you had CC balances on your statements recently.

The loan could be one of your pet insurance policies - not sure of the relevance of your statement that they have been held for many months.

Personally I find the Clearscore or Credit Karma app easier to identify the breakdown.

General_Grant

Pay in Three ?  (or whatever the phrase is for what is often promoted when buying online)

DE_612183

You can sign-up for the full service ( you normally get a month free ), get the full report ( which is itemised ) then cancel before a payment is taken.

Experian are a BUSINESS not s service - they will not do anything for nothing.

Phoenix72

DE_612183 said:

You can sign-up for the full service ( you normally get a month free ), get the full report ( which is itemised ) then cancel before a payment is taken.

Experian are a BUSINESS not s service - they will not do anything for nothing.

There is no need to pay for anything when there aee other ways to get the info -Clearscore and Credit Karma

Nasqueron

DE_612183 said:

You can sign-up for the full service ( you normally get a month free ), get the full report ( which is itemised ) then cancel before a payment is taken.

Experian are a BUSINESS not s service - they will not do anything for nothing.

They have to provide you with your statutory report for free 

https://www.experian.co.uk/consumer/statutory-report.html