TransUnion Outdated Information

Jude57

I'm a member of the MSE Credit Club which recently migrated to TransUnion and I receive a monthly reminder to check my credit report. I noticed that there are very old addresses linked to my credit report, one is from over 20 years ago and a couple of others are from short term rentals immediately following a marriage ending around that time. I did what a responsible person does and reported each change of address to the financial institutions I had accounts with and registered on the Electoral Roll at each address. However, I've lived in my current address for 17 years so I don't understand why these old addresses could possibly have any relevance now. I contacted TransUnion to ask them to remove the old addresses but they refused, saying, in effect, 'it's old information and lenders won't be interested'. I wasn't happy about it but I assume there's nothing I can do about it. Has anyone else had a similar experience and been able to get ancient addresses removed?

MattMattMattUK

Jude57 said:

I'm a member of the MSE Credit Club which recently migrated to TransUnion and I receive a monthly reminder to check my credit report. I noticed that there are very old addresses linked to my credit report, one is from over 20 years ago and a couple of others are from short term rentals immediately following a marriage ending around that time. I did what a responsible person does and reported each change of address to the financial institutions I had accounts with and registered on the Electoral Roll at each address. However, I've lived in my current address for 17 years so I don't understand why these old addresses could possibly have any relevance now. I contacted TransUnion to ask them to remove the old addresses but they refused, saying, in effect, 'it's old information and lenders won't be interested'. I wasn't happy about it but I assume there's nothing I can do about it. Has anyone else had a similar experience and been able to get ancient addresses removed?

Are these in the Addresses section and do they show as longer current or just as previous addresses? If so, why are you bothered about having them removed?

Jude57

MattMattMattUK said:

Jude57 said:

I'm a member of the MSE Credit Club which recently migrated to TransUnion and I receive a monthly reminder to check my credit report. I noticed that there are very old addresses linked to my credit report, one is from over 20 years ago and a couple of others are from short term rentals immediately following a marriage ending around that time. I did what a responsible person does and reported each change of address to the financial institutions I had accounts with and registered on the Electoral Roll at each address. However, I've lived in my current address for 17 years so I don't understand why these old addresses could possibly have any relevance now. I contacted TransUnion to ask them to remove the old addresses but they refused, saying, in effect, 'it's old information and lenders won't be interested'. I wasn't happy about it but I assume there's nothing I can do about it. Has anyone else had a similar experience and been able to get ancient addresses removed?

Are these in the Addresses section and do they show as longer current or just as previous addresses? If so, why are you bothered about having them removed?

They are in the Addresses section as previous addresses. The oldest one was my former matrimonial home which I fled and where my former spouse still lives (I have cause to need to know their whereabouts) and the short-term rental addresses are ones where there are likely to have been numerous subsequent residents whose financial situation isn't likely to be especially healthy. I know that my own credit history isn't specifically linked to other individuals and that addresses aren't blacklisted and perhaps I'm being unnecessarily cautious but, having worked hard to clean up my financial situation post-marriage, I'd really rather not have any connection to addresses from decades ago. If the informed opinion is that it's nothing to worry about, then I'll take that on board.

MattMattMattUK

Jude57 said:

MattMattMattUK said:

Jude57 said:

I'm a member of the MSE Credit Club which recently migrated to TransUnion and I receive a monthly reminder to check my credit report. I noticed that there are very old addresses linked to my credit report, one is from over 20 years ago and a couple of others are from short term rentals immediately following a marriage ending around that time. I did what a responsible person does and reported each change of address to the financial institutions I had accounts with and registered on the Electoral Roll at each address. However, I've lived in my current address for 17 years so I don't understand why these old addresses could possibly have any relevance now. I contacted TransUnion to ask them to remove the old addresses but they refused, saying, in effect, 'it's old information and lenders won't be interested'. I wasn't happy about it but I assume there's nothing I can do about it. Has anyone else had a similar experience and been able to get ancient addresses removed?

Are these in the Addresses section and do they show as longer current or just as previous addresses? If so, why are you bothered about having them removed?

They are in the Addresses section as previous addresses. The oldest one was my former matrimonial home which I fled and where my former spouse still lives (I have cause to need to know their whereabouts) and the short-term rental addresses are ones where there are likely to have been numerous subsequent residents whose financial situation isn't likely to be especially healthy. I know that my own credit history isn't specifically linked to other individuals and that addresses aren't blacklisted and perhaps I'm being unnecessarily cautious

It is not a case of "it not being specifically linked", it is not linked at all, in any way that matters.

Jude57 said:
but, having worked hard to clean up my financial situation post-marriage, I'd really rather not have any connection to addresses from decades ago.

Those previous addresses are factually accurate, so there is no need or reason for them to be removed, a factual record of where you previously lived is not going to harm your financial situation in any way. 

Jude57 said:
If the informed opinion is that it's nothing to worry about, then I'll take that on board.

There is no reason to worry about factually incorrect information on your credit report and factually correct information cannot be removed, only incorrect information. It is slightly random about what shows, I cannot see previous addresses on my TransUnion on the free version, but on the statutory version which I check every year they are there. Really not worth worrying about, they do not cause negative impacts on your future borrowing and they will not be removed.

steven141

I thought that companies were only allowed to keep your data for 6 years? I’ve got the same. My oldest that I can see is from 2007!

Nasqueron

steven141 said:

I thought that companies were only allowed to keep your data for 6 years? I’ve got the same. My oldest that I can see is from 2007!

That is a commonly believed myth, under GDPR they can keep data as long as they can justify is necessary - if you are an existing customer it's likely to be kept as long back as long as you have been there. If you are a former customer, they typically keep data for 6 years in line with finance rules but may archive it off after that, retaining it but not in the live system. You can exercise your right to be forgotten but if they can justify it, a firm can keep it as long as they want.

In terms of your credit report, any closed account will disappear after 6 years but any open one will stay there until 6 years after closure - similar rules for defaults etc - so yes as an example, a card from 2007 that is still open will be reported there. I have a credit card from around 2000 that is on my reports, still open today