credit score drop from electoral roll and bank address mismatches

Twilight1953

My credit score has dropped (at a bad time as I will be looking for a mortgage in a few months) because I am on the electoral roll for the house where I lived for decades but now am selling (slowly), and my temporary address with my daughter is where I have moved my banking to, since I collect mail irregularly from the old house. Credit agencies clearly don't like the mismatch. Should I move my banking address back to my old house? Would this improve my credit rating?

Any advice appreciated…

TadleyBaggie

There is no bad time for the credit score to drop, it's a made up number that no one but you can see.

born_again

Score is never seen by lenders.

Twilight1953

So how is the credit report used by lenders then? Im a bit baffled. I thought that people are declined for mortgages on the grounds of their creidt score? Sorry if I'm confused. But it's good to hear that I might be worrying unecessarily…

TadleyBaggie

it’s the own lenders credit scoring process, it uses the data from your credit report but will have no relation to the fictitious score the CRAs like to push.

The_Groat_Counter

Credit reports are one thing (which provide information about your credit history and usage), credit "scores" are something else entirely - unlike in the US where they can matter, here they are an invention of the CRAs to encourage you to engage with them, either so you buy one of their unnecessary monthly 'credit monitoring' subscriptions or otherwise so you apply for consumer credit products via their affiliate links.

MEM62

So how is the credit report used by lenders then?

In short - it isn't. Lenders have their own criterion for making lending decisions. Your credit score is nothing more than a marketing gimmick designed to get you to sign up to a CRA's subscription services. (Or a source of amusement for those that collect numbers 😁)

The fact that most people place so much importance on it is an indication of how successful thier advertising has been.

The_Groat_Counter

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82028520#Comment_82028520

This is a bit misleading as it's muddling up the terminology - i.e. a "credit report" and a "credit score" are not the same thing.

The credit report is the meaningful thing - it's a collection of data about how a person handles their credit facilities, including some of their history of doing so. This is what potential lenders get to see (or, more to the point, what their computer systems can access).

The credit score is the meaningless thing.

MEM62

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82028642#Comment_82028642

Quite correct, I missed 'report' instead of 'score'.