Two hard credit searches for mobile phone contract

dave18

Hello,

I had a CCJ against me earlier this year, due to be removed from my credit file after a successful N244 as parking related CCJ sent to the wrong address.

I thought this had already been removed and applied for a £5 pm new sim only contract with Smarty, which they conducted a hard search x2, Experian believes and rejected my application.

What can I do to address this as a) my presumption is they can only carry out 1 hard search and b) how do I deal with the rejected application in terms of credit file, given the N244?

Sherlock33

Are you sure the hard checks are smarty? Their website suggests that all their SIM only plans are rolling 1 month deals and do not need a credit check.

kaMelo

As @Sherlock33 says, are you sure this was Smarty who carried out the hard searches?

Looking on their website it says;

They may do a soft search as an ID check but their website clearly states no credit checks. If they have done a hard search then I'd suggest complaining to them about it. I'd also check that you applied to Smarty, from that literature above their plans start at £6 whereas you said you applied for a £5 p/m deal.

Whatever you do it is unlikely to change their mind about not wanting you as a customer though.

dave18

ID Mobile!

kaMelo

OK, ID Mobile terms:

15.5 Any credit checks that we undertake will be recorded by the credit reference agencies in the form of a search 'footprint' on you credit file. This 'footprint' may then be seen by other people conducting similar searches of your credit file.

So the terms say they will conduct a hard search, but not two searches. The only thing I could suggest is to contact them and complain about the second hard search and ask them to remove it.

dumpster_fire2025

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6684290/two-hard-credit-searches-for-mobile-phone-contract

You can approach them and ask them why they did two hard searches for one application. If they can't give a good reason then ask them to remove it.

As to "how you deal with it given the N244" it's not clear what you mean by this. Do you mean that you think they shouldn't have declined you because you had a CCJ which is due to be removed but wasn't? If so the answer is probably not much. You could apply elsewhere but most providers will not rerun applications for a period after someone fails their checks so reapplying in the next 6 months or so to iD probably won't get you anywhere as it's not worth their time to faff around manually approving you, so they probably won't.