Consequences

ceminem

I just recieved my credit report from Equifax.

I am 20 and obtained my first credit card and mobile contract when I was 16, I said I was born in 82 when infact I was born in 85. I am suprised no one had seen through this.

On my credit report it shows some with my birth at 82 and some at 85. It is hit and miss whether I get accepted. Half reject me and half accept.

Will this cause me to have a lower credit rating?

What are the implications of changing my birthdate to the correct year, will they notice that I was only 16 when the account was opened?

Clariman

To be honest, I really don't know the answer to that. I would imagine that having some doubt over what your age is may put some lenders off, because they would be less confident about what they see in your credit report.

What you did at the tender age of 16 was, strictly speaking, fraudulent which is a serious thing, so it may affect your credit rating anyway.

My personal view is that honestly is the best policy. In the long run you want your credit file to be accurate and consistent, so I'd be prepared to take any short term pain. I think I would contact the CRAs and say that you have noticed a mistake in your file and that they have your date of birth wrong. They may just change it and bring it in to line without any fuss. There is, of course, the possibility that they may see that you lied on your application aged 16. If they contact you about it, I think I'd tell the truth and say that as a daft teenager you did a very stupid and naive thing by lying without realising how serious it was to do so.

Tricky one.

Clariman

Richie(UK)

ceminem wrote:

I just recieved my credit report from Equifax.

I am 20 and obtained my first credit card and mobile contract when I was 16, I said I was born in 82 when infact I was born in 85. I am suprised no one had seen through this.

On my credit report it shows some with my birth at 82 and some at 85. It is hit and miss whether I get accepted. Half reject me and half accept.

Will this cause me to have a lower credit rating?

What are the implications of changing my birthdate to the correct year, will they notice that I was only 16 when the account was opened?

Hi c,

The onus is on the individual to provide truthful responses to the questions asked - it is not the responsibility of the lenders or Credit Reference Agencies to verify the information provided. In essence what you have done is committed fraud!

This is a tough call. However, given that you are quite young it may be best to take a long term view and bite the bullet now and 'come clean' - short term pain for long term gain. Having said that, I'm no legal expert and I'm not sure what the consequences would be. Good luck (and don't tell any more lies - at least, not fraudulent ones ).

ceminem

what if I close the account and then reapply with my correct bod, then would that help?

empfun

Giving false/incorrect information is just going to cause a lot of confusion eventually. Yes ceminem, you should most definitely close and re-apply with the correct information. All the best!