Credit Rating Problems

thewaterboy

In September 2001 I started university and opened a student bank account with Abbey National that offered a 1k interest free overdraft. A condition of the account was that i paid my student loan into the account. Being a typical student, i just emptied the overdraft and paid my student loan into another account. Three years later, at the same time as graduation, i was told that my overdraft facility was being removed as i hadnt made any credits to my account. I then paid off this overdraft over 13 months.

I have just checked my experian credit report and it says that over the last 36 months i have 2 status 1-2, and 19 status 3+!! That means that my "payments were late" for 21 months, not 13.

Is there anything i can do about this? Should i contact Abbey or Experian? Any help is much appreciated

file_wizzard

First thing to do is to get hold of the original terms and conditions of the credit agreement for the overdraft and ensure the repayment period commenced when you think it did.

Also if you don’t hold records yourself it is worth requesting a full statement of account from the lender to see how this corresponds to the entry’s made on your credit file.

Once you have these it should make things a little clearer

garyclay

Just one thing I'd like to input. As far as getting credit it really doesn't matter if you have 19 3+ or 11 3+. You are really going to struggle to get credit with any main stream lender!!!!

But you are entitled to ask Abbey to provide evidence to prove the information they have registered with Experian. If they cannot you can have any wrong information removed.

You are also entitled to have Experian contact Abbey on your behalf and confirm the entry is correct.

BTW is this account not registered as defaulted??

thewaterboy

Thanks for the advice. I will ask for a backdated statement tomorrow!

No the account isnt defaulted. I paid off the overdraft on two occasions, but then i would owe the interest from the previous month. Thats why it took me 12 months to pay it off. For 6 months i owed about £2.50, just couldnt be bothered having to go into the bank again to pay them. But eventully on the third attempt i got the overdraft repaid (including interest). I now have money in the account and continue to use it as a second account.

One other thing i noticed is that i have had two nationwide accounts for 6 years and have recently taken a credit card with nationwide, yet neither appear in my credit report. Is there any way nationwide could be added to the report to try give me some, much needed, credit points?

Thanks again

garyclay

Well done on getting a Nationwide Credit Card! Their credit scoring system baffles me! Did you get this card after all the 3+'s?????????

Nationwide register information for Current Accounts(with overdraft), Credit Cards, Mortgages and loans with all three agencies (Experian, Equifax and CallCredit). If your accounts aren't showing and you would like them to contact Nationwide Head Office (Pipers Way, Swindon, SN38 1NW) and ask why the information is not showing.

It could be that you don't have overdraft facilities on you accounts and that your Credit Card is too new to show.