Why God, why?

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RedDwarf82
RedDwarf82 Posts: 178 Forumite
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in Credit file & ratings
Why is not a requirement for lenders to give, when requested, a copy of the credit report they have used to make a decision?

Logic way
- We can't offer you credit
- Can I see the information you got from the CRA?
- Sure, here it is.

Current way
- We can't offer you credit. Here you have a small piece of a tree, with information you already know telling you to contact the three CRAs.
- You register in Experian's Credit Expert
- You notice that Credit Expert generates a credit report based on the addresses in your account... which are in a format which is not the one from the Royal Mail's PAF or the one used in the electoral register. The shown credit report has missing/inaccurate information. Only God knows if the lender got the same wrong information.
- You spend the next 30 days complaining to Experian until your free trial expires. It's useless.
- You complain to the ICO. The ICO says that you are right, but they are not going to (or can) do anything.
- You complain to the FCA, giving them a copy of all the emails interchanged with Experian, just to receive a letter telling you that you need to contact Experian first (the emails clearly show you aleady did).
- You give up. You will never know if the lender rejected you because Experian gave them wrong information.


Why God, why?!?!?!
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Comments

  • Thrugelmir
    Thrugelmir Posts: 89,546 Forumite
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    RedDwarf82 wrote: »
    Why is not a requirement for lenders to give, when requested, a copy of the credit report they have used to make a decision?

    Because they don't use one.

    Lenders receive datasets that they run algorithms on. Lenders score you against their criteria at the time of application.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 35,242 Forumite
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    RedDwarf82 wrote: »
    Why is not a requirement for lenders to give, when requested, a copy of the credit report they have used to make a decision?

    Because you can get it yourself for £2 or less, which is cheaper than them sending out copies.
  • mcpitman
    mcpitman Posts: 1,267 Forumite
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    You can ask God, but I don't think they will tell you the answer.

    As said before, lenders don't use any form of credit "score" they have their own scorecards, built with different criteria for different lenders.
    Life isn't about the number of breaths we take, but the moments that take our breath away. Like choking....
  • tain
    tain Posts: 711 Forumite
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    ...as these guys have said, and because they certainly don't want to be telling everyone the criteria they're using to assess people on. Sure fire way of getting fraudulent applications.


    And it's their intellectual property which they've spent a lot of money developing.
  • RuthnJasper
    RuthnJasper Posts: 4,032 Forumite
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    I think God might be a bit busy at the mo, it being his son's birthday in a couple of days...

    Good luck to you in any case. x
  • Robin9
    Robin9 Posts: 12,102 Forumite
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    They don't have to lend to you and you don't have to borrow from them.
    Never pay on an estimated bill
  • tain
    tain Posts: 711 Forumite
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    Malcnascar wrote: »
    If you think that is a better way to do business, set up a company, get a license to lend and, Roberts your fathers brother, you will be so popular that people will stop using the Banks and borrow from a business that adopts "the logical way".

    Me, well I accept that I am not "one size fits all" and will be attractive to some, but not all lenders. If I'm turned down by some, its their loss.



    I wouldn't call this way of doing business as illogical, so to speak. When handling hundreds of thousands (or millions) of applications, you simply have to generalise and write algorithms to suit. People are paid tons creating these algorithms (is this [similar to] what an actuary does?). It wouldn't make sense giving this information away, otherwise anyone can just copy it and make the same profit as the bank.


    However there could be a few simple flags put in place to make things easier, and I think any bank could be at an advantage by implementing them.


    For instance, prior to someone failing a credit check they could flag to them that because they're not on the electoral register, they will be declined. Or because their address is registered as bad, can they confirm how long they've lived there and any information on previous tenants they may have lived with.


    I'd certainly bank with someone who had the kindness to say 'you won't get this overdraft because you've only been in your job 3 months. Wait 6 months, and all going well, you should be accepted'.
  • than_prutt
    than_prutt Posts: 119 Forumite
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    A lot of people seem to forget that they are BORROWING from the lenders and are not happy when they are turned down.
  • tain
    tain Posts: 711 Forumite
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    than_prutt wrote: »
    A lot of people seem to forget that they are BORROWING from the lenders and are not happy when they are turned down.



    Yeah but at the same time, if you walked up to a nightclub 3 nights in a row and kept getting refused with no reason, you'd have the nark if you found out it was simply you were going 2 minutes after their last entrance each time.


    Although these banks have absolutely no obligation to provide any information back to us on failed credit applications, that doesn't mean that in some instances it could be very beneficial to them to provide it. There is a difference between an obligation, and common sense. You can't algorithmise (sure, that's a word) common sense.
  • meer53
    meer53 Posts: 10,217 Forumite
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    No lender is going to tell you their criteria. They don't just use CRA's.
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