If you may need to use a service that involves a credit check and you live in a location with an “unusual” address (say, like a flat – *waves at people in Glasgow*) AND the credit check might be “attempted” by Experian, then here’s some advice:

Sign up MONTHS, no YEARS before the check will take place as this will allow you a chance, a small chance that by the time the check is required, the shoddy shower of “Credit Score Experts” might, just MIGHT have been able to work out your correct address and begun the epoch length process of fixing your fubar d credit score.

Don’t go expecting the address that Royal Mail provides to be used. Oh no.
Confused why the customer reps sees different details after filling in the EXACT same address you did? Don’t be.

For more S&G wait until you DO get an “address” allocated.

Chuckle at how much of your financial info is missing.
Laugh at your amazingly low credit score.
Let the LOLcano erupt when you try and get them to correct it.

EDIT – An inability for the EE/T mobile web site to correctly enter your address may serve as an early warning indicator that Experian will explode in a ball of acorn codes when you enter your address.

Let the LOLcano erupt

banning’s too good for ’em.

A piss poor organisation intent on ruining peoples lives thats what they are.

Founded by two blokes who set up Mastercard (IIRC) on the basis of outsourcing that the banks were going through 15 odd years ago.

Based on Averages of Averages and a system that can’t cope with people who move around more than twice in their lives, don’t own a home or choose to deal in cash, or old people or young people or people who choose to remain single.

It’s a total shower of piss that industry.

The ‘credit score’ presented on that site is worth jack. Companies who lend you money have their own scoring methods and just use the info from those companies about whether or not you’ve been a good boy repaying your debts on time.

Ouch, I used to be a credit underwriter – I did assume for a while that Flat dwellers of Scotland lived in the 1950’s when people only used cash / the severed heads of their enemy to buy stuff.

Because it doesn’t matter what front end system you used, flat T/R doesn’t work in the Experian system – you’re either FLATTR as the ‘house’ name, of someone comes along and puts FLAT TOP RIGHT as the house name, or any one of a handful of other naming structures none of which actually show it as a flat, just a house. Someone tried to change them all to numbers from memory – 4/1 or 3/2 but no single person it seemed decided what the numbers were meant to mean and they don’t bare any resemblance to anything on the buildings so it’s impossible to know.

“Computer Says No”.

The ‘credit score’ presented on that site is worth jack. Companies who lend you money have their own scoring methods

Its more a question of you being correctly identified as part of the credit checking process rather than how good or bad your rating is – I’ve lived in quite a few named houses and house-divided-into-flats (the latter then being subject to Scotland’s free-form numbering and naming system) and had to do a bit of work on Experian just correcting all the agencies that were stating those address differently. Its not that my credit score was bad – the issue was bacause the address ,as I used it, and as various others had recorded it differed – it seemed that I had no credit history at all so I’d get refused fairly innocuous things like mobile phone contracts.

If I was asked to give 6 years worth of previous addresses then that was 4 addresses – each of which would be identified differently by Council Tax, Utilites, Credit cards etc and differently again to the address that would come up from a postcode search.

The “credit score” as Experian give you is more a measure of how complete and error free your credit history is – whether you really are who you say you are and whether the electoral role, C Tax and various creditor histories confirm that. So its more proof of identity than a measure of lending risk.

That was a pretty good rant

Lots didnt really make sense, good use of CAPITALS, but let down on lack of swearing

8/10

It’s like SAP – you’re all just doing it wrong.

It’s not just Experian. According to the Council, our flat exists, according to TV Licensing it doesn’t. According to BT it does, according to Scottish Power it doesn’t. Etc.

Is this the same “experts” that overnight wiped out 80% of peoples credit files by deciding to change how they calculate the score?
Yep – apparently thats an understatement too.
People with perfect 999 scores dropping to 700, 700’s dropping to 300, etc.
They then try and deny being Credit Controllers under the DPA when you demand that they make corrections on grossly incorrect accounts.
They’ll insist that all they are permitted to do is add a “notice of correction” and refer it back to the party posting said information. Said party will then deny it is incorrect despite having been provided with the requisite paperwork – in several cases – court papers and then Experian will email you back to say “after checking with the data provider they have confirmed the information we hold is correct and therefore we will be removing the notice of correction and maintaining the record as it stands.”
They will ignore notices to desist processing your data under the DPA as they deny being controllers.
In fact they deny everything and insist they they are only reporting the information provided to them by the original data providers.

The Consumer Action Group forum is your friend here 😉

Is this the same “experts” that overnight wiped out 80% of peoples credit files by deciding to change how they calculate the score?
Yep – apparently thats an understatement too.
People with perfect 999 scores dropping to 700, 700’s dropping to 300, etc

that score is meaningless, ergo the consequences of them changing it are zero.

I suspect why they changed it is to crank up the obsession over arbitrary credit scores, driving more custom to their service.

Are Equifax any better?

MrsJ once worked on a property register for Aberdeen City Council a long time ago. More or less she echoed what a lot of you have said – that you could call your property what the f you like and nobody could tell you different. Typical mess of British public administration.

Are Equifax any better?

Hell No!

We (well my wife) applied for a mortgage the other day…she failed the credit check. Funny that, as everyone who has ever ran a credit check against her have commented how great her credit score and history is. Never missed or been late with one payment, pays everything in full and is pretty much the perfect person to lend to etc etc.

Her Experian score is maxed out, her callcredit (noddle) is excellent, but Equifax shows at very poor…they are unable to (unlike experian who sorted it out in one 5 minute phonecall) link up her credit history and she has nothing showing at our current address due to living in a flat. For example we live at 123A Badger Boulevard, but the electoral roll and local authority have us living at 1/2 123 Badger Boulevard.

She’s spent the last few days emailing them, sending documents, calling them repeatedly but to absolutely no avail. We now have to look at a different mortgage lender that doesn’t use Equifax as their credit checker.

***** ******* ****!!!!!!!!!!!

barkm – I can tell you for a fact it is not meaningless.
Neither is the incorrect info they will happily process and hide behind them “not being data controllers” so not having to legally ensure its correct.
Several Judges have said otherwise and forced Experian along with the other two to come to heel.
Pop over to the forum I linked above and see just how bent it all is.

The whole industry built around this is shambolox and we’re stuck with being held under the water on this.

There really ought to be a public inquiry on this.

It’s not so much the value of the score I’m concerned about but the fact that non of my financial products or history is available – This will affect any credit checks.

👿