I ordered my score just over 2 months ago and it was 816, pretty good.

I've just checked again and It's gone down to 787 and I can't figure out why. My usage of available credit has gone up from 2% to 4% but this is still classed as low. I have had one credit check (from checkmyfile.com). Other than that all things are the same. I've made all payments on time. The only other thing was that my credit card company upgraded my card to a gold card with a better interest rate.

I'm seriously p*ssed off as I wanted to apply for a mortgage next month and hoped my score had gone up to somewhere around 900. I'm going to e-mail them to query why it's gone down when I've done nothing wrong.

Hi there!

Right... wish i had of found this thread earlier!

I checked my score with Creditexpert in April of 08 and my score was 545 (not good!) i stopped applying for credit as i was on a 'get a credit card to enhance my rating' spree (never got a card!)

Checked my score again monday just gone and it has shot up to 796 (still only classed as fair though)

I was told by my mortgage advisor today that the lenders (individually) change their needs on a daily basis for example:

If they are seeing a trend with say 25-35 year olds applying for credit... they will 'raise the barre' to make this harder. It's a way of them knowing who is applying for credit and they need to make sure that only the low risk lenders get through.

I left the meeting pretty much knowing it's a massive game to play every time you apply for credit.

My Mortgage application is going through - but if i don't get it... i'll keep checking my report for another 10 (ish) months and try again i guess!

BUT......... on top of all this... i have gone to get my report from checkmyfile. I paid on my card and then it wanted me to go through the authentification process.

I entered my Driving license number... it said it failed..... so i then entered my NI number - again saying it had failed! so i am now blocked from my account - bloody typical! you would think that my driving license and my payslip would be telling the truth!

SERIOUSLY!

LR1:

Hi, I have been using Experian to check my credit score on a regular basis, however the past two times I have checked; it has said my score is 0! I am confused, I am up to date on all my payments, have settled two accounts, am on the electrol roll and have lived at my address for 18 years! Is there a chance this could be wrong?

I have made a few searches, around 10 in the past year however surley this cant bring my score down to 0!?

I'm no expert on Experian but i would hazard a guess that "0" is wrong. Almost sounds as though you arent at your address when you clearly are. Has your address been amended in any way recently ie postcode change etc?

Might be worth contacting Experian directly.

And 10 searches is rather a lot in 1 year.

Eco

Hi, I have been using Experian to check my credit score on a regular basis, however the past two times I have checked; it has said my score is 0! I am confused, I am up to date on all my payments, have settled two accounts, am on the electrol roll and have lived at my address for 18 years! Is there a chance this could be wrong?

I have made a few searches, around 10 in the past year however surley this cant bring my score down to 0!?

from what i can gather experian update their files as and when they want to. have you tried ringing them up or sending them an email to force the situation?

credit file using Experian. There are a number of items missing from my file which should be there. Namely;

No detais of my mobile phone contract (I thought this should be held). Had this account for 9 months.

No details of a joint account I have (with overdraft) with my fiance. i.e. no financial assosiations. This account has been open for 4 months.

No details of my Electoral Registration. I registered 5 weeks ago.

A credit check carried out by the Co-Op for a credit card transfer 6 weeks ago. I was turned down for this (hence why I registered with Experian.

How often do Experian acutally update their records? My last credit card statement details are on there. I'm actually at 33% of my available credit, but I've paid off some more money last week to take this down to around 25%, but I'm not sure it will update anytime soon.
My score is 792 btw which is middle of the middle road.

Lol, I wish I could de-cipher it for you. Unfortunately as we all know different lenders do different things... and no doubt they make some of the rules up as the go! Like I say though, the experian score does have relevance - again, depending on which lender you go to!

It's a load of old tosh half of it. I know people that have excellent credit "scores" including myself, that have been turned down by lenders in the past. I also know of people with defaults and CCJ's all over their file that have gotten excellent loan and mortgage rates. Its a bit of a lottery at the moment as well in the current climit!

My moto - just save (if you can) and pay in cash! lol

if you are telling me you can de-cipher the credit sore phenomenon, im all ears.

I'm not sure if what I am going to say here will shock a couple of people, but here goes. I used to work for a lending company up until about a year ago. Every application that we received was graded. Initially it was either accepted or declined, but there after the amount which we were prepared to lend was based, almost purely, on the 'experian credit score'. This is exactly how it is catagorized on the system used at that particular company. There is split opinion on the relevance of the "score" and yes, different lenders come to their conclusions in different ways. But the experian score IS DEFINITELY seen by lenders that search your credit file... I have seen it with my own eyes!

My blog may have little interest to alot of you, but like i say.. dont be misled by those who tell you that the score is purely an indicator for yourself!

Regards

i know about the free trial.what i meant was, the more you apply for credit and get turned down ie bank loans credit cards etc it affects your rating oh and swapping card balances does the same

every credit search means more bad ratings..if every one dicided to not use them they would go bust overnight :)

do you have to pay for these reports?

I got a report from experian and i had to pay for it however there was no indication to a score as such just a list of accounts and searches etc?

Hi

I too find all of this credit search information confusing. I have just had a mortgage agreed with the Abbey. Two months ago I had a credit score that was poor at 591. Over the course of two months this improved to over 700, still poor. This is when the Abbey agreed my mortgage. My credit history is good, I have made the odd late payment (paid at bank perhaps a day late, so it reached the account a day late) but have never missed payments or anything more. I have been at my address for over 5 years, have been in the same job for 10 years... all the things that are supposed to count towards a good score. Recently I have changed my phone account which resulted in a credit search. I also applied for a 0% card to balance transfer, so in total since January have had 3 searches. My score has gone from 723 down to 531! Everything has been paid on time. I do not understand why my score has dropped so much. My understanding was that a search lowered your score by 5 points..... I am no mathematician but I can 3x5 = 15! I have also looked back at old searches. In July 2007 my score was 938 and was classified as good. If 938 of 1000 is only classed as good, the scale upon which the very poor, poor, fair, good and excellent MUST NOT BE FAIRLY REPRESENTED.

All I can say is don't waste your money. Credit Expert are making a fortune from all of us poor naive people who keep checking their score only to become sorely disappointed by their unfair scoring system. I think it is about time that the people of this country stand together and have their say.

I for one am sick of being dictated to over bureaucratic crap like this. And whilst I am on my high horse, Council Tax. Each year they increase it and we are expected to pay it. Perhaps its time that our local Councils allowed us to have an input into what happens with our money. Why are they allowed to mis-spend our hard earned cash and then each year, we pay out more as a result of their ineffective budgeting. It is about time that the Council had to explain the reason for increases, not just 4% extra is going to the police/fire service. I for one wish to know why. How about you?