Credit Reports
#1
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Credit Reports
going on from my thread re my friend who may be facing redundancy, I have been doing some online research for him. I came across Experian who offer a free credit report , and 30 day free trial of the creditexpert monitoring service... has anyone tried it???? I thought it might be interesting to see what I'm rated as
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Yep it's a good service, main reason they offer it for free is it allows them to fill in any blanks about you they might have.. the sign up is pretty extensive!
However as said if you cancel within a month, you will have got it perfectly free no catch... well other than you won't be able to get it free again, ever..
However as said if you cancel within a month, you will have got it perfectly free no catch... well other than you won't be able to get it free again, ever..
#6
I use it, i pay the £5.99 a month to have the monitoring service too. Just enables me to check movement on my file whenever I want, also lets me know when theres activity in my file. I'm just a bit paranoid about fraud you see
#7
I've done nothing wrong,been a super good boy but don't want to see mine!
Did it once about 15 years ago to find out why I couldn't have a loan.Turned out because I didn't borrow money I was a bad risk!
Did it once about 15 years ago to find out why I couldn't have a loan.Turned out because I didn't borrow money I was a bad risk!
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#9
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If it's anything like here (Canada), then you may well have different info appear with the different credit report people.
I wanted to apply for an overdraft, and it was declined. I was told that it was something on my credit history, had I any outstanding collections, which I didn't, but I mentioned that I had, a few years ago, had a letter from a collection agency which was nothing to do with me, and the collection and cable company told me to ignore this as it obviously wasn't my account. I took their advice, which, as I found out, was somewhat foolish.
I initially used TransUnion. I could not sign up online, so had to phone them. They said I had a very "thin" credit file, as I didn't have much credit history here, thus I could not sign up online as some of the questions it would ask I could not answer as they'd not be in my file. Anyway, they said to print off a form and fax it over and they would mail me my report for free. Which I did.
It contained some, but not all info, as I later found out. But hey, it was free!
I then used Equifax, and paid a one time fee to get a credit report. These guys didn't have a problem with my "thin" credit history and I was able to sign up online.
Viewing the report I saw the collection item on my credit report. So I contacted the collection agency, who bounced me to the cable company, who bounced me back to the collection agency, who then decided to remove the item from my file. I waited a couple of weeks, then used Equifax to check my report again, and the item was cleared and I got my overdraft
The bank did tell me that it was quite possible for different credit agencies to have different info on file, hence the difference between TransUnion and Equifax. I pointed out that this was a tad silly, and got a reply of "I know" and a shrug of the shoulders.
One could call it overkill, but it could be worth running a credit check from two different companies to see if the same, or different things crop up.
I wanted to apply for an overdraft, and it was declined. I was told that it was something on my credit history, had I any outstanding collections, which I didn't, but I mentioned that I had, a few years ago, had a letter from a collection agency which was nothing to do with me, and the collection and cable company told me to ignore this as it obviously wasn't my account. I took their advice, which, as I found out, was somewhat foolish.
I initially used TransUnion. I could not sign up online, so had to phone them. They said I had a very "thin" credit file, as I didn't have much credit history here, thus I could not sign up online as some of the questions it would ask I could not answer as they'd not be in my file. Anyway, they said to print off a form and fax it over and they would mail me my report for free. Which I did.
It contained some, but not all info, as I later found out. But hey, it was free!
I then used Equifax, and paid a one time fee to get a credit report. These guys didn't have a problem with my "thin" credit history and I was able to sign up online.
Viewing the report I saw the collection item on my credit report. So I contacted the collection agency, who bounced me to the cable company, who bounced me back to the collection agency, who then decided to remove the item from my file. I waited a couple of weeks, then used Equifax to check my report again, and the item was cleared and I got my overdraft
The bank did tell me that it was quite possible for different credit agencies to have different info on file, hence the difference between TransUnion and Equifax. I pointed out that this was a tad silly, and got a reply of "I know" and a shrug of the shoulders.
One could call it overkill, but it could be worth running a credit check from two different companies to see if the same, or different things crop up.
#10
What about the other two CRA's though, as its not likely they will have the same info as it depends what companies supply them the information, most do not supply all three, so its a waste of money as you can still be defrauded.
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They do share stuff like CIFAS & GAIN which are the anti-fraud and 'gone away' data sets.
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They are not dodgy - I did the free trial through a cash back site quidco and actually got paid £7 for signing up. Rang up to cancel after I'd seen the credit info and before the first payment was due - they were polite and decent about it, no pressure to stay signed up or anything.
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What? Experian & Equifax etc wouldn't be trying to sell you finance, and they wouldn't be passing on your info for finance marketing campaigns either. If you were getting finance marketing calls it'll be from some other source and not the CRA's.
#16
Even worse, if you CCJ on anything, a company (registered with the FSA) somehow has a right to send you finance marketing "that is in your interest"
go figure?
#17
I don't honestly remember which firm it was with, was prob a good 18 months ago now, think they hae given up as i've moved house, changed telephone numbers etc