Debt Camel

Answers to questions about debts and credit ratings - in plain English!

The 3 best ways to check your credit score & records – all free!

Keeping an eye on your credit reports is a good idea, but how should you do it?

In 2019 there are more than sixteen different ways to check your credit record!

The myth of a single credit score

You don’t have “one credit score” or “one credit record”. You have three different ones.

This is because there are three main Credit Reference Agencies (CRAs) in Britain:

  • Experian;
  • Equifax; and
  • TransUnion  (used to be called Callcredit).

Each CRA has a record of your data which has been sent to them by the lender. Some lenders report to all three, but most lenders only report to one or two CRAs. In 2016, about 50% of lenders only report to one CRA, for example, many payday lenders only report to TransUnion.

So a report on your Experian file can look very different from a report on your Equifax file. None of them are “better”, they are just reporting on information from different lenders.

Man looking at the many different ways to check his credit score

Top Three credit reports – all free!

Tens of thousands of people are paying for expensive subscription services when they could get all the information they need for free.

Everyone should use one of the following top three credit record checkers or, even better, all three:

They are all free, no sneaky free first month then a high charge if you forget to cancel.

If you want to know exactly what you will get and what all the other more complicated or expensive alternatives provide,  the details are in the following table:

What do all the different reports give you?

Score Records Tips Match Freq Cost
my three TOP PICKS
MSE's Credit Club EX EX yes yes monthly free
Clear Score EQ EQ yes yes monthly free
Credit Karma (was Noddle) TU TU yes yes weekly free
records but no score
Experian statutory report no EX no no daily free
Equifax statutory report no EQ no no daily free
TransUnion(Call Credit) statutory report no TU no no daily free
score but no records
Free Experian account EX no yes yes monthly free
score & records
Experian Credit Expert EX EX yes yes daily £14.99/month
Equifax Credit Report EQ EQ yes no daily £7.95/month
CreditWise EQ EQ yes yes monthly free
creditreport.co.uk EQ EQ yes no monthly £12.99/month
My Credit Monitor TU TU ? ? ? £14.99/month
Totally Money TU TU yes yes monthly free
Credit Reports Matter TU TU ? no monthly £19.95/month
UK Credit Ratings TU TU no no daily £19.95/month
Check My File EX,EQ,TU EX,EQ,TU yes yes monthly £14.99/month

In that table:

EX = Experian; EQ = Equifax; TU = TransUnion/Callcredit.
Tips – often rather vague suggestions about how you could improve your credit score
Match – suggests what other loans or credit cards you may be approved for
Freq – is how often you can see a new report. Some services let you see the up to date situation each time you use them (“daily”). Others take a snapshot every 30 days (“monthly”).
? means that the company was unable or unwilling to answer my questions!

Don’t choose one you have to pay for!

There is no good reason to sign up for the services that charge you anymore – you can get all the info you want, for free, every month from the other options.

Pay for real-time information?

This may sound nice but it isn’t worth paying for.

Credit ratings usually change fairly slowly. If you have closed an account, or started making payments to a new one, it takes a few weeks for the lender to update the records.

And if you have just got a new credit card and you are hoping your credit score will improve, come back in 4-6 months!

Help with disputes?

A lot of the fee-charging services make a big thing about their customer service helping you with disputes about your credit record.

So far as I can tell, this is just marketing guff – all they do is send your complaint to the CRA, But the CRAs don’t investigate anything, they just forward the complaint to the lender. And then typically the lender tells the CRA it’s accurate and nothing happens.

If you have a problem with your credit record, cut out the middlemen and send the creditor a complaint directly. Then you can go to the Financial Ombudsman if the creditor refuses to correct the record.

So which should you use?

That depends on why you want to look. Here are some typical reasons, together with my suggestion for each situation.

See the details of your credit records

If you want to know the details of when defaults will disappear or clean up your credit record after bankruptcy or other forms of debt management, use all the TOP THREE credit reports. If you only use one you may miss something important.

Apply for a loan or credit card

Go for MSE’s Credit Club.  You have to give extra information about your income and dependents, but the extra “affordability” checks and being based on Experian data, which is used by more lenders, should make their recommendations more accurate.

Going to apply for a mortgage

Use all the TOP THREE credit reports.  Looking at everything from the credit details to who you are associated with. It’s good to do this at least six, preferably twelve months before you want to apply for a mortgage so there is time to sort out any errors you find.

I am sceptical about mortgage eligibility recommendations from any of these services. Unless you have an excellent credit rating with all three CRAs, a good income for the amount you want to borrow and little or no debt, you should be talking to a mortgage broker, not take a punt on a suggestion from one of these services.

Surprised to be declined for credit?

Checking your credit records should be the first thing you do – use all of the TOP THREE credit reports. If that doesn’t show what the problem is, you need to see if your name is in a fraud database.

Send report to the Ombudsman for an affordability complaint

If you are asking for a refund for a payday loan or making some other sort of affordability complaint you need to send the Financial Ombudsman a copy of a credit record.

It’s best to send a Credit Karma report. Most payday lenders only report to TransUnion. So this is the report that is most likely to show most of your credit history, better than sending FOS an Experian or ClearScore report.

Why I haven’t included some reports…

I haven’t included Credit Hub, Credit Perfect, Credit Angel, Social Credit, Social-score, Scope People or Your Social Presence. There are reports that people are signed up to free trials from some of these without realising, when they try to get a payday loan. The trial then expires and people find the money debited from their bank account. If this happens to you, try to get the money back from your bank, complain to the firm and if you can’t contact the firm, complain to the payday lender or broker.

Apart from the dodgy sign-up methods, they all charge a lot and I think you would be better to ditch them and use the very good free options.

If you know a report that’s not on my list, please mention it in a comment below!

Updated in July 2019 

More Debt Camel articles:

How much will my credit score change if…

The best way to clear credit card debt

What should the default date be?

What should the default date be?

Comments

  1. Hi,

    I will be looking to apply for a mortgage in the next year or so. My credit rating is currently poor but the red mark dissapears next month from my credit history after 6 years. What will mortgage lenders look for in my credit file? Will my past low credit scores be a problem even if my credit score shoots up next month? If so any idea how far they will look back at past credit scores? So i have a rough idea how long i should wait before applying.

    Thanks

    Reply

    • No-one can see your previous scores. All they can see is the older debt records which are still on your credit file. So if your problem (default, CCJ etc) has disappeared, they can’t see it. Unless the problem was with their bank, in which case they may be able to see it from their internal records of course.

      Have you read https://debtcamel.co.uk/mortgage-with-debts/ ? Most lenders will ask to see 3-6 months of back bank statements.

      What lenders

      Reply

  2. Hi

    I was wondering if you could advise, I stupidly took out a loan I could not afford in March 2010 and only made 5 repayments to it, I have not made any payments since and have not heard anything from the company regarding repayment in years. I have checked my credit report and it is showing as an “active” account but there is no default date showing just the account started date.

    Will this just fall off my credit report this year or will I need to pay this back to get it off my file? I am so confused as I have 2 smaller amounts with O2 for like £124 and they have the default dates marked up and these are states as “default”.

    Please help

    Reply

    • No it won’t fall off your credit record because there is no default date and the it has not been repaid.

      From what you have said, it may be that this debt is “statute barred” – if it is you don’t need to repay it, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/statute-barred-debt/ and talk to National Debtline to see if this does apply to your debt.

      If it does, then the next step is to get a default added to the credit record, so it will drop off – see https://debtcamel.co.uk/debt-default-date/. But you don’t want to start writing letters to get this done until you are sure the debt is statute barred.

      Reply

  3. Hello, I currently live abroad and have been abroad since June 2008. This year we want to return home to the uk but have been told without a credit history it will be difficult to start again! In particular renting for example. I can’t even get a credit report as I do not have a uk address to enter …. can I run a report on myself at my previous address which was 8 &1/2 years ago now! We are both employed and will be arriving back with savings towards a large deposit ( or a few months rent in advance and for start up costs) but not sure what else I can do ! Any advice ?

    Reply

      • Yes I still have a uk bank account. We tried to pay everything off apart from a couple of credit cards… we sold
        Our house and haven’t been back since …

        Reply

        • You could try to get a report using your old address, or your bank account;s address (which may be the same?).

          With a bank account and money to pay for a few months rent in advance, I would have thought you are going to be fine. You are going to need jobs before you start applying for a mortgage so renting first seems the best route. As soon as you have a place to live and jobs, use a soft checker to see what credit cards you are likely to be accepted for and apply for 1 each, see https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/eligibility/credit-cards/. Use it each month and repay in full each month.

          Reply

  4. Ok thanks very much. My husband already works remotely across Europe so he will already have an income , it will just be myself who will need to find a job which I will do in advance. Thanks again for your help!

    Reply

  5. Hi, To cut a long story short I would like to view my credit file but do not want to alert and debt collectors to me. If I purchase a copy of my file would a debt collector then notice or be told I have done this? Not sure how they work in this respect. Any information would be very welcome.

    Reply

  6. Hi we had an overdraft on joint bank account with abbey which we didn’t pay.for the last 12 years we have received letters from various debt collectors at various addresses chasing this debt.we are pensioners now in Ill health and wondered what’s best way to resolve this.i have just been binning the letters but they still come regardless of where we live.

    Reply

  7. Hi Sara,
    I don’t know if this is something you can advise on, I recently (5 days ago) logged onto experian to check my credit score as I do once a month. It was a ‘perfect’ score of 981. However I have this past week received notification of changing electoral role as I have moved. The letter has indicated this will take effect on the 1st of March. However today I logged on to see if it had potentially made a change. However the score has now gone down to poor. I have paid off my credit cards for the month of Feb. I am curious as to why it has dropped as I don’t have a history of bad debt, e.g ccjs been made bankrupt, have paid off my overdraft. Do you have an idea as to why this might have happened

    Reply

    • That seems a big change just because you have moved. Tell your bank and all your other active accounts on your credit record your new address. Get yourself on the electoral roll at the new address. And look in details at your credit record for anything unusual.

      Reply

  8. Hello Sara,

    I’ve nearly finished my first year on an IVA .
    Do the insolvency practitioners look at my credit report on the yearly review?
    Will they see all the bank accounts I have now?
    Does PayPal show up on credit report? If I was to earn extra through PayPal or Ebay would they see this on my credit report and would I have to declare it ?

    Thanks in advance for your help. You are amazing and sure are helping a lot of people her.

    Kind Regards,

    Andrew

    Reply

    • It’s not possible to see earnings on a credit report.

      Your IVA could ask for a copy of your credit report. Most only ask for bank statements but there is no reason why they shouldn’t ask for a credit report.

      If you just sold something for £50, I probably wouldn’t bother to tell them. But if you are selling as an extra income stream, you should. And also tell the tax man :(

      Reply

      • Thank you so much Sara,

        A few clear answers can empty your mind of stress and worry, (which is no good for anyones health), no matter how trivial my questions may seem to some.
        I Thank You Again.

        Andrew

        Reply

  9. I recently moved house and my credit score has taken a large hit. I have re registered at new address but how long will my credit score take to recover?

    Reply

    • Have you told all your active accounts that you have moved? Are you on the electoral roll at your new address? If you have a new mortgage, it will take a few months for this to start showing a positive feature, at the beginning it is a negative.

      Ways to avoid problems occurring: tell any mobile accoounts that you have closed in the last year that you have moved – of course these should be zero but this is a good time to check they are. After a couple of months contact your old utility accounts and check they are showing zero too. Get these “zeros” in writing and keep these records. Otherwise in a couple of years up pops a default for a balance you never knew you had.

      Reply

  10. Hi Sara

    I checked my credit file today and noticed a new search that i know nothing about , See below please, have you seen anything like this before ?
    Do you know what this search is ???

    Beneficiary Trace Enquiry Capita – Sheffield

    Reply

    • Someone is trying to find someone with something like your name. You can ignore this – it has no effect on your credit score and lenders don’t see it.

      Reply

  11. I have a ccj just showed up 11 months ago ,, the debt is from over 8 years ago , are they allowed to start them at any stage and will this show for the next 5 years or so

    Reply

  12. I’m about to apply for a new tenancy and a bit worried my defaults will show.

    Is it correct that tenancy referencing companies can only see CCJS and insolvency? Is there anyway way they can see defaults?

    Reply

      • Thanks,

        I can’t seem to get anything definitive on it. Many of the tenant referencing companies mention a “full credit check”.

        The main worry I have is that I have a £5000 default, the default is 6 years old on 7th April. Will the default automatically delete on 7th April or does it need the lender to update it?

        I have no other unsatisfied defaults other than this so I’m thinking I may try and delay the checking process until 7th April if I can be sure the default will vanish on that date.

        Reply

        • That default will go on the 7th. It’s dropped off by the credit referencing agency systems, it doesn’t need to lender to do anything.

          Reply

  13. I see you don’t include Credit Perfect in your list. I have just found they have been charging me for months but I have no idea who they are. Can I get my money back?

    Reply

    • I don’t list them – or Credit Hub which seems to be owned by the same people – as they are not so much providers of credit reports as payday loan brokers who charge you a monthly fee to be a member and get a credit report. You may have tried to get a payday loan and not realised you were becoming a member?

      There seem to be a lot of complaints about them. See https://www.aspokesmansaid.com/money-and-insurance/guides/content-10947/had-money-taken-by-credit-hub–credit-angel-or-loan-marketing–read-this for what to do to cancel your “membership” and ask for a refund. As that says, take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman if you don’t get a refund – the firm will get charged over £500 by the Ombudsman for every complaint, so this is a good way to stop them taking advantage of other people as well!

      Reply

  14. Hi
    Two questions please:-
    I have long standing debts which have been serviced by £1.00 token payments for years. I have just check my credit score using MSE (thanks for the useful recommendation) and the default date for one debt is set as Oct 2011 when I have correspondence showing it to be April 2011. As it will drop off in October, should I contact anyone to try to get the correct date put on so that it is gone now or will that stir up a new hornets nest? Secondly, is it worth trying to get these debts written off as I have no hope of ever repaying them or will that put something on my credit file when it is soon to have these debt drop off anyway?

    Reply

    • Well it’s up to you, but if it was me, I couldn’t be bothered to try to bring the October date a few months earlier.

      What sort of debts were these? When were the accounts originally opened?

      Reply

      • They were both with Halifax. One was a joint personal loan which seems to have dropped off although I am continuing the arrangement of £1.00 and the other was my credit card with the same payment arrangement. I think it will take about 2376 years to complete the repayments but at least they aren’t adding interest! Debts came about when my husbands firm was defrauded of a substantial amount of money and we had a five year court battle. Unfortunately nothing was resolved as it was an overseas company and we were left in considerable debt. With hindsight I think going bankrupt at the time would have been a better option but we are many years down the line now and probably too old for a mortgage now even if I could get my credit rating acceptable. I have asked Halifax to write off the debt before but they just ignored my letters. The accounts were opened in the late 1990’s.

        Reply

        • So were these your personal debts? Or to your business? How much do you still on the two debts? Do you have other debts at the moment?

          Reply

          • Gabi says

            June 20, 2017 at 5:32 pm

            Personal debts. When the business was successful I could easily manage the repayments, When the business went into administration we sold our house and repaid all but these two debts ( the bank had a personal guarantee £150,000 which was repaid from the proceeds of sale along with other debts and the mortgage) Loan was £25,000 of which £14,875 is outstanding and credit card is £6750.
            I started my own business 3 years ago which is slowly providing a small income but will be some years before It will fully support us. I’d like these debts gone if at all possible. I have no other debts.

            Reply

          • Then I suggest you ask the debt collector to produce the CCA agreements for both debts. See https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/getting-information/credit-agreement-advice.aspx which has template letters – and National Debtline are good people to talk to if you are sent a reply you aren’t sure about.

            With such old debts there is a real chance that the creditor won’t be able to find the documentation. If they can’t, the debts are unenforceable in court and you can simply stop paying them.

  15. Hi I’ve just checked my credit file and it shows a hard credit search for a credit card application that my husband made in his name, surely this isn’t right as it’s not my application and it’s made my credit score go down.

    Reply

    • Do you have any joint accounts – bank account, loan, mortgage? If you do, your credit records are linked.

      But one credit card application isn’t likely to have affected your credit score. There have to be several in a short period to do that. Perhaps there is another reason for your score going down?

      Reply

      • Hi yes we have a joint bank account it is just one application so it’s only made my score go down slightly but I’ve never known a credit card application that he’s made go on my credit file before ?

        Reply

  16. Hi Sara,

    I took your advice two years ago and tidied up my credit file . I went bankrupt and made sure all the credit card accounts were shown as settled. Now over 18 months after my discharge a new debt has appeared on my credit file . Its from a company I don’t know and is showing no payments and a default date of July 2017. The amount ( over £10000) would seem to tie in with one of the credit cards that is shown as satisfied. any suggestions?

    Reply

  17. Hi All,

    Wasn’t sure where to post my question, so apologies in advance if this is on the wrong thread.

    I am in the very early stages of tidying up my credit report. I have noticed that British Gas Trading appears on there (once for eclectic, and then for gas). I was with British Gas at a previous address and paid by direct debit, never missing any payments. When I left the property I owed them money as the usage was more than what I had paid in direct debits. I agreed a plan with BG to repay over a few months, it wasn’t passed any further, I didn’t miss any payments and I settled the account as agreed.

    Why does this show on my credit report?

    Reply

    • This sounds like something you should challenge – write to BG (don’t try to do this on the phone!) and ask for the default to be removed as it is unfair. If you never missed a payment and sorted out the final bill promptly and in a few months there shouldn’t be a default added. They have had some problems this year with credit records (see https://debtcamel.co.uk/british-gas-default/) but this doesn’t sound quite like that case.

      Reply

      • Hi Sara,

        It’s not showing as a default, but should the account even be on there at all? I thought it was just credit cards, lands, etc. should show on it. Like I said BG didn’t pass it on to debt recovery agents so I wasn’t sure if it should even be on there.

        Reply

        • is it showing as late payments? or on time? Some utility companies do report to CRAs and this is getting more common.

          Reply

  18. Oh and another question sorry…

    I have accounts with a few debtors who I have written too last week to freeze interest until I can come to a agreed payment plan. None of these (or the original companies I took the credit out with), are showing on my report??

    Reply

    • Which report are you looking at? If just one CRA, then the debts could be on one of the other two – get hold of all three CRA reports as this article suggests.

      I assume the debts aren’t really old? Problems drop off a credit record after 6 years.

      If a debt is with a debt collector, it is unlikely that interest is still being added. How long will it take to repay these debts at the payment plan you have proposed?

      Reply

      • Hi Sara,

        Only Experian I have checked so far, i’ll have to look at the other 2.

        They are under 6 years old.

        They haven’t responded yet so no payment plan has been agreed, I can only afford to make small payments at the moment, but as soon as I can increase these I will do as I want the paid off sooner rather than later.

        Found your web site extremely helpful by the way!!

        Reply

  19. Do the free credit reports like ClearScore & Noodle have the same information as Experian? I don’t want to pay the £14.99 monthly fee if there is nothing else to see on the Experian credit report, I don’t think I qualify for the free month trial as I have used Experian in the past

    Reply

    • No, they may all have different information because some lenders only report to one of them.
      You can get all the Experian information for free using MSE’s Credit Club, see the above article.

      Reply

  20. Hi Sara

    I intend to apply for a joint re-mortgage with my wife in 18 months time. The mortgage on our home is currently in my wife’s name only because when we moved house 3 years ago my credit rating was really low. My wife checked her credit rating yesterday and it is Excellent. Over the last 12 months most of her debts have been cleared. I earn twice as much as my wife so to secure a re-mortgage we will need to rely upon my salary too (so a joint application). I have a lot of unsecured debt and my credit rating has just moved up to Fair having been Poor until recently. I calculate I should have significantly less debt in 18 months time, perhaps £8K left on a credit card (low interest) and about 6 months left to pay on a loan.

    Given my previous poor credit rating all bank accounts, cc’s and loans have been applied for under my parents address, I am not on the electoral register there. I have also taken out numerous pay day loans under that address, last one January 2017 with every one paid on time and never defaulted. At our family home address I am registered for Council Tax bill and on electoral register. Car insurance paid monthly is also at my home address but no other credit.

    My questions are:-
    1/ Will I have a credit rating at my new address as well as my parents address?
    2/ Will there be any ‘pitfalls’ to joining them up, what are they likely to be and when would the best time be to do it?

    Many Thanks

    Reply

    • 1/ probably, why not check?
      2/ a mortgage lender doesn’t just look at your credit record, they also look at your bank statements. So they will see the credit taken out “at your old address” even if your credit records haven’t been linked up.

      I suggest you start assuming a mortgage lender will be able to see everything. Get yourself on the electoral roll.

      re the payday loans. HAve you looked to see if you could get any refunds? See https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/. andy money you can get back can be used to reduce your current debts

      Reply

  21. Thanks Sara

    I checked at my current address yesterday and the credit agency couldn’t provide a credit score because of insufficient information at that address. I was asked to provide my debit card details but that didn’t validate, presumably because it was still associated with my parents address.

    I have bitten the bullet and changed all my bank, credit cards, loans and credit reports from my parents address to my current address. This should hopefully ‘join things up’ so I end up with one credit score at my current address but taking account of my financial information from my parents address for the last 6 years. I am already on the electoral register at my current address so hopefully that should provide an instant boost to my score.

    I will keep reducing all my unsecured debt each month and hope over the next 18 months my credit score improves sufficiently to allow me to get a joint re-mortgage with my wife. Acknowledge affordability will be a big factor too but on paper that should look fine in 18 months.

    I have already benefited from the PDL refund site, one refund from Cheque Centre and one with the FOS relating to the Money Shop.

    Thanks again

    Andy

    Reply

      • Hi Sara

        I did change my address from my parents address to my home address where i have been living for a few years and on the electoral register. That was about a week ago.

        I received my 60 day credit score update yesterday (via Barclaycard) and my Experian score has shot up at least 200 points. A couple of months ago I moved from Poor and edged into Fair. I am now classed as Good following the latest change. A score of 900/999, I am delighted and much more confident that myself and my wife will secure a joint re-mortgage when we apply next year. Affordability is much less of an issue than my credit score was.

        Thanks so much for your encouragement.

        Andy

        Reply

  22. Hi Sara
    I am currently paying off a debt via a debt collection agency from a very old account (10+ years) and sometimes get offers to settle in full for a greatly reduced price. They say they will record this on my credit file as ‘partially settled’.
    I get all that, the only thing is is that it doesn’t appear at all on my credit file at the moment. My question is simply: can they ‘put it back on’ if I was to choose to clear the balance at the reduced price?
    Thanks in advance

    Reply

      • I simplified somewhat I’m afraid…it’s two debts, one was a loan and the other a credit card. I was CCJ’d on one of them at the time but that has disappeared also.
        I can’t remember exactly the last offer but I’m sure it was about 50%, possibly a bit better

        Reply

  23. Hi following your conversation with Greg, should you write to the original company that you had the credit card debt with to see if they have a copy of your original agreement or the company that the debt has been sold to?

    Thanks for all your help

    Reply

    • You should write to the debt collector that currently owns the debt.

      NB I am not suggesting that anyone with a problem debt should do this on the off chance the creditor can’t produce the CCA. For most recent debts the creditors is going to be able to do this… and if you make the creditor go to the trouble of finding the CCA, then they may simply decide to go to court for a CCJ.

      But if, like Greg, your debts are really old (his are all over 10 years since the account was opened) and if you are anyway prepared to offer 50% as a F&F, then why not see if the creditor has a real problem with this debt by asking for the CCA…If they can’t find it, you can tell them to get stuffed (some technical debt advice jargon there) or offer a low amount to settle the debt as both you and the creditor then know they will have big problems in going to court. And if they find the CCA, then you just offer them the 50%.

      Reply

  25. hi sara
    i am currently paying a debt to a collection agency, from car finance that goes back around 12/13 years.
    the basic premise is that, the car lasted about 4 weeks, i returned it, but neither the garage nor the finance company were prepared to do anything about it, until around 5 weeks elapsed, by which time, for work, i had already had to purchase a replacement vehicle.
    as you could guess, over the time it has been ‘live’ i have probably paid twice the original debt by now!
    however, there is still around £800 left, which i am paying £30 pm to (long story, but the original finance company continued to add interest to the debt after i had told them i would rather take it to court, which they never actually went through with!)
    anyway, i phoned them, recently, and offered them 50% of the debt as F&F but they refused it out of hand, even though i explained the above to them and said it was unfair for me to STILL have the debt this long later.
    is there anything more i can do, or do i just have to continue paying for it until its finished?
    i feel i have paid my penance for, what was initially a £1500 finance deal, and has subsequently cost me around £4k

    Reply

    • There isn’t a way you can make a company accept a F&F settlement.

      This is a pretty old debt – you could ask the debt collector to produce the CCA agreement for the debt – see https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/getting-information/credit-agreement-advice.aspx which explains how to do this. If they can’t find it, the debt is unenforceable in court and you could consider stopping paying. Talk to Natiobnal Debtline if you want to know more about this.

      Reply

      • thanks sara.
        would that be the agreement with the debt service which i am now paying, or the original finance company they have bought the debt off? (in fact, i think over the history of this, it has changed hands a couple of times)

        Reply

        • You ask the current debt collector to get the CCA agreement – which is the one you originally made with the finance company.

          Reply

  26. Hi Sara,

    Hope your well. Just a quick one, I am in the process of repairing my credit file after bankruptcy and payday loan mess which you have kindly helped on, but I have just noticed that on all my credit reports my mortgage is not showing up, is this correct? I’ve held it for 8 years and not missed a payment but my reports are not showing this. It is with Rooftop Mortgages, which a quick google indicates they don’t lend anymore. Can I ask them to send records to the CRAs?

    Thanks, Craig

    Reply

  27. Hi Sara,

    Is it normal for Payday UK and Payday Express to have a default registered on Experian and then the same default registered by PRAC on noddle and clearscore? Can I request its removed by Experian.

    Many thanks,

    Ben

    Reply

    • Yes that’s normal.

      How are your payday refund complaints going? Have you told PRAC the loans are in dispute?

      Reply

      • The Payday Express one is with the FO and I’ve been rejected by Payday UK but neither them or BW legal will give me a statement of accounts. The reason I want this is because PDU are saying I only had 1 loan with them and it was affordable, but I can see 2 entries for Payday UK on credit file which were settled and 1 that defaulted. Payday UK said from the get-go they didn’t have a statement of accounts, so I have asked how have they determined that it was affordable with out this. I haven’t had any response other than they advised me to contact BW legal – who I have emailed on 3 occasions to no avail. I don’t know whether to report BW Legal to the ICO or FO because my initial request for information was 15th January,.

        Yes I advised both PRAC and BW Legal.

        With my other complaints; Wonga offered about 2,400 on 2 loans but there is still a sizable amount of interest (another 3k) but its over 6 years – to be honest I’m in no rush and I have sent this to the FO for their consideration. Cheque Centre I had no response so I’ve sent that to the FO but I’m not holding my breath with that one. Its a shame really because I borrowed the bulk with them, about 12,000 over 9 months.

        Reply

  28. Hello,

    I have recently been declined finance, I checked with Experian to see why my credit score was low and to my amazement I noticed I had a debt that started in 2010 and defaulted in 2014, I phoned the debt collector and paid the balance in full as this was the first I knew about it.

    I never received notification of the debt. it was in my name but at an EX’s address, so any letters they sent would of went there. I’ve since called them to remove the default from my credit score (the debt collectors) and they said they are unable to do this as I would need to wait 6 years, I advised they never told me I was in arrears so it’s not fair that it had defaulted. they are now telling me to contact the company that sold the debt to them, is this correct? how do I get this removed? ombudsman?

    Reply

      • Hello Sara,

        I have no knowledge of this account, I have been on the phone to Vodaphone (the creditor) today and they can’t find any records of an account either.

        I am also in talks to the debt agency to see what my options are… other than that I am not sure what I can do.

        Reply

        • It is a shame that you paid it! You need Vodaphone to confirm in writing that they can’t trace this account.

          Reply

  29. Hi Sara,

    Just a quick question about accessing credit reports.

    I have no problem accessing Experian or Equifax via the free checkers, however both Noddle and Totally Money are unable to access my Call Credit report.

    It is certainly not because I have no credit file as they suggest. Call Credit definitely do have a file for me because I am able to access it through My Credit Monitor but obviously would rather not pay for it.

    Any thoughts on why this might be?

    Thanks

    Reply

    • No idea. But you can now go direct to Call Credit and get a statutory report from them which will be free (it used to cost £2), see the table in the post above for the relevant link.

      Reply

  30. Please be careful everyone when using Experian for a credit check, I signed up on Tuesday for a free trial so I could download my report to send to FOS. Today I have logged into my bank to discover they have taken £14.99 already. So much for a free trial! I have emailed off to complain so hopefully that will be refunded in the next few days. You do have to put in your card details at the beginning of the trial but you are supposed to get 30 days free before you are charged.

    Reply

  31. Hi
    Last month I tried logging into my online account and a message popped up to say my account is blocked , so I contacted the online team and asked what the issue was and they said your account in under investigation and they will send you a letter to let u know the outcome. I’ve since been to the bank and they are not co-operating and are not telling me why it’s been closed . I wanted to ask if there’s any organisation that could help me . I’ve also checked online for my credit score and that doesn’t show anything or any type of default . I would like further help.

    Reply

  32. Hi Sara,

    Is there a way I can check my UK credit report from abroad? I’ve been living abroad since 2008, so my last UK address is from then. Enrolling to get a report only seems possible if I have a current UK address. I tried Experian using my last known address but got nothing/nowhere.
    I left an overdraft debt of about 1500 behind back then. Now I’m looking at returning to the UK – I think I’d be wanting to avoid the bank involved, as you’ve previously advised. Cannot see that I have any CJ against me on Trust Online – there seems to be nothing on me! Wanted to see what a credit report might reveal, if anything. Hope you can help.

    Many thanks,

    Rob

    Reply

    • If your last address doesn’t find anything, there may not be anything. Try the other two CRAs as well as Experian.

      Reply

  33. Hallo. I are told by gregory’s pennington that my iva will clear my debt by 80%. It dont clear my debt by 80%. It fail like flan in a oven. I are unhappy by this and know in 50k debt and gregory’s pennington say it knot they’re fault. What does RM do? Regard.

    Reply

    • I have changed your very distinctive name to just be your initials. When did your IVA start? Are you buying a house or renting?

      Reply

  34. Hi Sara

    I just wanted to ask, if I were to look for another job would my future employer be likely to do a credit check, and if so are they able to see my overall credit rating, defaults and gambling?

    would they be able to see if I’ve used payday loans?

    I’m unhappy in my job and would like to look for something else, but I’m anxious about being rejected by future employers.

    Any advice would be appreciated

    Thanks

    Marie

    Reply

    • It depends what sort of job you would be applying for. Have you ever been told in the past that an employer is checking your credit records?

      Reply

      • No I haven’t, but I have heard that some employers do this.

        It’s an office manager or executive assistant role. Is it likely they would carry a check like like this for these types of roles?

        Reply

        • It will depend on the employer – it’s more likely if the firm involved in in the financial industry. But where checks are made, they are often only looking to see if you have been bankrupt or in and IVA, or have CCJs.

          Reply

  35. Hi Sara. I have a unpaid default from January 2013 which is about to drop of next month(fingers crossed). However I have a search footprint on my Equifax report done by capquest in March 2017 and April 2017. Will these searches continue to impact my credit rating even after the original default has dropped off file. I ask because I am holding on applying for monthly car insurance in case I am rejucted. By the way, I had been overseas for last 2 and half year and capauest only searched my previous addresses where I haven’t lived for 5 years. And I haven’t had any contact with them in any way.
    Thanks for wonderful work you are doing.

    Reply

    • This search footprint – it sounds like it is a soft footprint done for administration reasons, eg to try to locate you. They aren’t visible to other lenders, only “hard” footprints when you apply for credit are visible.

      Reply

  36. Hello,Ive been checking my credit file and noticed that accounts which didn’t go into default like an old phone contract”which didn’t have any missed payments on”are on my file,does that look bad if I was to go for a mortgage or can there tell which account has been defaulted?thanks

    Reply

    • Old accounts with no defaults stay on your credit record until 6 years after they were closed. If there are no missed/late payments showing, these help your credit record rather than harm it. A mortgage lender would rather see a credit record with some old accounts that didn’t have problems than an empty credit record.

      Reply

  37. Hi Sara
    I’m preparing myself to apply for mortgage.Last week checked score with Equifax and was excellent but there was red mark on electorat roll,so deciaited to update them with letter after that next day my score dropped to poor😔
    Score with Experian 999 and I was on electorat rol ,should I b worry ??

    Reply

    • It sounds odd – double check your Equifax report that what ever you have done hasn’t resulted in some debt problem being linked to your account.

      If it hasn’t, if there isn’t a debt problem in sight, then this shouldn’t cause you a problem with a mortgage application. BUT always go through a mortgage broker, not direct to a lender and tell the broker what has happened.

      Reply

  38. Hi Sara,

    I have received a Letter of Claim from Lowells regarding an old E-on debt. I am able to pay the debt (and within the 30 days) however having looked at all three of my credit files, I cannot see this default anywhere. My question(s) is, if I pay this debt off, will it then appear on my credit file? Also if I dispute this debt, how long will I have before I HAVE to pay i.e. 28 days, 6months etc?

    Reply

    • The debt should not appear on your credit record when you pay it. What grounds do you have to dispute the debt?

      Reply

      • Hi Sara,

        My apologise for the late reply. My grounds for dispute are complex but they revolve around E-on incorrectly installing a meter in my building which led to myself and three neighbours all receiving extremely high electric bills. Considering I work all day and only spend 3 hours in my home, the price vs the usage did not add up. E-on wouldn’t admit fault and now years later it’s still haunting me! This plus the fact that I cannot see this default anywhere on my credit files is making me wonder if this has an legitimacy at all.

        Thank you for your advice, you’re doing amazing work on debtcamel.

        Reply

        • I think you need some advice on whether that is reasonable grounds to defend a court case. It may depend on the details of the argument between you and EON. Whether you had asked them to do something and they they didn’t reply, whether they rejected your complaint and told you of your right to take it to an Ombudsman, whether you reasonably thought you had won the argument and that they were not going to charge and haven heard anything since, etc etc

          You could go to your local Citizens Advice and ask for their help or talk to National Debtline on 0808 808 4000.

          Reply

  39. Hi Sara,i have an unprotected loan of 20,000 since January 2018, but since November I have not paid him and no longer live in England. I am in the default account. If I do not come back what can happen to me?

    Reply

  40. Hi Sara,

    Thanks for all the information you give. I live abroad and I have just checked my credit report which has surprised me! I left 5 years ago and left a little bit of debt behind me, which I know was sold to a debt collector agency but I have never acknowledged. However, looking at my report, I see no defaults, no missed payments, nothing, is there an explanation for that? Many thanks in advance for your help.

    Reply

    • Perhaps it shows on a different credit report – there are three credit reference agencies as the above article explains.

      Reply

  41. Hi Sara, indeed it does, but getting to that info is difficult when you’re abroad! Clear score asks for bank account details I can’t provide, and the noddle site is currently down. However going straight to equifax has shown me that those debts do appear, even if I can’t see my score.

    This brings me to another question: the original creditors do not appear, nor does a payment history of any kind, just the month the account was defaulted by the debt collector, which is nearly a year after the accounts actually went into arrears. Despite these showing as 2 different debt collectors, the default dates are nearly identical, is there any way for me to find out if there ever was another default date on those accounts? Thanks again.

    Reply

    • can I ask why you care? Are you coming back to the UK? the defaults can’t be out by more than 6 months, is it worth any hassle trying to sort this out?

      Reply

  42. I am thinking about coming back to the UK yes. My financial situation has changed considerably, as when I left I was literally penniless, having lost a lot of money on a house purchased in 2008 on a 10 year fixed mortgage!!! I did contact the creditors at the time to try and sort something out, but they were not in the least interested, so I gave up and just left. At least that way my debt hasn’t gone up I guess! Anyway, if I do come back, it would be great if those defaults could disappear sooner rather than later from my report, even by 6 months. Thanks.

    Reply

  43. Hi I currently live abroad and need a copy of my credit report quite urgently. Is this possible without a UK address?

    Reply

    • I think you will find it hard to get through the id verification processes with any of the credit reference agencies if your address is not in the UK. there are special arrangements for British Forces posted overseas.

      Reply

    • Try using your old UK address, it worked for me on one of them at least. Another asked for bank details which made it impossible.

      Reply

Leave a Reply

You have to agree to the comment policy.

This is the personal website of Sara Williams. For details see About Debt Camel.

Privacy policy

Comments Policy

If you need help with debts, read Good places for debt advice.

 

Subscribe to Debt Camel

Join the 4,000 people who receive an email when a new article is published:

Recent articles