Sheesh - seems like ages since I've been here. So many changes, business up and running - bred my f...
Sheesh - seems like ages since I've been here. So many changes, business up and running - bred my first litter of labs - moved house - guess I had better work on catching up now!
Member since:20.03.2001
Reviews:275
Members who trust:170
As some of you may have gathered from recent ops, at present, credit security in our house is paramount. We initially had an issue when one of my lenders advised me I had taken out a credit card that I hadn’t, (if you see what I mean). Worse than this, when I got hold of my Equifax account there happened to be activity on there from someone else that made me nervous, but nuff said.
I stumbled across www.creditexpert.co.uk through a website advert and decided to mosey on over and have a look. For those of you that have never heard of this website or company, they are managed by Experian, one of the two major UK credit reference agencies. Like Equifax, until recently, the only way to find out what was going on with your file was to send off your cheque for £2 with your name and address details for the last 6 years to:
CHS Experian PO Box 8000 Nottingham, NG80 7WF
You can also order on-line, but will receive your credit file by post, or by telephone for £2.50, or of course you could use Experian’s new on-line service, www.creditexpert.co.uk
HOW DOES IT WORK? Their home-page is packed full of information telling you what a wonderful service creditexpert is, and how it can help you manage your credit. They provide sample reports so you get an outline of what information you might discover. It also had a piece on why you should take control of your credit and an overview of the ‘explosion’ of identifies fraud.
The best bit is that they offer you a one-month free trial of the service to see if it’s for you. Registration should be simple. You will be asked for your last two addresses and advised that if they don’t have address records dating back 6 years, you will be prompted for further information once logged into
the system. Although you are signing up for a free trial, you will still need to provide credit or debit card details for the annual payment of £49.99 which will be debited from your account once the free trial has expired. For the fee you get access to an unlimited number of credit reports.
There is a cancellation policy, although it is complex and I would suggest you do read the small print carefully before signing up. However, don’t be fooled. Firstly, if you are not on the electoral register at your current address, you have no hope of opening an account today. In fact, you don’t actually get to see your credit records straight away, as even if your registration is successful, you will have to wait for your pin number through snail mail before you can log in.
A TIP When signing up for your account, ensure you keep a full record of any information you provide such as username and password and memorable words. This is particularly relevant if you use different information for different accounts (which you should for security purposes). They will not be sent to you in any shape or form, and you will need them later.
MY EXPERIENCE Having only lived at my address a couple of months when I tried to obtain an account. I was refused. I received an e-mail advising I would have access once I had sent them original utility bills issued within the last 3 months displaying my current address. A difficult task when you have only just moved in. This was an addition to a copy of my passport, driving license or birth certificate. Even once these have been sent, they must go to the fraud investigation team for authentication, and then, within about 2 weeks you will receive your pin number allowing you to access your credit report.
Your free trial however, will not start until you have accessed the account using your pin number, which incidentally you do not need after your first visit.
WHEN YOU EVENTUALLY GET IN – IS IT WORTH IT? Yes, you are bound by extremely strict codes of conduct on how you can use this sensitive information. Suffice to say I don’t think I will get shot if I say that their information held is more accurate than Equifax’s.
Useful information Once logged in, before you even get around to ordering your report you will find a wealth of information on the basics of credit, credit fraud, copies of previous newsletters and a glossary of terms you may encounter in your report.
As a member, you also get access to a free phone number, which is generally either engaged or takes ages to answer, but I suppose at least you are not paying for it. There is also a section on credit tools providing calculators and tips on credit card deals and debt consolidation information.
THE REPORT The sections are almost identical to those supplied by Equifax and the report is split into several sections:
• Profile This section lists every lender with which you have an account that is current or has expired within the last 6 years.
• Electoral Role This shows who is registered on the ER at your address, the period of registration, and where you are registered, if it is not your current address. Unlike in the past, Electoral role registration is now produced on a rolling basis. I know I am now registered at my current address, but so are the previous owners, and you only get one chance a year to correct this yourself if they don’t.
• Associations / Aliases This lists everyone with whom you are believed to have a financial connection, i.e. shared accounts etc. If you can prove that any of these are wrong you can ask that a notice of disassociation be placed on your file, so their behaviour with credit does not impact on any applications you make
• Public Records Details under this heading cover things such as court judgments, bankruptcies and individual voluntary arrangements. As with most records details stay on your account for 6 years, although, say for example, you ended up with a CCJ through exceptional circumstances, you can have the opportunity to place comments
• Account Information Rather
Pictures of www.creditexpert.co.uk
Credit Experts website
self-explanatory, contains details of all your accounts and how you manage them, open and closed, over the last 6 years.• Previous Searches Any previous credit searches made on you over the last two years, by whom, and for how much. No indication is made of whether you were approved or not.
• Linked Addresses Any addresses you have been linked with over the last 6 years
• CIFAS CIFAS is run by Equifax and is the UK’s body for fraud prevention. It logs fraudulent activity registered at your address by either yourself or any previous inhabitants (or with the growth of identity fraud, not you as the case may be). CIFAS also provide a facility for protective registration if you may have been encountering various problems, at a cost of £11.75 per person for a one-year period. Both myself and the other half have taken advantage of this facility for various reasons, but it is not a decision to be taken lightly. It will also affect your own ability to get credit, and instant credit will definitely be a thing of the past during your registration.
• GAIN (Gone Away) Experian and other agencies, process this information for contributing lenders. Experian make this statement about the service:
”It is a network through which the members of this closed user group share information about customers who have left the address known to the lender and in some cases, identifies any new address to which the customer has been traced.”
There are substantial help-files throughout the site, that mean, providing you don't have any gripes with the information, you are unlikely to ever have to ask any questions or speak to a human.
NAVIGATION This is slightly more complex than with Equifax who simply produce a complete report. In Experian, you can navigate either through the section headings of through the complete report.
EXPERIAN –V- EQUIFAX Both companies should provide you with identical information, but I now know this is not the case.
• Experians records are definitely more reliable than Equifax • Each time you want a copy of your Experian account, you have to produce a new report, whereas with Equifax your report is valid for 28 days • Each Equifax report costs £8.25 whereas with Experian, your annual payment of £49.99 covers as many reports as you wish • You need a credit of debit card to buy from either of them • An Equifax account is quicker to get than Experians, does this mean than Experian take your security more seriously? Not really sure • Experian will send you a weekly alert when there is any significant activity on your credit file. The first time I received one I nearly had a heart attack, until I realised that it was simply to tell me I had settled one of my accounts. Other information these alerts may contain, include (From the site)
The addition or deletion of a credit account A change in the payment history of a credit account The addition or deletion of a judgment, voluntary arrangement, or bankruptcy A search of your Experian credit report The addition or deletion of a Notice of Correction The settlement of an account A significant balance change on a revolving credit account opened in the last six months
MY VERDICT Getting through Experian’s security checks was more difficult than an underage teenager accessing a nightclub with a forged identify card, but worth the wait.
I like the fact that I only have to pay once a year for the service, I don’t like the fact the only way I can refer to the report with Experian is to print it. I do not want this type of information laying around.
I like, in theory the weekly alerts, and the fact that the information provided is accurate. However, in reality, I guess that for the foreseeable future, I will continue to use both services.
It only gets 4 stars because of the length of time taken to access to system, and the inflexibility of retaining information after the report has been produced.
For more info visit:
www.creditexpert.co.uk
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Oddly, my boyfriend's credit record when we got it from Experian (I think) a few years ago contained more information about his ex landlady's store card applications (she had more than me and that's A LOT) than about him, and thankfully none about me. And he'd moved out of there several years ago so I would be furious if I were here. I do think these charges are rather high for knowing what data is held about you (and whoever!) Luci
Advantages: If you need to sort out your credit record, you need the information to address the problem Disadvantages: too easy to get caught in monthly payments through idlel curiosity
MoneyPenny2 26.10.2009 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of www.creditexpert.co.uk
May 31st, 2004
exceptional by (7%):
very helpful by (93%):
