Bank mistakes.

[Stuuk1]

Just found out why, since I bought my first property 5 years ago, I have never been able to get a loan, credit card, another mortgage.

Each time told that I failed the credit score.

So a friend pointed me to Experian.co.uk (feel a bit silly I haven't done this sooner) I just got on with having a bad credit rating and made sure I never missed any payments for anything. Which I did successfully and have never, ever, missed a single payment for anything so when I had my mortgage application turned down recently I couldn't understand why...

I signed up, and to my amazement have a credit score of 985/1000 which is in the bracket labelled as 'Excellent'.

Upon further investigation I noticed neither my mortgage or current account was listed anywhere on the report...

Many phone calls to Nationwide and Experian later and it turns out that on just my current account and my mortgage I have three addresses, all the same address but written in different ways. For the past 5 years I have apparently been living in Turnbridge Wells as opposed to Tunbridge Wells. Also in one field, the Street Name field, they wrote the whole address out in there making it totally unusable to Experian. One address even had 'Turnbridge' on one line and 'Wells' on another.... Seriously!

It amazes me how people can get the simplest of tasks so wrong when filling in someone's data on a computer.

Rant over.

[dizzyblonde]

You are on the electoral role?

[454697819]

ha the same, nationwide had to refer my new accounts for approval because experian have my address down on dfferent lines, which makes auto systems not read it..

good luck with sorting.

[Red Herring]

I apparently have a rubbish credit rating as well. It has something to do with not owing anybody anything for the past ten years and not being on the electoral role....
I can live with it!

[tom-k6]

i have never understood the fact that never having had credit gives you instantly bad credit. what ever happened to innocent until proven guilty, eh? ;)

[Stuuk1]

You are on the electoral role?

Yep, on the electoral role which that is listed on Experian.

[Stuuk1]

ha the same, nationwide had to refer my new accounts for approval because experian have my address down on dfferent lines, which makes auto systems not read it..

good luck with sorting.

Haha, funnily enough it is Nationwide that have made the mistakes! As soon as the flat is sold I think ill move my monies from them....

[Bibio]

under the data protection act you can ask for it to be rectified and they must comply.

data must be up to date and accurate.

http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_organisations/data_protection/the_guide/information_standards/principle_4.aspx

[Stuuk1]

They wouldn't change it over the phone and insisted a letter had to be sent in the post.

I rang again earlier tonight to get my account numbers and he said I can walk in to any nationwide branch, fill in a form and do it there and then. So going to give that a go... Wish me luck!


Member of the 1 litre club...

[Sir Trev]

So a friend pointed me to Experian.co.uk

It amazes me how people can get the simplest of tasks so wrong when filling in someone's data on a computer.

Rant over.

How did you find the Experian report? Have been considering it myself to make sure that some of my now closed accounts are not clutering up my record and that everything is as it should be.

And the data entry clerks may well be on piece rate or under pressure to get through x number in a shift, so mistakes like this are quite normal!

[Stuuk1]

The report was great, when I say great, it showed me all I wanted to see. It's free after all, but you need to remember to cancel the account as after 30 days it's £14.99 per month.

It's pointed out why I failed so many applications for credit cards and mortgages, so to me, it was well worth it!

My mate logged on to his and found that he had stuff on there from O2 from 5 years ago which was settled at the time but still showing active and ultimately has given him a bad credit rating and as a result suffered a mortgage application refusal aswell.


Member of the 1 litre club...

[Bibio]

i would also check equfax as well as experian as different credit company's use both or either. it's a crap game getting credit now as you have to be squeaky clean and no marks against you.

[timwilky]

I have an account with Leicester building society, now Santander.

when I wanted to withdraw 4 grand in cash I phoned them in advance and they advised that I needed to provide 2 forms of identity.

Got there and big problem. My account wasn't in my name. I set up the account 32 years earlier, had a mortgage linked to the account. changed it to a joint access when I met lynne etc. But suddenly despite the passbook saying Timothy the computer said Anthony.

I had to fill in a change of name form to get them to correct their mistake. The could not accept that the computer record was wrong. I did ask why I had been able to use the account for so long without this issue being identified and they stated it was a new system they were using. In the past they just checked the signature.

[Owenski]

+1 to equifax checks, if you see my mortgage thread i've just found out that experian (used by most lenders) only shows about 2/3ds of your relevent credit history.
equifax shows the lot and is whats considered a true representation of your credit health.

Experian has me and the wife at 999 on the credit score (highest possible) but go to equifax and the wife is much much lower mainly due to all our joint accounts having her as the primary.

[littleoldman2]

How did you find the Experian report? Have been considering it myself to make sure that some of my now closed accounts are not clutering up my record and that everything is as it should be.

And the data entry clerks may well be on piece rate or under pressure to get through x number in a shift, so mistakes like this are quite normal!

They may well be in an office on the Indian sub continent and not have an idea about Tunbridge vs Turnbridge etc.

[Stuuk1]

They may well be in an office on the Indian sub continent and not have an idea about Tunbridge vs Turnbridge etc.

But when you type in the postcode it would surely not accept that town. It was only 5 years ago after all....


Member of the 1 litre club...

[Stuuk1]

Hi all, me again, this time with an update!

So, I finally decide after Experian managed to find two more records for my account for a sofa I bought a while back and that bumped my score up from an already very respectful 985 to 999, that I will submit another mortgage application.

I rang up Nationwide one last time to see why It still hadn't shown up on my report and we checked the address that I had changed it to.

It turns out that they once again have spelt my address wrong.... Now with two BAD spelling mistakes.

Do Nationwide employ only dyslexic people in their offices? Surely in an office that deals solely with changing addresses (which is an extremely important aspect of banking, one would seem) a criteria of being able to read/spell/type would be a key element...

Please dont take offence to the dyslexic part on my message, I'm just extremely angry as I still am unable to apply for a mortgage and every day that goes by is meaning that I have to live at home with my parents!

I want to complain to Nationwide, but if I complain, what outcome am I looking for? Would I be complaining for some sort of compensation? Their phone number along with Experian aren't free to call from a mobile phone and therefore is costing me a fortune as this has been going on for over a month now (not had a bill through and quite frankly am not looking forward to it).

Has anyone had these kind of dealings before?

[Bibio]

yup. round and round in circles :-(. i gave up in the end. good news is that i have a week or so to go till the supposed default it over. it was a PITA when i went to get my new bike so i saved and got one instead (missed a seasons biking though).

i don't usually do credit but i wanted a bike so i suppose they done me a favour really.

[Stuuk1]

Well,

Here I am just over a month after first discovering the banks mistakes, it is finally sorted. Experian is showing correctly and my credit rating is now a constant 999!

Was offered £100 but managed to get £200 out of them. Perhaps I could have tried for more but would probably mean another complaint through the ombudsman which I simply do not have the time/patience for and glad it is now off of my 'to do' list!

I have to admit, Nationwide's banking system is complete pants but their complaints team are superb, easy to contact and always get back to you if they miss your call. When I say complaints, I'm talking about to the Chief Executive (I bypassed the other complaints team and went straight to the top).

Top banana, now to spend some extra pocket monies...

[littleoldman2]

Well done you.

[maviczap]

Strangely enough Nationwide is the only bank/building society that I've ever had any problems with.

I have an old account which I use for my Ebay fund, I got a statement through showing some odd withdrawls, their mistake somebodies typo

We'll them and the Co op, who managed to loose my mortgage redemption payment, rather a large sum, lost in the electronic banking interworld.

Thankfully found after a few frantic phone calls to English speaking call centres, based in the UK

Good on you Stuuk