Unauthorised credit check - allowed? How to follow up...

[pavlovthecat]

My DH did a moneysupermarket search for car insurance, received the quotes. Has done nothing about it as yet as car insurance not due, just checking out prices.

I have just checked my credit report, as I do each month and there are 4 associated searches - two companies have completed credit searches against my DH, one was Royal and Sun Alliance, and the other Elephant - both of these requested the search twice.

He did not request these searches. It does not state car insurance specifically, however Elephant is a car insurance co and this was the day after he did the search (been and checked his email confirmation from moneysupermarket).

There are no details, and I am thinking that if he just phones the co's they will have no knowledge of how/why these are there.

So what I want to know is who should DH contact to remove these unauthorised checks? The co who requested the checks, or Experian, or moneysupermarket?

I am annoyed as although it is just for information on my report, it is recorded on his, 4 searches. We have a mortgage search already on our files, and if we need to apply again after the 3 month Mortgage in Principle runs out, it means it will be the 6th check on his credit file, not the 2nd as it should have been - and might affect the outcome (hmm]

why would it affect the outcome? Credit is given based on your credit history, i.e. whether you have had bad debts/have defaulted on credit card payments/have had ccj's etc. How many credit checks have been made is not relevant - as long as you have a clear credit history there will not be any issue.

presumably these credit checks were carried out as your dh has asked for details re the monthly repayments for an insurance policy.

Number of credit checks done can be important - if it looks like lots have been done without any 'success' in taking up with a company it makes it look as though you have credit problems and can sometimes count against you with mortgage companies. Contact Experian - depending on whether the checks were legal or not they can remove them or allow you to add an explanatory note to your report.

Having said that, it's best to keep your report as 'clean' as possible but don't panic about 6 too much - I used to process mortgages and the ones we really laughed at ran into 4 pages of credit checks alone (never mind the rest of the report!)

Wannabe - no he did not ask for monthly details, we pay annually. It was just a routine general check for prices. He did not ask for any checks to be made, and I have done moneysupermarket checks before in the past without credit checks being made.

Also, as wobblyknicks states - the number of 'footprints' as they are called can affect the outcomes/interest rates offered from potential lenders - more than 4 I think - it suggests you are continually applyinhg for credit, as the outcome is not given, it might imply you are unable to get credit but keep applying, or that you are taking out more debt, making you less trustworthy to repay.

So 6 checks within 3 months is not good.

Wobbly - thanks! I will get DH to write to experian. He has not bothered to get his report before now, guess this is the time to see it!!! And add a note on it.

If you contact experian and add a note to your report, the lender should look at that and if there is a problem with the amount of checks they'll know to look at them more closely, then see that there's only 2 companies doing 2 checks each very close together and that they aren't loan companies, which, in the eyes of a mortgage processor, can put a completely different spin on the risk.

(x-posted but, unlike most of my x-posts it still makes sense )

Wobbly - Will get him to do that (or, in reality do it on his behalf, as he never gets round to it!).

I think, the fact that I have a mortgage with the mortgage company already, and just wanted more money to move house with, which included DH this time as the old mortgage did not, will likely to go for us if there are issues, I can always explain directly to them, as I have no default payments etc etc, and currently am creditworthy - financially nothing has changed.

I am just panicking! As normal!

If it's with your current mortgage company I wouldn't panic at all, as they know you already they shouldn't be nearly so suspicious and will be far more interested in the way you've maintained the credit you've already got.

wobbly oh good. I think I sort of knew that, but I have worked very hard over the last few years to get my credit rating up, after having bad credit from my student years following me. Glad to say its no longer there, but given the current state of mortgage co's lending to people, I think I just got all flustered at seeing something on my file that should not be there! Especially as I cant phone and rant as I would normally because they are not checks on me, but on DH!

i work for one of the companies mentioned - these searches are not footprints or credit checks they are identity checks - just to make sure you aren't enquiring about insurance in a false name or with false details

Experian/Equifax will have explainations on thier websites about the different types of checks - the only type that woud affect you would be searches done when applying for credit not just checking your identity hth

Its Pavlov in disguise. But if its an identification check, it would not show on my credit report, only on DHs.

And I have had a couple of ID checks, one from mobile co when I changed. It clearly states 'generic Identification Check' and above Experian states this is for my benefit only. I have no problems with that bit, understand that completely. Experian do it themselves too, each time I request my report.

The companies mentioned, the checks they have done have been 'credit search' or credit check' cant remember how it was worded without going back to check but worded exactly the same as my mortgage co check, which was a proper credit search. And it is not in my own section, it is under Associated Searches.

And why check on MY and MY DHs private file to see if a generic search of the internet on a quote is not fraudulent? All DH is ask for possible prices. We got a good 30-40 quotes and no-one else did this, or had any reason to do so, until we chose to take the policy up. It does make sense.

And I did not give permission. Needless to say I wont be using those companies, cheapest or not. Which they werent!