Credit Score Basics > What does Experian do?

What does Experian do?

Experian is one of the world's largest credit reference agencies (sometimes called credit bureaus). This means that it compiles credit reports and calculates credit scores, which lenders use when reviewing loan applications.

Experian offers more than just personal credit reports and credit scores, though. Some of its other services include:

• Identity protection service;
• Fraud monitoring service;
• Company credit reports (including for sole traders).

What is a credit reference agency?

A credit reference agency (CRA) is an independent organisation that holds data about you, including your credit applications, accounts, and financial behaviour. Lenders rely on this data to decide whether to give you credit.

Is Experian a UK company?

Despite being listed on the London Stock Exchange, Experian is legally registered in Dublin, Ireland, and its main headquarters are in California, USA. It has global operations in 40 countries and holds data on 1 billion people.

In the UK, it operates through a subsidiary called Experian Ltd. Here, it is one of the three leading credit reference agencies, along with Equifax and TransUnion.

How much does Experian cost in the UK?

It depends. Some of Experian's services are free, like the basic Experian account, which lets you view your credit score (updated once a month), or the Experian Statutory Report, which gives you access to your standard credit report.

Another free service is Experian Boost, which lets you connect your bank account with your Experian account and boost your credit score by making some of your regular payments (from council tax to your Netflix subscription) count towards your credit score.

However, Experian also offers premium services, like a daily updated credit score and credit report. After a 30-day free trial, these cost £14.99 a month.

Experian also offers Identity Plus, which helps you monitor the internet for any leaked passwords or personal information and even locks your credit report so potential fraudsters don't apply for loans in your name. Identity Plus costs £10.99 a month.

What information does Experian have about me?

The information that Experian holds on you is the information that lenders need to see to verify your identity and your "creditworthiness" as a borrower:

• Your name, current address, and previous addresses from the past six years;
• Whether you're registered to vote,
• How many accounts you've had in the past six years, and when you opened them;
• How regularly you pay your bills, including any missed or late payments;
• How much credit is available to you, and how much of it you use;
• Who you're financially associated with (for example, if you have a joint mortgage with your spouse);
• Whether you've had a default, bankruptcy, CCJ, or IVA in the past six years.

You don't need to supply this information to Experian yourself. Experian will collect it automatically from public records (for example, the Electoral Register) and the companies you have a relationship with (like your bank, mobile phone company, or credit card provider). This data is refreshed every 4 to 6 weeks, depending on when these companies send information to Experian.

Remember that not all lenders, banks, or utility companies work with Experian – which is why your Equifax and TransUnion credit reports and scores might look somewhat different.

What can lenders and other companies see on my Experian credit report?

It really depends on why they're asking for your credit report.

If they're asking for it because you applied for a loan, they'll see all of the information in your credit report (limited to the last six years). They will also see if other lenders have done a similar check (called a hard check) on you in the past 1-2 years.

However, if the company simply wants to market a new product to you, it can only run a soft search—it will see less information. This soft search is not visible to other companies, only to you.

One thing to keep in mind here is that companies will need your approval to run a hard check—they can't do it otherwise.

Which lenders use data from Experian?

Experian is the largest credit reference agency in the UK, and most large companies use it to decide whether to accept you as a customer.

This includes:

• Barclays,
• RBS,
• Coop Bank,
• Halifax,
• HSBC,
• Lloyds,
• Natwest,
• Nationwide,
• Santander,
• TSB,
• Monzo, etc.

Credit card providers that use Experian include:

• Barclaycard,
• Capital One,
• Tesco Bank,
• Vanquis,
• Virgin Money, etc.

Some mobile networks also check your Experian credit report if you apply for a mobile phone contract (especially one that comes with a premium handset):

• Three,
• Carphone Warehouse,
• Vodafone,
• EE,
• O2, etc.

Remember that most of these banks and companies don't use just Experian data – they might also look at Equifax and TransUnion.

How accurate is Experian's credit score?

CRAs calculate your score in slightly different ways and using slightly different information. This is why you don't have one single credit score in the UK but three: one from Experian, one from Equifax, and another from TransUnion.

Experian claims its credit score is the UK's most trusted, and it regularly conducts surveys to measure this. Of course, we don't know how biased or unbiased that survey might be. Still, the reality is that Experian is the most widely used credit score (by banks and lenders), so you should focus on it more than on the ones from Equifax and TransUnion.

What can Experian help with regarding my credit report or credit score?

Experian might hold the information on your credit report, but it doesn't decide what goes on it. That's up to the companies that supply it with this data—banks, lenders, and so on.

Experian also can't help you:

• get a loan (it can't help you get approved);
• understand which loan applications were successful or refused;
• or why your applications were refused.

Experian is more like a middleman who can help mediate disputes between you and your creditors when something is incorrect in your credit report.

This is why you should only reach out to Experian for things like:

• Correcting errors in your credit report (but contact the company responsible for the error first);
• Adding a note to your report in which you can tell your side of the story (for example, if you missed a payment because you were ill or lost your job);
• Investigating potential signs of fraud (like an account that you don't recognise);
• removing financial links between you and other people (for example, between you and an ex-spouse);
• Or correcting basic details like address history or your name.

All of these things are free, and any other credit reference agency can also do them for their credit report.

On top of these, though, Experian can also:

• Protect you against fraud (if you purchase their premium service);
• Give you an idea of your eligibility for credit cards and loans (it comes with the free Experian account);
• Or boost your credit score by making some of your regular subscriptions count towards it (if you link your bank account with your Experian account). This service is called Experian Boost, and it can be a quick and free way to add up to 66 points to your Experian credit score.

If you want to improve how your Experian credit report looks to lenders, you should also consider downloading a credit-building app like Wollit.

Wollit reports your monthly subscription as a loan repayment to Experian (as well as to Equifax and TransUnion), helping you boost your credit score. It also reports your regular rent payments to Experian, which can add to your credit report so that lenders can see that you pay your bills on time and that you're a financially reliable person.

• Credit Reference Agencies