Are photocopies of passports required for I.D. to receive your credit files cross-referenced to old addresses?!

[Brachetthecub]

Hello all,

 

I've recently asked by post for 3 statutory credit reports @ £2 each from the 3 credit reference agencies.

Callcredit file came through fast-with nothing needed. Equifax has just arrived & although i show on the votors roll at present address i have no previous address to give them-so they've asked for a 'government' issued doc (passport, etc) & a recent utility bill. Have the utility bill no probs but by sending a copy of my passport it may open a whole can of worms with previous addresses if they have a mechanism to check identity by for example inputting passport numbers. I stress I'm NOT trying to apply for credit illegaly or trying to defraud anyone...just trying to build a clean credit file on a new address. I presenlty have NO debts to anyone-they've all been taken care of.

 

Do equifax/experian (who've not replied yet) use passport numbers to verify id (hence possibly linking me to old addresses I'd rather they did not)...or am I being paranoid?

 

How come call-credit did not need this ?

 

Also-do banks (wanting to open a basic a/c with yorkshire bank) check passport numbers against old addresses etc...

 

Any advice would be great!

[noddyaccount]

Hello all,

 

I've recently asked by post for 3 statutory credit reports @ £2 each from the 3 credit reference agencies.

Callcredit file came through fast-with nothing needed. Equifax has just arrived & although i show on the votors roll at present address i have no previous address to give them-so they've asked for a 'government' issued doc (passport, etc) & a recent utility bill. Have the utility bill no probs but by sending a copy of my passport it may open a whole can of worms with previous addresses if they have a mechanism to check identity by for example inputting passport numbers. I stress I'm NOT trying to apply for credit illegaly or trying to defraud anyone...just trying to build a clean credit file on a new address. I presenlty have NO debts to anyone-they've all been taken care of.

 

Do equifax/experian (who've not replied yet) use passport numbers to verify id (hence possibly linking me to old addresses I'd rather they did not)...or am I being paranoid?

 

How come call-credit did not need this ?

 

Also-do banks (wanting to open a basic a/c with yorkshire bank) check passport numbers against old addresses etc...

 

Any advice would be great!

 

As far as I know Experian etc do not use passport nos to verify id , although the pass port office may use credit ref agencies , I am sure they would love yo or love you to think they do , IMO a bit paranoid , it would be wrong for private govt info to be shared with private companies .

Call credit are probably not used buy the home office

Banks etc check passports for I>D , they don't/cannot cross-reference them , that would surely be data protected info .

Give it a go , remember people only know what you tell them and the rest is your business anyway .

[Somebody Told Me]

If you're really not happy to send a copy of your passport you could ask them what else they'd accept in lieu of this.

Alternatively, if neither Equifax or CallCredit have shown any surprises to you then there's really no reason why Experian should have any different information.

[ptol]

For a credit reference agency to give you your credit report, they must be satisfied you are the person you claim to be. They will want to use all information you give them to try to link you to an existing person on their system, as that helpsthemtoconfirm your ID.

 

Since you are intentionally trying to hide past events in your credit history, at the point when you use this clean credit history to obtain new credit, you are open to claims that you are acting fraudulently.

 

Whilst past events on your credit history may be terrible, if your claim that you currently have no debts to anyone, then it means that you have no outstanding CCJ's, no accounts currently in default, and even if you have gone down a form of bankruptcy in the recent past, you have now completed your responsiblities to the court.

 

Enjoy life without debt, and get into the saving habit. If you find thatyou cannot save money, then that kind ofprooves that yoy cannot afford the debt either.

[Somebody Told Me]

Fair point.

 

Perhaps the OP could provide us with more details re their reluctance to be linked to previous address as advice may be available to resolve these issues.