A tiny error in your address could wreck your credit rating

theguardian.com:

Gary Sleet* no longer officially exists as far as the financial sector is concerned. He’s ineligible for a mortgage, a personal loan or a mobile phone contract, and he would be refused if he applied for a credit card.

Sleet, who lives in Paisley, Renfrewshire, has committed no offence and has never missed a payment. His credit rating was wrecked, he says, because his local council changed his flat number on the electoral roll. This means his address does not match details on Royal Mail’s postcode address finder (PAF), which is used by most companies to verify customers.

“When agencies and lenders and banks try to find me, they use the postal address database,” he says. “Renfrewshire council has, in effect, negated my existence by refusing to update this record.”

UK addresses are recorded on three official databases – the local authority street naming and numbering register, the electoral roll and the PAF, compiled by Royal Mail.

If there’s a discrepancy between them, a resident’s full credit history may not show up when lenders perform a credit check and their credit score will plummet.

That’s because all companies and organisations purchase their databases from Royal Mail. If an address doesn’t show on the PAF, it’s deemed not to exist by traders.

According to Royal Mail, discrepancies happen because, while it is obliged to list addresses in the format registered by local authority street naming and numbering departments, electoral roll entries can be amended for a fee at the request of homeowners.

Tiny anomalies could potentially make a life-changing difference. Householders who substitute “apartment” for “flat”, or a house name for a house number, may find themselves in a similar position to a serial debtor as far as lenders