For the past 5 years or so Ive been a big fan of insurance comparison sites, for the simple fact that they save me time and money. That was until a few weeks ago, when i discovered that my credit rating had been affected just by using one of these sites to get an insurance quote!
When i asked for a quote from a comparison site, they sent my details to over 20 insurance companies… 5 of those companies decided to do a credit check on me. Did you know that if too many credit checks are done on you in a short timespan, that it severly affects your credit rating?
Well it does!
I am now left with bad credit, and have to wait 6 months for it to improve. Ive never had bad credit, and never had any claims against me; i always pay my bills before spending on the bike
This is just a warning to those who are not aware of this fact.
this is because in UK the law for data protection is very very very weak. in other European countries this is illegal and they should inform you before they do any check. it is also very strange the some agencies just (legally) sell your details (credit information, telephone number, email, etc…) to other companies. this is wrong and this problem should be fixed.
Im pretty sure if you read the terms and conditions for the insurance comparison sites, its in there… but I wasnt actually aware this was an issue, until I was refused a phone line because i failed a credit check. I then had to go through experian to find out why i had bad credit, to find out its only because i had too many credit checks in a short time.
