Your Credit Reference

Before getting a loan, the credit company will do a credit check with a credit reference agency, to see if you are a worthy credit risk.

What Details are on your Credit File?

Your credit file lists every detail you give any time you made an application to borrow money. This includes:

• Your address,
• How long you lived there,
• Who else lives in the property,
• Electoral roll information,
• Information about anyone financially associated with you (in the case of a joint application),
• How much you borrowed and when the agreement was taken out,
• If you have broken a credit agreement,
• County court judgements, bankruptcy and individual voluntary arrangement details,
• House repossession.

This information is held for 6 years or 6 years after the debt has been repaid.

Any address you gave or received correspondence from may be held on your credit file. If you move, the person that moves into your old address will see information regarding yourself in their credit file, so it's important to update your file and 'disassociate' yourself from that address.

*You cannot pay anyone to repair your credit file.

*Information will remain on your credit reference until the time periods indicated by the Credit Reference Agency have come to an end.

*Nobody has authorisation to make amendments to your file except you and the credit file holders.

Checking your Credit

The reference agency does not decide on whether or not you are entitled to credit or not. The creditor will form an opinion on the information presented by the reference agency on your credit history and then approve or reject your credit. The majority of creditors operate a scoring system against the information that they receive from the credit reference agency along with other information such as your age, occupation, whether or not you are a home owner. This will help them decide whether to give you credit or not. However, if you have been looking at other creditors to find where you can get the best deal, this will show up on your credit history and some creditors may refuse you credit because of this - even though you may not accept some of the offers on your file. To avoid this situation, it is advisable to compare credit companies by given quotations and rates.

Creditors are not obliged to tell you why you have been refused credit, other than it is to do with your credit reference which is out of their control. If you disagree with their decision, you are entitled to have the decision reviewed.

You are also entitled to add a 200 word statement on your credit reference which you feel may make a difference to the decision credit companies will make against you.

Viewing and Updating your File

Under section 7 of the data Protection Act 1998, you are legally entitled to view your credit reference. You may want to check this even if you do not have a problem as it is imperative that all the information stated, is correct.

If you have a credit or debit card in your name, you will be able to request a copy of your credit file online. You can do this through one of two companies: www.equifax.co.uk and www.experian.co.uk . Experian also lets you order by telephone on 0870 241 6212.

If you want to write in to request a copy of your credit file, contact Equifax, Experian or Callcredit. You will also need to include your name, date of birth, current address and any other address you have had within the last six years and your business name (if applicable) - if your business name has changes within the last six years, it would be useful to include this too.

The addresses are printed below:

If you have moved address, paid a judgement or want to correct any information shown on your credit file, you may write and inform the Credit Reference Agency of the changes. They should then update your file.