What do I do if credit reference agency information stops me getting credit?

Sometimes, you will be refused credit, and you can be just baffled. If you have had no credit problems before, have been at the same address for a while, and in a stable job, yet you still get turned down for loans, you would benefit from performing some investigations. If you genuinely think that something unfair has gone on, you can get advice from your local Citizen's advice bureau, consumer advice centre, and Trading Standards Department.

Bear in mind a few things first. Other members of your household can affect your credit records. This is because the finances of people living in the same household can often be linked. Should one member get into difficulty, it can affect the finances of other members. So there'll be a record of people with whom you are financially associated, including those with whom you have made a joint credit application or opened a joint account, whether or not those applications are successful. There have been rumours about the influences of people who previously lived at the address where you are. But this is an area in which you should get in touch with the credit reference agency, to assure them you have no financial connection with previous occupants.

You can write to a credit reference agency to ask them to see your credit file. To help them, provide them with as much information as possible about yourself, such as your addresses for the past six years. You need to enclose a postal order or cheque for £2.00. Most lenders can tell you which credit reference agencies that they use.

Once you get your information back, you should study it very carefully. Check that the "footprints" on the file are correct. Footprints are made when a credit-granting institution runs a check on your credit information. If you were approved for the loan, your payment record will also be recorded. For each payment, you will see a '0' recorded assuming you made the payment. If this information is wrong (i.e. Not a '0' even though you paid) then you need to write to the credit reference agency to get this corrected.

Look to see if you have CCJs recorded against your name. If you have been to court, and made the payment immediately - and have a receipt from a court, then you shouldn't have a CCJ against your name. But the courts make mistakes - so this is the time to rectify them.

If the information held about you is correct, then there isn't much you can do about the refused application. Should it be wrong, the credit reference agency has to put it right. You have rights under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and the Data protection act 1998, which make this so.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

© AskFinancially.com 2008

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