Nobody has the right to credit. Before giving you credit, lenders such as banks, loan companies and shops want to be confident that you can repay the money they lend. To help them do this, they may look at the personal information held by credit reference agencies about you – your Credit Report.
If personal information held about you is incorrect or out of date, it could lead to you being unfairly refused credit.
You can read all about credit, your rights and what to do if things go wrong in a government leaflet called “Credit explained” from the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Your Credit Report
Credit reference agencies give lenders a range of information about potential borrowers, which lenders use to make their decisions. The information shared may include information about your previous credit history. They hold certain information about most adults in the UK. This information is called your credit reference file or Credit Report.
Lenders of small secured loans will usually be interested in your mortgage payment history. Secured loan lenders want to know that you take homeownership seriously, as a secured loan means that you are placing your home at risk.
Refused credit unfairly?
If you think you have been refused credit unfairly, you can ask the lender to explain the main reason why and review their decision. Even if the lender reviews their decision, they may still turn you down.
You can request a copy of your credit reference file from any of the three main consumer credit reference agencies in the UK.They are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
Equifax
www.equifax.co.uk/
Experian
www.experian.co.uk/
TransUnion
www.transunion.co.uk/
There are also paid for information services, which supply data from all UK credit reference agencies: