Credit history

If you want to open a bank account, take out a credit card or borrow money in general, the company you borrow from will want to know a bit about you so they can decide if they should lend to you or not. To make this decision, they look at your credit history. This is made up of information about money you have borrowed and how you have paid accounts in the past. It usually includes information from the past six years and is held by companies called credit reference agencies. The agencies get this information from a number of places including:

• public records such as the electoral roll or listings of bankruptcies and court judgements
• financial information supplied by banks, credit card companies and so on.

Looking at your own credit reference file

Your credit reference file is made up of important information about you and, by law, a company has to ask your permission to look at it. They usually do this on the application form when you are applying for a card, account or loan. You are also allowed to see your file. To do this, you need to write to the credit reference agencies asking for what is known as your ‘statutory credit report’. This costs £2; when you write to the agency, you should include:

• your full name
• date of birth
• current address
• any other addresses you have lived at over the past six years.

The credit reference agency must then send you your file within seven working days.

Why would I want to see my file?

There are a number of reasons why people ask to see their files:

• If you are thinking of applying for something like a loan or credit card, it can be helpful to know what your file says about you.

• If you have applied for some sort of credit and been turned down, your credit reference file will help you understand why.

• By knowing what your file says about you, you can start to take any necessary steps to repair your financial record, for example by paying back debts.

• Information held by credit reference agencies can sometimes be wrong. By looking at your file, you can make sure that companies are basing their decisions on the right information.

You can contact the three main credit reference agencies at:

Experian
www.experian.co.uk
Tel: 0870 241 6212 (local rate call)

Call Credit
www.callcredit.co.uk
Tel: 0870 060 1414 (local rate call)

Equifax
www.equifax.co.uk