I am scared now to take on the banks

[kateandpete]

Get your credit reports from the three horsemen of the apocalypse (Experian, Equifax and CallCredit) (god i hate these guys - they're worse than the banks, at least the banks take responsibility for their decisions). Find out how bad your credit is. If there are defaults from old accounts you can get them COMPLETELY REMOVED. The creditors have no right to "continue processing this data" after the credit agreement is finished. There are many threads about how to go about this in the "Legalities" forum. Specifically, check out surlybonds sticky thread.

 

Be warned though - this is more on the rocket science side of the action of this site. It takes dedication.

[kateandpete]

A bit off topic but what 'decisions' do the credit refence agencies make?

 

I always thought they simply provided factual info and the lender made the decisions on whether to give credit or not.

Wrong.

CRA's are data controllers aswell. They have just as much responsibility to comply with the data protection act as their clients (the banks). The data they hold is about you. It is YOUR data. YOU own it, not them. For instance, in my case they have "decided" to take HSBC's word over mine in a dispute about an incorrectly registered default. I have asked HSBC to prove this incorrect data. Of course, they can't.

 

It is my opinion that the CRA's are just as guilty as HSBC in defying the DPA, which states that data must be accurate. I've asked the CRA's to prove it aswell. They can't. Furthermore, they say, "HSBC told us it's right, therefore it must be right". So, in addition to defaming me with incorrect data, they DO NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY for it. They are parasites of the worst kind.

[kateandpete]

Ok. Fair enough.

They aren't lenders at all and don't hold a consumer credit licence. Their business is data alone. Which makes it even worse that they don't comply with the DPA.