credit report advice - glossary of terms

Glossary

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Account query
The lender has advised that you have queried the accuracy of the account information.

Aliases
Any other name you have been known by. An alias entry will be held indefinitely and show which organisation provided the information and the date it was provided. An alias means that the credit report information held in the other name will be seen by a lender searching your credit report.

Arrangement
An agreement has been reached with the lender to vary repayments made to them for a time.

Annulment
A bankruptcy no longer exists and should be removed from the credit report.

Associations
A financial association is a connection between you and another person which is created through joint court judgments, accounts, credit applications or from information provided by you to the credit reference agency. This information will be held indefinitely unless you advise the credit reference agency that the link no longer exists – this is called a disassociation. Credit report information in your financial associate’s name can be taken into consideration by lenders when making a decision.

Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy Orders are a way of dealing with debts that cannot be made. Information about them is obtained from the Insolvency Service www.insolvency.gov.uk and they are usually held for six years even if they are discharged. Bankruptcy means that non-essential assets (property and possessions) and excess income will be used to pay off creditors.

Bankruptcy Restriction Order
If an Official Receiver believes a bankrupt’s conduct to have been dishonest or blameworthy in some way they will report the facts to the court and ask that a Bankruptcy Restriction Order be made and, if the court agrees, the bankrupt will be subject to the restrictions for up to 15 years. The information can be held on a credit report for this amount of time. More information can be obtained from the Insolvency Service http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/pdfs/guidanceleafletspdf/bro.pdf

CAIS (Credit Account Information Sharing)
An account sharing scheme run by Experian. Details of credit and current accounts are visible to other members of the scheme and are used to help in lending decision. The account details will show whether or not repayments have been made on time.

CIFAS – the UK’s fraud prevention service
Members of CIFAS share information about identified fraud in order to prevent future fraud. CIFAS information is included on credit reports.

Consumer Credit Act
The Consumer Credit Act is a piece of UK legislation to increase protection for consumers when borrowing money. It requires most businesses that offer goods or services on credit or lend money to consumers to be licensed by the Office of Fair Trading. It also requires credit reference agencies to respond to requests for credit reports and handle any associated queries.

County Court Judgments (CCJs)
County Court Judgments are collated by Registry Trust Limited and are legal decisions in relation to monetary sums, handed down by County Courts in England and Wales. They are held by credit reference agencies for six years.

Credit Account Information
Where an application for credit has been accepted and an account has been opened – the account holder will repay the money leant to them, usually on a monthly basis and with interest.

Credit applications
A record of applications for credit (credit searches) are listed on credit reports and held for a period of one to two years. These will show the date of the search and company the application was made to, together with other information such as the type of application, personal details such as date of birth.

Credit Protection Insurance Claim
A claim has been made against a credit protection insurance policy.

Credit reference agency
Credit reference agencies hold information taken from public records and from lenders which is used to help financial organisations make lending decisions.

Credit rating
A term sometimes used to refer to a credit report and also used instead of the term “credit score”.

Credit score
Lenders often score you when you make an application for credit to help them decide whether to accept your application. Credit scores are built using credit report information, details on your application and their own customer profile. You do not have a single credit score – lenders do not use the same credit score and many lenders will use different scores for different products.

Creditworthiness
A term meaning how likely you are to obtain credit based upon your credit history.

Current accounts
Some current accounts will be shown on your credit report and the status codes used may have different meanings to those shown against credit accounts. You do not necessarily have to make regular payments to pay off your overdraft.

0 -Your account is either not overdrawn or is being managed within the terms of your overdraft agreement
1-6 - Your overdraft balance is greater than your overdraft limit and has been for the number of months shown by the status code used
8 - The overdraft has been greater than the overdraft limit for more than three months and there has been no agreement to change repayments. The lender has decided that the terms of the overdraft agreement have been broken and the account is in default

Data Protection Act
The Data Protection Act (1998) is the main piece of UK legislation that protects personal data in respect of handling, collection, processing and distribution. Sections 7 and 9 require credit reference agencies to provide individuals with copies of their credit report.

Data Subject Access Requests
Section 7 of the Data Protection Act (1998) gives individuals the right to obtain all the personal data that an organisation holds about them. In the case of credit reference agencies, this can be restricted to providing a person with their credit report unless the person states otherwise although they may hold additional information. There will usually be a charge of £10.

Debt Arrangement
An arrangement with a creditor to pay back debt over a period of time which is likely to be a longer period than the original credit agreement or a lender has agreed to vary your payments for a period of time.

Debt Assigned
The lender has sold a debt to an organisation that does not share information with the credit reference agency which you have you have obtained your report from. The account should show as closed.

Debt Management Programme
You have arranged a debt management programme with a debt advisor such as National Debtline, the Consumer Credit Counselling Service or Citizens Advice.

Debt Relief Orders
A Debt Relief Order is a cheaper alternative to bankruptcy for people with debts under £15,000. There has been a voluntary arrangement with an appointed agent and the information will be held for six years. The information can be updated if the arrangement has been ended.

Debt sold to credit account sharing member
The debt has been sold to another member of the account sharing scheme so this account will show as settled and another account will show in the name of the lender who has purchased the debt.

Deceased
This may appear as a flag on a credit account where a company has been advised that the account holder is deceased.

Defaulted account
An account where the agreement with the lender has broken down and attempts to recover the outstanding balance have failed. If some or all of the balance has been repaid after the default date, this should be recorded on your credit report. Defaulted accounts are kept for six years from the date of default. They will show the amount of debt and the name of the lender.

Delinquent account
An account where three months payments are, or have been, outstanding for two months or longer.

Disassociation
If you have shared a financial connection with someone in the past, such as a joint account, but there is no longer a connection then you can ask for the link to be broken. This is called a disassociation and will stop the other person’s credit history being seen by a lender when you make an application for credit. Disassociations may also be referred to as a Financial Disassociation or a Notice of Disassociation.

Dispute
A dispute is where you advise the credit reference agency that an item on your credit report is inaccurate. The agency should mark the entry as “disputed” and should advise any lender seeing that information. The agency should contact the source of the information and remove or amend the entry if it is wrong. This may also be referred to as an Order of Dispute.

Electoral roll
A register of people eligible to vote in the UK. Your credit report will show if you are recorded at your current or previous addresses and for how long. Lenders use this information to help them establish that they are dealing with the genuine person at their current address

Footprints
A “footprint” is a name given to a search made of your credit report. There is a record of the fact that a search has been made – this may be the result of a full credit report application which will be seen by other lenders. It may also be a search made for other reasons, such as ongoing account management or authentication checking, and these will only be seen by you.

GAIN (Gone Away Information Network)
Lenders provide information about customers who have moved without informing them where debt is outstanding. Lenders will also record if the customer has been traced to another address.

Gone Away
The account holder cannot be traced at the address that the lender has for them. The account holder has not informed the lender of their new address.

High Court Judgment
High Court Judgments that are monetary judgments will show on credit reports. They are made in the High Court Chancery Division, the Queen’s Bench Division and the Admiralty and Commercial Courts. They will be held for six years from the judgment date. The amount and the date of the judgment will be shown.

Identity searches
Companies use credit report information to help establish that they are dealing with the genuine person at a genuine address. Searches made for this purpose will appear on your credit report but will not be seen by lenders and will not be used in a lending decision. It almost all circumstances you should have given consent before a company searches your credit report.

Identity fraud
Where your personal details have been used by a fraudster to obtain goods or services in your name.

Identity theft
Where your personal details have been stolen, with a view to using them to obtain goods and services in your name.

Individual Voluntary Arrangement
An alternative to bankruptcy. It is an agreement made through the courts to pay off an agreed amount to organisations that are owed money. They are held for at least six years and, once the agreement is complete, this should be shown on your report.

Information Commissioner’s Office
The Information Commissioner’s Office helps people understand the Data Protection Act, Freedom of Information Act and other privacy issues. The ICO enforces and oversees the Data Protection Act.

Insight
An account sharing scheme run by Equifax. Details of credit and current accounts are visible to other members of the scheme and are used to help in lending decision. The account details will show whether or not repayments have been made on time.

Insolvency Service
Bankruptcies, Individual Voluntary Arrangement and Debt Relief Orders are held by the Insolvency Service and this is where this information is obtained from if it appears on your credit report.

Joint account
An account held by two or more people. Responsibility for paying back the debt is shared. The fact that this is a joint account will show on your report.

Notice of Correction
A statement added to a credit report to explain circumstances around your credit history. For example, this could be used to explain why late payments have been made. The Notice of Correction will be provided to any lender who sees the entry to which it relates and a lending decision cannot be made until the Notice of Correction has been taken into consideration.

Order of Discharge
An Order to Discharge is issued when a bankruptcy is completed. The fact that it is complete should be shown on your report.

Partial Settlement
The account has been included in a completed Voluntary Arrangement or a discharged bankruptcy; a smaller amount than the outstanding balance has been accepted as full and final settlement of the debt; the lender has repossessed the asset and has stopped chasing the debt.

Quotation Search
If you are applying for credit and the lender is unable to tell you what interest rate you will pay until they have searched your credit history, they should conduct a Quotation Search. This means that, while you will see the search on your credit report, other lenders will not see the search and it will not be used in credit scoring. Make sure you insist that lenders use a Quotation Search if you are shopping around for credit.

Reposessions
A Repossession will be shown on your report if you have had your house repossessed. It may also show previous and forwarding addresses.

Recourse
The lender has advised that the account has been transferred to the trader or retailer which introduced to the credit agreement.

Search
A search shows if a company has viewed your credit report. Your report will show the type of search, the company that made it and the date it was made. You should almost always have given consent to a company before they search your credit report.

Sequestration
A Sequestration is a Scottish Legal term for Bankruptcy. Sequestrations are obtained from the Insolvency Service. www.insolvency.gov.uk

Settled account
An account will appear as settled when the agreement has been completed. It will be shown on your credit report for six years from the settlement date and will show up to three years payment history prior to that date.

Share
An account sharing scheme run by CallCredit. Details of credit and current accounts are visible to other members of the scheme and are used to help in lending decision. The account details will show whether or not repayments have been made on time.

Status codes
Status codes are used to show how repayments have been made – whether or not they have been made on time. An account will show up to 36 months repayment history (or the 36 months history before settlement if an account is closed).

The meanings are as follows:

0 - Repayments are up to date.
1-6 - Repayments are behind. The number shows how many months behind repayments are.
8 - The account is defaulted. The lender believes the terms of the agreement have not been met and the account is closed.
U - The lender has been unable to provide a status history for this month.
This may be, for example, that the account has only just been opened.

Status codes showing against current accounts will have slightly different meanings.

Trust Deed
A Trust Deed is a process available to Scottish residents and offers an alternative to Bankruptcy. The usually last for three years but will appear on your credit report for six years.

Unrecorded Enquiries
Searches made of your credit report for reasons other than a credit application e.g. for the ongoing management of an account. These will be shown on your credit report so that you know who has seen your information but they will not be seen by lenders and will not be used in a lending decision. In almost all circumstances you should have given consent before a company searches your credit report.

Voluntary Arrangement
See Individual Voluntary Arrangement.

Voluntary Arrangement Completed
This means that the terms of the Voluntary Arrangement have been kept to and the arrangement is complete. It should read as completed on your credit report.

Voluntary Arrangement Failed
The terms of the Voluntary Arrangement have not been kept to and the agreement has failed. It may show on your credit report and a record of this kept for six years.

Voluntary Termination
The account has been closed under Section 99 of the Consumer Credit Acts 1974 and 2006. This will usually relate to higher purchase agreements in relation to a vehicle.

Voter’s roll
See electoral roll