Understanding credit report information

Credit report information can be quite complex and will be displayed in varying ways by the different credit reference agencies.  The following should explain all the information that will be shown on any credit report you obtain.

An explanation of how long information is kept for can be found in the glossary.

Electoral roll

The electoral roll is provided by local authorities and shows when you have been recorded to vote at an address. It doesn’t necessarily show your exact dates of residency. The electoral roll is used to confirm your identity when you apply for credit or if an organisation needs to check your identity.

The information included will be your name, address, the local authority which provided the information and the dates you were registered. Previous addresses should also be shown.

You can register on the electoral roll by clicking on this link www.aboutmyvote.co.uk

If you are not recorded on the electoral roll it could prevent you from getting credit.

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Aliases or other names you have been known by

When you apply for credit or for your credit report you will be asked for any other names you have been known by e.g. your maiden name. A list of these will be included on your credit report, the date this information was provided to a credit reference agency and who provided it. Once an alias is created all the information in this name will be shown to a lender when you apply for credit. The information should also be included on your credit report.

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Financial associations or associates

If you have a financial connection with someone else at one of your addresses then their credit report information may be provided to a lender when you make an application for credit. Their credit report information will not appear on your file but the fact that you share a connection will be shown. Your report will show who provided the information to a credit reference agency and when.

Associations can be created as a result of joint court judgments, joint credit accounts or joint searches or if you have told the credit reference agency that you have a connection.

An associate’s information can affect a lending decision made about you. You can’t see your associate’s information so you may wish to ask them to get their own report.

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Court judgments and public information

There are a number of different types of public information and a full list is provided in the glossary.

Most common types are as follows:

Court judgments show that you have been taken to court for not paying a debt. In England and Wales these will be shown as a county court judgment, in Scotland they are shown as a decree and in Northern Ireland they are shown as a court judgment.

The judgment information will show the name and address the judgment is registered in, the amount and date of the judgment, which court it was issued by and the case number. If the judgment is paid it should show as satisfied with the date of satisfaction.

The claimant (who took you to court) will not be shown but the court will be able to provide you with that information. See Her Majesty's Courts Service - Court Information and Addresses or http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/index.asp or http://www.courtsni.gov.uk/en-GB/AboutUs/ContactUs/  for address details to query English and Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish judgments.

Bankruptcies or Sequestrations (in Scotland) are obtained from the Insolvency Service www.insolvency.gov.uk .  If a Bankruptcy ends it should be shown on your credit report and if it is annulled it should be removed completely.  Bankruptcy information will show the date the bankruptcy was issued and the name of the bankrupt.

Voluntary Arrangements is an arrangement with the court to pay an amount back to creditors.  If an arrangement has ended, this should be shown on your report.  This avoids bankruptcy but will still appear on your credit report and will still influence lending decisions.

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Credit account information

Details of credit accounts are provided to credit reference agencies by lenders.  Only those lenders that provide accounts can see the information provided by others. The purpose of this information is to help organisations establish how a customer has made repayments in the past – the more up-to-date payments have been made would lead a lender to feel that any money they lent would be repaid.

The information held includes the type of account, the start date, amount of credit and the balance outstanding.  All accounts will show a status history which will reflect whether payments have been made on time or, if they were late, how late payments were made.  Generally, payments made on time will have a positive effect on your credit history.

You may also see settled accounts on your report which are kept for a period of time – the status history recorded against these will relate to the period prior to the settlement date which will be shown.

Defaulted accounts i.e. accounts where the credit agreement has not been kept to and requests for payment have not been responded to satisfactorily, show the amount of default and the current balance, if payments have been made.  If the account has subsequently been paid, it should show that it is “satisfied”.

You may see various other terms used alongside credit account information and these should be explained in the glossary.

Some accounts will also show account management information to show how you’ve managed your credit cards e.g. how many cash withdrawals you’ve made, whether credit limits have changed and your monthly repayments.

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Current accounts

Credit reference agencies also hold current account information on some accounts.  If an account is in credit then the balance shown should be zero but, if you have an overdraft, the balance will show how much you are overdrawn.

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Previous searches

Searches are a record of those organisations which have seen your full or part of your credit report.  Not all organisations are entitled to see the full information e.g. credit account details. You should have given consent for an organisation to see your report and, only under very exceptional circumstances, should a search have been made without your knowledge.

Searches will show the reason for the search e.g.  a credit card application, the date it was made and sometimes further details about what was included in the application.

If a search was a result of a credit application it will be visible to other lenders.  However, searches made for other reasons, such as identity verification or ongoing account management, are not visible to others and will not be included in credit scoring.  These will be included on your report though because you are entitled to know who has checked your information.

You may also see the fact that your report has been viewed as a result of an application made by someone with whom you are financially connected.  This may be referred to as a “financial associate search”.  If you share a financial connection, lenders may see your information when an application is made by the person you are connected with and may take your information into consideration.  A record of this is kept because you are entitled to know that your report has been viewed.

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Linked addresses

When you apply for your credit report you will usually be asked for addresses in the last six years.  This is because most information is held for that amount of time. The linked address section of your report (or previous and forwarding addresses) shows addresses you have been financially connected to.  If you didn’t provide this information on your report application, any credit-related information held at them will not be shown on your report.

This section will show you which addresses are linked, the date when the link was created and who created the link.

You should check this section carefully – if it includes addresses that you have never been connected to, this may be an indicator of identity fraud and that someone is using your identity at a different address. 

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CIFAS information

CIFAS (the UK’s Fraud Prevention Service) was developed in consultation with the Office of Fair Trading and the Office of the information Commissioner.  It aims to detect and prevent fraud to protect innocent people whose names addresses or other details are used fraudulently by others to get goods and services such as credit and insurance. A CIFAS warning on your report does not mean that you are being accused of fraud.

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Notices of Correction

A Notice of Correction is a statement that you can add to your credit report.  It is used to explain circumstances surrounding information held e.g. why a late payment is recorded or why you have only been registered on the electoral roll for a certain period of time.

Notices of Correction are seen by any lender who searches your report and sees the information that the statement relates to.  A automatic lending decision cannot be made if a Notice of Correction is there.

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