Thread: CAG CRA S.A.R Club

If I wanted to S.A.R - (Subject access request) a Credit Reference Agency - Experian is the one I have in mind right now, as "SCOR – Access to full data is now available to all DBSG Members. Get maximum benefit." - will be a Focus Session led by the Director of Regulatory Affairs, Experian, at a beanfeast for debt collectors everywhere in September... And Experian - aka 'CreditExpert' is advertising everywhere with it's one month 'free trial' credit report for Consumers all over the World Wide Web it seems...
So, if I wanted to get all of the information they hold about me, including who they have divulged ('shared') this information with, and why - as I think is my right, how would I word the request, anyone?
I'm thinking it will cost me £10.00.
I'm thinking it would be worth it.
Debt collectors appear to have more access to data about me than I do.
After that it'll be Experian and CallCredit. But Experian seems the most timely right now.
Any help with the wording would be much appreciated!

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There have been a couple of other CAGers that have S.A.R - (Subject access request)'d the CRA's and received a shed load of paperwork.
It's on my list for the next project once I have everything under control
Sosumi, I'll happily move up my plans if you want some support.
We can both attack this.

CB, I'd really appreciate it. It disgusts me that DCAs should have greater rights than I do over my personal information. And that anyone who answers an advert for a free credit check, is then at risk of having their personal data exposed to the nastiest groups of people I've ever encountered!
It's a Catch-22. You're struggling with your finances, worried about your credit rating, there's a company offering a free credit report, you take up the offer and... just like that, Grubb and Co. can have a good look through your credit file, see what might be worth chasing up! Stands to reason that anyone struggling with money will take up a free offer, equally likely that they'll fall behind in payments, and... bye bye data protection!
It really would be worth a tenner! You know the Law CB, it'd really help!

Just been having a dig around the forum.
Here's some others SARing the CRA:
http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...light=experian
http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...ault-hell.html


More interesting stuff:
http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...light=experian
http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...light=experian
http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...light=experian
http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...light=experian


As they always say you can never have enough ammo

Subscribing with great interest. Is it not also possible that the act of SARing the CRA might wake up the DCA's?

renegotiation, that's not really a worry as we have the tools and knowledge to deal with that eventuality

This has already happened to Dobby, when they requested the simple report anyway.

So in a sense if you haven't accessed your credit report for a long itme you would be better off just getting a simple credit report and then SARing the CRA a month later or something. That is if you wanted to know what they are doing with your data in relation to DCA's I mean.

Also we'll need to be up on Data Protection Act
Here it is: Data Protection Act 1998 (c. 29)

This is one of the most important parts: Data Protection Act 1998 (c. 29) - Principles

Also here's info on the CRA's
Credit reference agencies
Debt Factsheets - Credit Reference Agencies
National Debtline England & Wales | Debt Advice | Factsheet 05 Credit Reference Agencies
Credit Reference Agencies - Who uses who?...

Does anyone want to add anything else ?

Thanks CB - DebtMountain's thread looks good to me
Jotty's post (8) where Experian states, in reply to a request to have info. removed:

"Experian do not hold copies of the contracts you have signed, which will include your permission to share this information with credit reference agencies. In order to obtain a copy of this information and any further details of an account you will need to contact the companies directly at the addresses provided on your credit report."

"We do not hold copies of the information for similar reasons to why we cannot check the uthentisity of each search recorded on your credit report, the strict terms and conditions that we have in place are considered to be sufficient for us to ensure that the companies using our services are only recording legitimate information."

Hmm.
Again, to quote the subject of one themed event in the forthcoming..

debt collection, Debt Sale & Purchase Conference 2007
Setting the Standards..
Annual Conference & Exhibition 2007
OPEN TO BOTH MEMBERS AND NON-MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATION

'The Definitive Conference for Anyone Involved in the Credit Collection and Debt Sale and Purchase Industry"..
.. Day Two, Focus Sessions, Theme 1:
11.15 am:
..."SCOR – Access to full data is now available to all DBSG Members. Get maximum benefit."
Hmm.

Wouldn't I be right in thinking that CreditExpert (Experian) is projecting itself as a service for the consumer?
And yet, here's their Director for Regulatory Affairs, hosting a Focus Session on the fact that members of the Debt Buyers and Sellers Group (which, as we know, has some distinctly dodgy 'members') can now have full access to data as defined here:
Steering Committee on Reciprocity (SCOR)
I quote:

The UK finance industry established the Steering Committee on Reciprocity (SCOR) to develop and oversee documented guidelines on the use and sharing of credit performance and related data on individuals. SCOR consists of representatives from the CML, British Bankers Association, the Finance and Leasing Association, the Mail Order Trade Association and the Consumer Credit Trade Association, together with representatives from the credit reference agencies (CRAs) Experian, Equifax and Callcredit.

SCOR produced the Principles of Reciprocity (the Principles) after consultation with financial trade associations and regulatory bodies. The Principles set out the rules for the recording, supply and access of credit performance data shared through the CRAs. The 'Governing' principle is that data should only be shared for the prevention of over-commitment, bad debt, fraud and money laundering, and to support debt recovery and debtor tracing, with the aim of promoting responsible lending.

Hmm.

So that will be quite a topic for discussion, then?
Will it be based on the assumption that Debt Buyers and Sellers are 'the good guys', and people in debt are 'the bad guys'?
Or will they be skipping morality due to time constraints and just getting into the information they can 'share' with Debt Buyers and Sellers?
I sense a real conflict of interest here.
Particularly when you notice, just to get a 'feel' for these 25-minute 'sessions', that the session following is called:
"Assignment of Debts - Rights and duties, Section 77, 78 & 79 and all that.
What to watch out for under the Consumer Credit Act in Debt Sale/Purchase Transactions."

Hmm.

I'm biased. I've had years of experience with one of the most vulnerable groups of people in society. I know - from my own experience - that when you're suddenly hit by a financial crisis, you look for people to trust. Not just people, but organisations... You ask for help, or go under.
But I'm becoming more and more aware of the fact that, in the 'debt business', presentation is everything, and trust is just something that DCAs play with, to get an 'advantage'.
So, when an organisation presents itself as something that enables a consumer to better understand what information is held about them, but also presents itself as some kind of 'information highway' to very, very questionable agencies... my hackles rise.
Anyone who's suffered mental illness - many illnesses in fact - will know just how difficult it becomes to get Life Insurance. Understandable or not, it makes you very touchy about who has access to your personal data. If a company presents itself as a consumer service, prides itself as having integrity, then shows how poorly that service is regulated by the records held - or rather the 'sources' of such information...
Well, it makes you wonder.

It just so happens that I'm due to write an article in September.
Wonder what I'll write about...

Hopefully this will link to ODC's post here:
Re: 3 CCA's sent 10/7/07 and confirmation of statue barred post 41:

Quote:
Originally Posted by vogelrok
can they put a default against me on my credit report if they cant prove they own the debt legally. ??????

Unfortunately they can and do. I think someone should have a go at the CRAs as they are obiged to ensure taht all the info they hold on you is accurate and up to date. However the reality is that they take the word of a scummy DCA before yours

Out visiting family earlier, but between now and Monday I'll SAR Experian. Special Delivery Monday.
Tried the SAR generator, but there's no CRA SAR to generate! So I'll go by the template. Or alternatively say:
"Give me everything, you b*****s. I want all my information. Every bit. And tell me who you've shared it with. I'm enclosing ten quid but I tell you now, I think this information should be free to the data subject. And after the other 2 SARs to CRAs, making these requests free of charge will be next on my to-do list. Then I'm checking out the Land Registry. Bit of a free-for-all with you lot right now, ain't it? Things will change!"
Oh alright, I won't put that. BUT I WANT TO!!

For the SAR I think it's a simple case of asking for all documents and notes concerning all activity concerning us.
So the bank one should do as a template: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...ction-act.html

Thanks CB - when you say 'us' does that mean I can ask for one covering both hubby and me? Sorry if this is already in the links you provided but I'm drowning in a sea of papers here!!
Will be more organised tomorrow.

ooh - 'us' as in a CAG-type request? That'd be cool!

Originally Posted by lolly371

subscribing with great interest, yet confusion. i recently signed up to the free credit report with experian and have since been bombarded with emails offering loans and the like. its really annoying. i am interested in joining you on the S.A.R campaign, but am wondering where it is leading. what are we hoping to achieve from it? sorry if i sound a bit dim, but i want to know the plan before i begin. is it simply to stop the unwanted correspondance, or is there a bigger picture?

Def. a bigger picture Lolly. Credit Reference Agencies advertise their services to consumers, as a means for consumers to become better informed about their credit status, and what information is recorded on their credit file. But when you take up the 'offer', the credit file is 'flagged' that you've just accessed your own information, thereby letting all the types that you've just mentioned have a good look at your credit file, send you all the stuff you've also just mentioned. Catch-22. Debt buyers and sellers are particularly keen... potential custom! Ack!