Hi

A general question I am looking for opinions on. I find myself increasingly frustrated with the period of time Credit Reference Agencies retain data on people which if you are not in debt does not cause an issue generally, however, for those who do miss payments, get defaults or other bad news details added to their credit file this clearly can have a long term damaging effect which can either stop any future credit or cost you more to obtain it.

Is this justified? I believe not for the following reasons.

1. 6 years is a very long time to have negative data about you available even after you have sorted out your financial situation and are able to make payments again on time.

2. The reason for getting the negative entries does not show the ‘cause’ and importantly, what you sacrifice to try to resolve the issue before and during the issue leading up to the bad news.

3. You can of course add an entry to your credit file of 200 words explaining your side (not that 200 words allows for much), but can anybody confirm that online applications even bother taking note of these before turning you down.

4. If you are a ‘won’t pay’ 3, 4 or 6 years will not make any difference to you whereas for those who are or were a ‘can’t pay right now’ a reduction in the retention time would make a huge difference.

5. Your previous years of being a loyal customer who paid on time, etc is lost and not considered.

6. The negative effects are felt by your immediate family.

7. The current time limits are not law but ‘agreed’ between the Information Commissioner and the CRA’s / financial industry – who got a say from the public, nobody!

8. Once you are in recovery mode and making all payments, the past still effects the present and the next few years before the negative effects diminish.

9. This can also impact your ability to gain employment as some companies check your credit file.

10. Anyone of us is only something unforeseen away from this affecting us

I am really keen to now what others thing about this as I feel exceptionally strongly about this and would like to see a 50% reduction in the retention period.

Kind regards

what it will take is a government in power who aren't back slapping with the industry. if we were ever to get that then i feel they could take the bull by the horns and actually write into statute a time period, preferably three years tops. hopefully they would also write credit referencing into statute too- the mish mash from the dpa 1998 and cca 1974 is not fit for purpose. they might actually shake up the ico and take it to task.

Hi OUTADEBT excellent post.

this could infact fall somewere under the human rights act, or it seems to me that the said act is there to protect us. if the Default can be seen as a punisment then maybe this can be chalenged in a court of law Under the civil libites act.

more reading to do me thinks.

ok ok so i've done some more reading. this time in the MAGNA CARTA. and found this to be an interesting point if a Default can be seen as being a punishment which it seems to be as it infact hurts you for 6 years.

Magna Carta is an English charter, originally issued in the year 1215, and reissued later in the 13th century in modified versions which omit certain temporary provisions, including the most direct challenges to the monarch's authority. The charter first passed into law in 1225. The 1297 version, with the long title (originally in Latin) The Great Charter of the Liberties of England, and of the Liberties of the Forest, still remains on the statute books of England and Wales.

The 1215 Charter required King John of England to proclaim certain liberties, and accept that his will was not arbitrary, for example by explicitly accepting that no "freeman" (in the sense of non-serf) could be punished except through the law of the land, a right which is still in existence today.

I agree something needs to be done, check my post

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=279885

basically I had missed payments in 2002, got my account in order Mar/April 2004. had an arrangement to pay between the time I messed up and till I got the account back in order, which I sorted the account and had my finances in order by 2004, never missed one of the payments. then paid the outstanding balence and closed the account in 2006.

so I hit problem in 2002, problem won't actually go away until Sep 2012, even though I resolved problem 6.5 years ago.

Thats 10 YEARS, or 8 since fixing it.

something has to be done about the system, it isn't right. it's not right at all.