Do you need a bad credit loan?

Have you had problems with adverse credit in the past or had problems getting credit and been told that you have been refused a loan because of information held by a credit reference agency?

If you have been unable to keep up the payments on a previous secured or unsecured loan for any reason, or if you have been in breach of your credit agreement, you will have accumulated an adverse credit record with the credit reference agencies. Bad credit loans are still available to you. Lenders, as part of their credit score system, use this information to determine one simple factor; whether or not to lend to you. If you have had problems with payments or CCJ's in the past there are lenders that will consider you for bad credit loans.

They will want to consider the reasons for your past adverse credit circumstances in detail but will look sympathetically at the facts of your case. You may be required to pay a slightly higher interest rate on a bad credit loan for a lender to consider the perceived increased risk. Credit reference agencies record details including:- people on the electoral register at your address(es); previous applications for credit; your credit agreements, including details of any late payments & defaults (this can be held for up to six years); court judgements and bankruptcy orders against you (these are also held for six years); and people living at the same address as you, such as your family.

It is rare for the information held by them to be wrong, however if you believe that to be the case there is a course of action you can follow. If you apply for credit and are turned down, you could contact the lender within 28 days and ask which credit reference agency they used, they are legally obliged to tell you. To correct your records, write to the agency asking them to amend or remove the entry.

If you have not received a reply after 28 days or the agency disagrees with your request, you may send within the next 28 days a "notice of correction". This should be no more than 200 words long and give your side of the story. If the agency agrees to change your records or add your notice of correction, it will send details to everyone who has requested information on you in the previous six months. If a credit reference agency does not agree to your requests, you can write to the Director General of Fair Trading.

The three main credit reference agencies are:

(1). Experian Plc Consumer Help Service P.O. Box 8000 Nottingham NG1 5GX www.experian.co.uk 0870 241 6212

(2). Equifax plc Consumer Affairs Department Spectrum House 1A North Avenue Clydebank Glasgow G81 2DR www.equifax.co.uk 0870 514 3700

(3). Callcredit Plc. Consumer Services Team, PO Box 491, Leeds, LS3 1WZ

www.callcredit.plc.uk Helpline 0870 060 1414

If you feel your debts are of control and you really don't want to continue paying off one debt with another, see our debt management page.