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Company information: annualcreditreport.co.uk was launched by Credit Reporting Agency Limited, (CRA), the UK’s leading online supplier of credit reports to UK consumers, in June 2006. The aim of the service is to give members of the public the ability to check, free of charge, credit report information held about them and to be able to monitor changes every year. Credit report information is used by lenders, employers and other companies to make important decisions about consumers. Components of credit reports are also likely to be used as the basis for the proposed National Identity Card scheme. Our survey in Spring 2006 revealed that consumers had found errors on their credit report, but had not followed through to correcting them, potentially denying them credit, a job, a home or, at best, costing them hard earned money in higher interest charges. The huge scale of this problem inspired the CRA team to develop annualcreditreport.co.uk, to give UK consumers the ability to check the quality of information held in their name and to give expert advice on how to put any errors right. Everybody has had the right since 1974, under the Consumer Credit Act , to see what credit reference agencies hold about them. This right was based on last century technology, and involved writing to a credit reference agency, sending them £2, and then waiting seven to 10 working days for the postman to deliver a paper printout. Because of the wider reliance placed nowadays on credit reports, we believe it vitally important for everyone to have free, easy and regular access to credit report information. annualcreditreport.co.uk has brought this information online and the internet has enabled a further layer of security to be overlaid on the delivery of this information to the consumer. With identity theft a growing concern in Britain, annualcreditreport.co.uk gives the public the opportunity to monitor for any of the tell tale signs of having become a victim of this crime, without having to pay for expensive subscription services. Coupled with free online access to lifestyle checker, Identity Theft Expert System – ITES – consumers can check if their personal habits are leaving them exposed. The type of information to be found on credit reports includes:
annualcreditreport.co.uk is another first for CRA, which was the first company to provide UK consumers with online access to credit reports in 2000. CRA was also the first company in the World to explain credit scores to consumers. It was also the first to turn the tables on lenders, by using credit scoring to match consumers to lenders, to dramatically reduce the risk of being declined credit, and find consumers the cheapest credit available. The Founders Barry Stamp Founder and Joint Managing Director Barry has wide experience of consumer and corporate credit, gained initially at NatWest and Barclays, then as Mortgage Manager of US insurer Lincoln National, Director and General Manager of Business Loans, Director and General Manager of The National Mortgage Bank, Senior Executive and Head of Free Trade Investment at Bass and Director and General Manager of Experian. He is a member of the influential Institute of Credit Management Technical Advisory Committee, which gives feedback to the Government on credit issues, and between 2000-2005 was Co-Chairman of the judging panel for the prestigious Credit Today Awards. His published works include the legal and consumer credit chapters of Tolley’s Effective Credit Control, the ICM’s Advanced Credit Management and the professionally acclaimed handbook Identity Theft – Prevention and Victim Assistance. Barry is also a trustee of the charity CHICKS – Country Holidays for Inner City Kids. Peter Kent Founder and Joint Managing Director After reading Mathematics at Bedford College, University of London, Peter’s initial background was as a programmer with stockbrokers L Messel & Co, followed by spells as a Systems Analyst with Leeds Permanent Building Society, and a European Systems Manager at Sperry Vickers. He joined National Home Loans Corporation at its inception to devise the strategic IT direction and run the IT, HR and Facilities functions for the group. A Director of NHLC and trustee of its Pension Fund, Peter was also appointed Director of Midlands Residential Corporation before joining Prudential Banking, where Peter was responsible for the development of the IT and operational vision for Egg and the successful implementation of the www.egg.com website. He has also played a major part in the definition of the Egg IT architecture and the due diligence inspections for Egg’s acquisition programme. PRESS ENQUIRIES For further media information please contact Richard Goedegebuur or Barry Stamp on 01872 308645. You can also email Richard.G@annualcreditreport.co.uk or barry@annualcreditreport.co.uk |
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