Your Credit Report & Information held on you.

There are three main credit reference agencies that all lenders consult before they make any lending decision, Experian and Equifax and also Call Credit. They record a number of details about you based on your current and previous addresses. This includes the following:

1. Electoral (Voters) Roll - whether you are on the Voter's roll. Some lenders have this as a basic requirement before they can lend.

2. County Court Judgments (CCJs) - These arise when you have been taken to court by a debtor to enforce payment of a debt and the debtor received a judgement in his favour against you. The court hold this information for six years from the date of the judgment. They also record if you subsequently paid the judgement.

3. Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs) & Bankruptcy- This is where you are unable to pay your debts. Once you have been made bankrupt and the debts have been settled then you become a discharged bankrupt.

4. Credit Accounts - these are all your loan accounts that have been active in the last six years and whether you have ever defaulted on them. Typical accounts are your mortgage account, credit and store card accounts and personal loans.

5. Repossessions - details of any house repossessions that have ever occurred.

6. Previous searches - these are previous credit searches by other lenders that you have made a credit application with.

7. Gone Away Information Network (GAIN) - this is where you have moved home and not forwarded on the new address and not satisfied the debt.

8. Credit Industry Fraud Avoidance System (CIFAS) - this is where the lender suspects fraud and just flags it up.

Your credit file dictates the mortgage you can get. The key factors are CCJs or defaults. If you have any CCJs or defaults you will be restricted to adverse credit lenders who charge higher interest rates. If you have an IVA, repossession or GAIN on your file you still will be able to get a mortgage depending on when you had debt problems but your choice would be limited.

There is one key thing you should remember when filling out any application form or passing on any information to your Broker - do not lie! The credit reference agencies are becoming more and more sophisticated. They log every bit of information you put on every credit application and if you submit an application that was slightly different from a previous application they will flag it up.