If you are worried about debt and not sure what to expect when dealing with lenders you owe money to, you aren’t alone. Many people are unsure about their credit agreements. Asking for the relevant paperwork and getting support if there’s something you don’t understand can help get things sorted out. This guide explains your rights and the steps you can take if you need to ask your creditors for information. 

Use this guide to help you to:

• understand what a credit agreement is and why you might want to ask for information about your credit agreement;
• understand how to ask your lender in writing for a copy of your credit agreement or request personal information an organisation holds about you; and
• find out what to do if a lender does not respond to your request for information.

The sample letters mentioned in this guide can be filled in on our website. If you need more support, or you’re unsure about your rights under your credit agreement, call one of our expert advisers for free, confidential advice.

What are credit agreements and why might I want to ask for information?

You normally need to sign a credit agreement before borrowing money or getting credit. A credit agreement outlines key information and the terms and conditions under which credit is given to you. Your rights and responsibilities, and those of the creditor, are set out in your credit agreement meaning that both sides know what to expect. This will include how much interest and charges will be payable, and what can happen if you do not pay the credit back as agreed.

There are many reasons why people check credit agreements or make requests for credit agreements or other information from their creditors. For example, you might want to check your credit agreement or ask for information because:

• you are disputing a balance;
• you want to understand interest and charges or any seemingly unfair credit agreements;
• you are dealing with debt collection or court action; or
• you can’t remember the details of a debt, and you don’t know how to find old credit agreements.

If you are unsure about anything, you should check your credit agreement. This will allow you to confirm what is accurate and what was agreed between you and the creditor. It can help with any complaints and also help you make decisions about financial planning going forward.

Creditors should give you a copy of your credit agreement. While you do need to be careful with old debts (see the later section Time limits for recovering debt), if you have lost your agreement or you are unsure whether the creditor gave you a copy, you can ask for one. You can also ask for other information if you want.

If you are not happy to do that or you need help asking for information, you can give written permission for someone else to act on your behalf. The person could be a friend, family member or an organisation such as Citizens Advice.

Credit agreements can sometimes be difficult to understand. If needed, you can also get advice on what your agreement says, and about any other information received once you have it.

What are my rights to information?

There are two main ways to ask for information. You have rights to get your personal information from creditors and other organisations because of two laws:

• the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018); and
• the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (CCA 1974).

Understanding the differences between requests under these laws is important. Which you use will depend on:

• whether your debt is covered by only one or both laws;
• what action your creditor has taken so far; and
• the type of information that you need.

The rest of this section and the following sections will help you decide which law to use. If you need more support, or you’re unsure about your rights under the Data Protection Act or the Consumer Credit Act, call one of our expert advisers for free, confidential advice.

Is the kind of information I get different under each law?

Yes, you will not get the same information using both types of request.

• The Data Protection Act gives you the right to access all personal information held by the organisation about you – regardless of CCA regulation. A request for information under the Data Protection Act is called a ‘subject access request’ (SAR) or a ‘data subject access request’ (DSAR). The organisation has to send you the information you ask for under the Data Protection Act, even if they have started court action.
• The Consumer Credit Act gives you the right to ask for a copy of your credit agreement and statements of your account. This is only for debts regulated by the Act. Most credit cards and personal loans are regulated credit agreements. They should say they are ‘regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974’ if they are. However, there are also some unregulated credit agreements or exempt agreements. For example, the Act may not cover all credit union or buy now pay later debts. There are also many other types of agreement the Act does not cover. For example, it doesn’t apply to companies when they provide gas, electricity, water or phone services. It does not cover councils.
• You must also still owe money on the account, and the creditor must not have already taken court action. If a lender does not respond to a request for information under the Consumer Credit Act in 12 working days, they cannot start or continue court action against you to recover the debt until they do so. See the later section, What if the creditor does not reply to my Consumer Credit Act request under sections 77, 78 and 79?

How much will it cost?

Data Protection Act requests

Organisations cannot charge for sending you personal information under the Data Protection Act as long as your request is reasonable. For example, your request may not be reasonable if you are asking them to provide information that they have already recently given to you.

You can make very specific requests or make more general ones. For example, you could ask for a copy of a particular letter or email. Alternatively, you could ask for copies of all the letters and emails that they have sent to you. You could even just ask for a copy of all of the information that they hold about you. Remember, in some cases this may mean that you receive a large amount of information from them. This might make it harder to find any specific information you are looking for, so you may need to think about the information you need and what you are trying to achieve before you make your request.

Personal information under the Data Protection Act sample letter

Use this sample letter to ask for specific information about you which may be held by a creditor, or a public organisation like your local council. Alternatively, you might want to check what information the creditor holds about you (such as a record of a phone call) and how they may have used this to make decisions about you.

Consumer Credit Act requests

Under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 sections 77, 78 and 79, you can ask for a copy of your credit agreement and statement of account for £1. There is no fee if you ask for a statement of your account under section 77b of the Consumer Credit Act.

There are two sample letters which you can use to get different kinds of information.

Information about your agreement under the Consumer Credit Act sample letter

Use this sample letter to ask for a copy of your agreement and related documents, together with a statement of your account from a creditor. You might need to use this letter if you have lost your original agreement and want to check the terms and conditions such as the interest rate, the amount of credit and the total number of payments. You might want a statement of account to check what the creditor thinks you have paid on the account and when. Use sections 77, 78 and 79 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 to make this request.

Information about instalments still to pay under a credit agreement sample letter

Use this sample letter to ask for a statement of your account which shows what you have to pay in the future, including any missed payments. You can only use this letter if your agreement is for a fixed amount of credit (or a fixed sum credit agreement), the debt is not secured on property, and you pay it by instalments. Use section 77b of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 to make this request.

The sample letters mentioned in this guide can be filled in on our website. If you need more support, or you’re unsure about your rights under the Data Protection Act or the Consumer Credit Act, call one of our expert advisers for free, confidential advice.

What information should I receive?

Data Protection Act request

You should get the information that you have asked for. Make sure that you are clear about the information that you want. If you are not clear, the creditor may send you too much information, which you may find unhelpful. If the information is difficult to understand, the creditor should send you a guide to help you make sense of it. If you asked for details of any decision that the creditor made about you, you should be sent an explanation of how they made that decision.

The Act allows your lender to give you information about payments made by a joint account holder, such as your partner or ex-partner. However, it does not force them to do so. You can ask your lender to provide this information under the  Data Protection Act, but they are within their legal rights to say no.

Consumer Credit Act request under sections 77, 78 and 79

You should be sent a ‘true copy’ of your agreement that is easy to read and a statement of your account signed by your creditor. The ‘true copy’ must contain all the terms and conditions from your original agreement, information about any changes made to the agreement and your name and address at the time that you took out the agreement. It does not have to include a signature box, signature or the date of signature from your original agreement.

The statement of account should be signed by the creditor and tell you:

• how much you have paid (if you borrowed a fixed amount);
• how much you still owe; and
• what you still have to pay and when.

What if the creditor does not reply to my Data Protection Act request?

Usually, the organisation should send you the information you requested under the Data Protection act within one month. However, in some situations, for example, if your request is complicated, the organisation may need more time to provide the information. If this is the case, they must tell you within one month of your request that they will need extra time. The organisation is then allowed an extra two months to complete your request.

If the organisation does not send you the information within the time allowed, you could send a reminder by recorded delivery. If you still do not receive a reply, you can report a concern to the Information Commissioner. If the Information Commissioner thinks that the law has been broken, they might tell the company to follow the rules. In serious cases, the Information Commissioner can send the organisation an enforcement notice to force them to send you the information. See the later section Useful contacts.

What if the creditor does not reply to my Consumer Credit Act request under sections 77, 78 and 79?

If the creditor does not send you a copy of your agreement and a statement of account within 12 working days, then they are not allowed to take further action against you to enforce the agreement in the court until they do so.

If there never was any written agreement so the creditor cannot send you a copy, they should tell you. If the creditor has simply lost your agreement, they must provide a ‘true copy’ with the same details.

In the meantime, the creditor cannot:

• make you pay off your debt before you’re supposed to;
• get a court judgment against you; or
• take back anything you’ve hired or bought on credit, or take anything you used as security (like your house) when you took out the agreement.

However, the debt still exists and if you don’t arrange to pay they can still:

• add interest and charges in line with your terms and conditions and ask you to pay what you owe;
• send you a letter called a ‘default notice’ if you miss any payments;
• pass your information on to a credit reference agency (which might affect your credit record);
• pass your information on to a debt collector;
• sell your debt to someone else; or
• take your case to court, although they won’t be able to get a court judgment against you unless they give you the information you’re entitled to.

You can make sure that the creditor does not go any further with any court judgment by asking the court to stop any action. You should ask for a ‘pause’ until they have met the Consumer Credit Act requirements. Contact us for advice if you want to do this.

What if another company has bought the debt?

If the original creditor has sold the debt on to another company, the new company becomes the ‘creditor’ and must deal with your request. If the new company does not agree to do this, they should tell you who can give you the information, or pass your request on to the original creditor themselves.

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS)

If you think that the new company has not behaved as they should, you can make a complaint to the FOS. You will have to follow the company’s complaints procedure first. You can only complain to the FOS about events that happened from April 2007 onwards. See the later section Useful contacts.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)

The FCA has published detailed advice on how creditors should act in the Consumer Credit sourcebook (CONC). See the later section Useful contacts.

Time limits for recovering debt

The Limitation Act 1980 sets out the rules on how long a creditor has to take certain action against you to recover a debt. Limitation periods for debts are important, because if the creditor has run out of time, you may not have to pay the debt back.

If you write to a creditor, this may restart the limitation period, depending on what you say. If you think a limitation period may apply soon, contact us for advice before writing to your creditor. For more information, see our Statute barred debts guide.

Summary Table

	Consumer Credit Act (CCA request for information)	Data Protection Act (DPA request for information)
Why do this.	Check understanding and accuracy of CCA-regulated agreements to help with complaints or financial planning.	Check specific or general personal and financial information held by an organisation. This includes information about debts not regulated by the CCA.
Type of information that you can get.	Credit agreements and statements of accounts.	Credit agreements and statements of accounts, plus personal information held by an organisation.
Fee.	£1 fee if asking for information under sections 77, 78 and 79 of the CCA.	Normally free. No fee if your request is reasonable.
How quickly should you get the information.	Creditors will normally have 12 working days to respond.	One month.
Complaints.	Follow the creditor’s complaints process before escalating to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). You can also complain to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).	Complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

Useful contacts

Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Regulator for financial services such as banks and credit companies, insurance companies and mortgage lenders. Phone: 0800 111 6768 www.fca.org.uk

Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) For complaints about banks and other creditors Phone: 0800 023 4567 www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk

The Information Commissioner’s Office Phone: 0303 123 1113 www.ico.org.uk

FAQs

What is a credit agreement and does requesting a copy of my credit agreement or personal information an organisation holds about me affect my credit rating or my credit file?

A credit agreement outlines key information and the terms and conditions under which credit is given to you (be that in the form of a loan, credit card, hire agreement or some other type of credit facility.) Asking for information will not affect your credit file. If you do not pay the credit back as agreed, your credit rating could be affected.

How do I decide between a Consumer Credit Act request (CCA request) for information or Data Protection Act request (DPA request) for information?

The type of information request you make or which will be most useful to you will depend on:

• whether your debt is covered by only one or both laws;
• what action your creditor has taken so far; and
• the type of information that you need.

See the Summary Table section for an overview of each type of information request.

How long do companies tend to keep information under the Data Protection Act and can I request older information?

You can request older information, but under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018, companies must only keep personal information for as long as necessary for the purpose it was collected. While there aren’t any set time limits in data protection law, many companies keep information for 6 years.

Where can I get more information about obtaining details held by an organisation?

There is more information available on the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) website. The following may be particularly useful.

• Getting copies of your information. 
• What to expect after making a subject access request.
• Getting a response to your subject access request.
• Why organisations might partially or fully refuse a subject access request.
• What to do if you don’t get a response or you’re unhappy with it.

Other guides that may help you

Claims Management Companies guide

Complaining about your lender guide

Statute barred debts guide