Your rights

You can see personal information about you held by any organisation. This is your right under the Data Protection Act. There is no charge for making these requests.  

You can ask a lender for a copy of your credit agreement and statements of your account, if you still owe them money. This is your right under the Consumer Credit Act. It costs £1 to make these requests.

Data Protection Act requests

You can make specific and general requests. For example, you could ask for a copy of a letter or email. Or you could ask for all information the organisation has about you. Make sure that you are clear about the information you want.

Consumer Credit Act requests

You should be sent a ‘true copy’ of your agreement that is easy to read. This must contain all the terms and conditions from your original agreement, and information about any changes. 

The statement of account should be signed by the creditor. It will tell you: 

• how much you have paid  
• how much you still owe 
• details of future payments.

What can I do if I don’t get an answer to my requests?

If you do not get a reply to your Data Protection Act request within one month you can report it to the Information Commissioner. If the Information Commissioner thinks the law has been broken, they might tell the company to follow the rules. In serious cases they can make them send you the information.  

If you make a Consumer Credit Act request the creditor must respond within 12 working days. They are not allowed to take action against you to enforce the agreement in the court until they respond.