Clause 25 - Credit information services
Consumer Credit Bill
5:00 pm
Mr Laurence Robertson (Shadow Minister, Economic Affairs; Tewkesbury, Conservative)
I thank my hon. Friend for that good point. In many ways it is more important than mine. The information may be inaccurate, the accounts may be sloppy, but fraud is also an issue. When I was in business, I had a dispute with a supplier who had given me faulty goods. I refused to pay for them, as was my right. The company took me to court, and the case was struck out. However, the credit reference company had recorded the case as a county court judgment against me—another instance of sloppy record-keeping. I only found that out while conducting another business transaction, and it became a problem. I told the credit company to remove the inaccurate information from its records. The company contacted Leeds county court, and it was taken off the record. However, on a subsequent occasion, the same credit reference company still had that judgment on my record, even though it was wrong. Given the amount of time I spent dealing with that problem, and the business opportunities I could have lost, because a company was saying things about me that were demonstrably untrue, I should have been able to say to them, ''I'm sorry, but you owe me some compensation. Not only have you done this once, but twice.'' That is the mischief that the amendment seeks to remove.