Terms and Conditions
Licensed Credit Broker in accordance with the Consumer Credit Act. Licensed National Credit Broker for Authorised Banks. Secured Loans are secured on property. Your home is at risk if you do not keep up repayments on a mortgage or other loans secured on it. Loans subject to status and ability to repay. Written quotations available on request. Essential Loans is compliant with every financial regulation. Furthermore, we make a commitment to all our customers to maintain the strictest levels of privacy.
LEGAL INFORMATION
General
This web site is owned and operated by Essential Loans and any access to this site is governed by these terms and conditions. If these terms and conditions are not accepted in full, you do not have permission to access this site and therefore should cease using the site immediately. If there is any conflict between these terms and conditions and / or specific terms of use appearing on this site, then the latter shall prevail.
Intellectual Property
All copyright, database rights and other intellectual property rights in the material on this site belong to Essential Loans. Individuals who access and / or use this site will not obtain intellectual or other proprietary rights in the content. You may not copy, distribute, sell or publish any of the content of the site without prior written permission.
Liability
Essential Loans uses reasonable endeavors to ensure the accuracy and completeness of all the information on the site. However, you should always check any information on the site before making any decisions based on that information. Except for the event of death or personal injury caused by our negligent acts or omissions, we shall not be liable in any way for any damages arising in contract, negligence, or otherwise in respect of loss or damage arising out of, or in connection with your use of the site. In no event will Essential Loans be liable for any direct, indirect or consequential damages in contract, including loss of profit, loss or damage to property or relating to claims made by third parties. This site may contain links to third party web sites which are not under the control of Essential Loans. Essential Loans are not responsible for the material on such third party sites, links to which are provided solely as a convenience.
Jurisdiction
These terms and conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales. Disputes arising here from, shall be exclusively subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.
Security
When you apply for a loan, we offer the use of secure server software which encrypts all information you input before it is sent to us. This ensures that the information is reasonably protected against unauthorised interception. In order to comply with our obligations under the Data Protection Acts of 1984 and 1998, we also follow strict security procedures in the storage and disclosure of information which you have given us, to prevent unauthorised access to that information.
Your consent
In using this web site, you consent to the collection and use of this information by Essential Loans. If we decide to change our terms and conditions, we will post those changes on this page so that you are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it and in what circumstances we disclose it.
Data Protection
By submitting this application you agree for us to search the necessary credit reference agencies on yourself and any other named person(s) on the application and may pass your details to our current lenders.
The personal data gathered by us in our enquiry will be recorded electronically and only used in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998. Essential Loans and any other broker or lender we refer this application to, may use the information you have provided from this web site in connection with your application. Details you supply may be processed in order to advise you from time to time (by post, telephone or other means) about products and services which may be of interest to you and also any products supplied by carefully selected providers. If you do not wish to receive such contact please write to us at: Essential Loans, 137 Golden Cross Lane, Catshill, Bromsgrove, B61 0LA.
The use of information
The information you provide will be used by Essential Loans for the following purposes:
- Process the application you have made.
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Search relevant credit reference agencies for your personal credit file - this search will be shown in any other searches which are made in connection with applications made by yourself and other members of your household. The disclosure of multiple searches may adversely affect your credit profile and may make it more difficult for you to obtain credit in the future.
Essential Loans may also use the information
- To offer you other products which become available.
- To pass your details on to a lender or lenders we feel may be willing to lend you money.
- To pass on your details to another broker, if we not able to arrange finance for you.
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To pass your details to another broker in the future with a view to them offering you products they feel may be of interest to you.
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To permit access to your information by FISA or other regulatory bodies to ensure we are processing information correctly and complying with regulatory requirements.
Any other broker or lender to whom the information is passed on to, may use it in the same way.
Essential Loans may keep the information for several years. You can, however, ask for the information not to be used to offer you other products.
Use of information whilst application is being processed
Essential Loans will check the information supplied on your loan application with data held by credit reference agencies. Details of this search is recorded by the agency and disclosed to other organisations on any later searches. Both Essential Loans and the lender you will potentially be placed with, will use the information obtained in the search to assess the application and may also use the result of any search in a credit scoring system.
A credit scoring system is a system by which points are given for various factors, for example, your age, your job or even for information obtained from a credit reference agency, such as how you have repaid previous or existing credit. Essential Loans will use methods of scoring to decide whether you are eligible for a loan with us. We will inform you of the search beforehand.
Essential Loans will check your details with the credit reference agencies to satisfy ourselves that all the details on the application are true, and that the application has really been made by you. If we suspect information is false or inaccurate we may report it to a fraud prevention agency. Please ensure the information you give is true as false or inaccurate information will be recorded.
As well as the credit reference agencies, we use agencies dealing specifically with the checking of application details to identify possible fraud. This is a protection for honest applicants, although it can sometimes cause delays.
What if my loan application is not accepted?
Loans are always granted at the discretion of both Essential Loans and the lending company your loan is placed with. Under certain circumstances, Essential Loans or the lender may not wish to lend. This could be due to a number of reasons. For example, we may think you cannot afford the loan or if it is a Secured Loan, your property may not be of sufficient value.
Essential Loans does not have to tell you exactly why you have been refused credit, but you can ask us for the name and address of any credit reference agencies used.
If you are refused credit because of a computerised credit scoring system you can ask Essential Loans for an explanation of how their credit scoring works (this applies only if the decision has been made on the basis of a computerised system alone). We may, however charge a small fee for providing this information. You also have the right to ask us for a non automated review of the decision.
Use of information once your loan application has been processed
Essential Loans keeps information about all our customers in our records. This will include all the initial information given by you and extra information about how your account has been run. We will also include any other dealings between you, Essential Loans and the lender your application has been placed with.
Both Essential Loans and the lender will record the conduct of any loan throughout its duration, including punctuality of payments and other information with one or more credit reference agency. This enables lending companies in the future to make decisions about credit and credit related services for you and other members of your household. This can include decisions on motor and household credit, life and other insurance proposals and insurance claims.
Information may also be provided to the other relevant agencies. These will help lenders and other agency subscribers to trace debtors, recover debt, prevent fraud and to check your identity to prevent money laundering.
Essential Loans may also use your information for statistical analysis about credit, insurance and fraud. This may be carried out by ourselves or by third parties contracted to do the work for us. If we use a contractor, they are obliged to ensure that your data is properly secure. Essential Loans will also give information about you and your account to bankers, other providers, insurers and re-insurers.
Credit Reference Agencies
The two main credit reference agencies we use are:
Equifax Plc,
Credit File Advice Service,
PO Box 3001,
Glasgow,
G81 2DT
and
Experian Limited.
Consumer Help Service,
PO Box 8000,
Nottingham,
NG1 5GX.
The agencies do not keep "black lists" nor do they give any opinion about whether or not credit should be granted. They do have a duty to keep information up to date and accurate.
Credit reference agencies keep a wide range of information. This includes information from the electoral or voters' roll and records of most county court judgements and bankruptcies. They also retain information relating to previous and existing credit and a record of searches made against the file. Essential Loans and any other lender will share information through the agencies providing a history of payment punctuality. Loan information is usually held on file for 6 years. Details of the voters roll may be held for much longer. Information about credit searches is kept for up to two years.
OTHER AGENCIES
CIFAS
Reports from CIFAS relating to fraud and fraud avoidance are also available to Essential Loans - these contain information indicating that fraud, or attempted fraud, has been notified by a lender. The information might not directly relate to you, it might relate to someone who has tried to impersonate you. CIFAS information is intended to warn lenders and act as a protection for innocent customers. Data available to members of CIFAS, may also be used to help make decisions on motor, household, credit, life and other insurance proposals for you and members of your household.
CML Repossession Register
The Council of Mortgage Lenders' Repossession Register is available to Essential Loans through the main credit reference agencies. If you have had a property repossessed or have given it up voluntarily this will show on the register.
GAIN
A file may also show a "gone away" marker indicating that a member of the "Gone Away Information Network" has reported that they cannot trace a customer who is in arrears with payments. Alternatively, the marker may indicate a new address which the "gone away" has been traced to.
HUNTER
Files in this register contain detailed information on applications made and loans given. It is aimed at tracing fraudsters who use different combinations of information to obtain credit dishonestly. It checks and counter checks information given on application forms.
You have a right to see what information these agencies hold about you and you and can ask them for a copy at any time. The agencies must also tell you where the information was obtained. You will need to write to them and they may charge a small fee (£10 maximum). The firm will have to reply within 40 days from receipt of their fee.
If you wish to see the information contained on a credit reference agency file you can do so by writing to the relevant agency. The agency must respond within 7 working days. There is a small fee of £2 required. If your credit reference file contains information about other people with whom you have no financial connection or if it contains information which is incorrect you can ask for the entry to be corrected, removed, or have a note put on the file explaining why you think the information is wrong. The agency will not remove correct information.
The Data Protection Commissioner provides a useful leaflet which explains how to request changes to your credit reference file. The easy to read leaflet includes examples of letters and details of various actions you may take to amend a file. You can obtain a free copy of the leaflet by writing to "No Credit Leaflet, P.O. Box 99, Nelson, BB9 8GS". Information is also available at www.dataprotection.gov.uk.
Disclaimer
Essential Loans has agreed deals with some lenders to receive a small commission payment when a customer chooses to apply for a product through us. Our commercial relationships are in place to help make the application process as convenient as possible for our customers, and in some cases we can offer exclusive deals that are not available directly from the supplier.
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