Treasury Committee to help debtors?

The Treasury Committee has published a new report, asking trade bodies to investigate the credit industry, after it considered evidence from a range of sources, including from members of the public.

Chairman of the committee John McFall said: “We are today calling on the [Office of Fair Trading] and [the] Information Commissioner to look into the credit market”, adding that concerns regarding the fairness and transparency of its operations are present.

This move comes after the possibility emerged that, as individuals shop around for loans and credit, they build up a record of application searches on their files.

Such a list could make it more difficult to obtain credit or influence the rates applied to any loans.

This follows recent research from Moneysupermarket.com, which found that Britons are finding it increasingly hard to be accepted for credit.

According to the website, in October, monthly lending fell 28 per cent, while the number of people looking for such products rose 20 per cent.

By Sarah Adie