DTI Consults on Increased Data Sharing, 30th October 2006

The DTI has opened a consultation on increased data sharing amongst lenders as a means of ensuring responsible lending decisions. The consultation document is available from this link and the deadline for responses is 11th January 2007. The paper invites views as to whether data should be shared on accounts where there is no express or implied consent given by the borrower, effectively making data sharing compulsory on all accounts,and indicates from previous exercises that doing so is likely to identify an additional 80,000 people who are over-indebted according to Experian's Overindebtedness index. The paper also indicates that approximately 4% of the adult population are currently in 'systematic arrears' on one or more of their credit commitments.