A LexisNexis/IIL search footprint on your credit file demonstrates that an insurer or broker has requested LexisNexis/IIL to search your data with a Credit Reference Agency (“CRA”).

In such circumstances, LexisNexis/IIL, acting on behalf of the relevant insurer or broker, obtains your data from the CRA and then provides it back to the insurer or broker that had requested it. LexisNexis/IIL does not act as a controller of the information from your credit file and it does not use such information for its own purposes, but rather acts as a conduit between the CRA and the insurer or broker.

Insurers and brokers carry out searches with CRAs for several reasons. These reasons include checking an individual’s identity, assessing their insurance risk, and assessing creditworthiness.

CRAs enable insurers and brokers to consider certain kinds of credit reference data when they are assessing risk. This data can help the insurers and brokers decide (i) whether to provide cover to a person; (ii) how much the insurance premium should be; (iii) whether to allow payment for insurance on a credit instalment basis; and (iv) how much the credit instalment would be.

Credit reference data enables insurers and brokers to better forecast their future liability and to price their insurance and credit products more accurately and competitively. For consumers, it means that insurance policies and credit instalments plans are priced more fairly, with the lowest-risk individuals paying less for their insurance and credit instalments.

The type of search footprint left on your credit file will assist you to identify the purpose for which your data was used.

Please refer to http://www.transunion.co.uk/crain or to https://www.experian.co.uk/legal/crain/index for further information about the CRAs and types of searches.

The LexisNexis/IIL search footprint on your credit file could mean that several insurers and brokers have requested and received information from it. This is usually the case where you requested several insurance quotations at once via an aggregator website (such as, for example, www.comparethemarket.com or www.confused.com).

One quotation request on an aggregator website may result in many identical requests for information from your credit file (i.e., from all those insurers and brokers that wish to provide you with an insurance quote). LexisNexis/IIL de-duplicate these requests sending only the first one to the CRAs to search against its live databases. LexisNexis/IIL then shares the information returned from the CRAs with all insurers and brokers that have requested it.

Whilst your credit file does not display details of the aggregator website, insurer and/or broker that have requested your credit data, you can ask to see this information by making a request to the CRA directly. See “How do I query or dispute the search on my credit file” and “How do I contact the CRAs and LexisNexis?” below for further information.

Insurers and brokers will also search credit reference agency files when they prepare your renewal offer or make an adjustment to your policy. It is common practice for comparison websites to keep the information you give them and send you quote details a year later and, that being the case, this is usually explained in their terms and conditions. If none of the above apply, it may be that someone else has looked for insurance using your details.

If you do suspect fraudulent access to your credit file, you should contact the relevant CRA. See “How do I query or dispute the search on my credit file” below for further information.

Query

If you wish to find out which aggregator websites, insurers and/or brokers requested LexisNexis/IIL to search your data with a CRA, please contact the CRA using the contact details set out below.

Once you raise the query with the CRA, the CRA will send your request to LexisNexis. LexisNexis will search its systems to find the aggregator websites, insurers and/or brokers that have requested the search and inform the CRA, who will then inform you. You can choose to approach the company in question if you wish to find out any more information regarding their use of your credit file data or report any suspicious activity.

Dispute

If you believe a search footprint has been placed on your credit file in error, you can raise a search footprint dispute with the CRAs. The CRAs will send information on any search footprints disputes to LexisNexis. Using the information provided by the CRA, LexisNexis will search its systems to find the aggregator websites, insurers and/or brokers that have requested the search and inform the CRA.

If your search footprint dispute is accepted, LexisNexis will inform the CRA and the CRA will arrange for the search footprint to be deleted from your credit file.

If your search footprint dispute is rejected, this means that records show that a search was made on your credit file by one or more insurer or broker. You can find out which insurers/brokers performed this search by raising a query directly with the CRAs.

LexisNexis/IIL search footprints are soft footprints. Soft searches do not affect your credit score or your ability to obtain credit and are automatically removed by the CRAs after a given time, usually between 12 and 24 months after the search was conducted.

Search footprints are recorded on your credit file to show you who has processed your credit file data and for what purpose, to assist you to identify any suspicious activity (such as a third party performing an insurance quotation search in your name). If you believe this is the case, and your search dispute has been nevertheless rejected, you should contact the CRAs by email using the contact details below.