Campaign for a Credit Amnesty

A bad credit reference is like a criminal record. It follows you everywhere and prevents you from not only obtaining credit but also prevents you from investing in yourself and your life. Any bank or financial institution can give you a bad credit reference at any time without your knowledge and without giving you any redress or opportunity to prevent this. Many people have been unfairly deemed bad credit risks and have been given bad credit references unfairly by the banks and financial institutions. Credit reference agencies are a leftover from Thatcherism and thousands of people have been crippled by debt for many years due to previous irresponsible lending by banks and the financial sector. This debt places an additional burden on job seekers when seeking jobs and prevents people from starting up new businesses. The Campaign for Credit Amnesty is calling for two things. The first is for a new law to be passed where a bad credit reference can only be imposed on someone by a judge, a magistrate or county court judge which would effectively bar that person from obtaining any credit for a specified period. This would prevent debt collection agencies, banks and financial institutions from being able to unfairly and arbitrarily decide to give someone a bad credit reference and would lead to a situation which would be fairer and simpler not just for people, but also for the banking and financial sector itself. The second is a blanket amnesty on all debt and credit references giving everybody in the country a clean credit reference. This would not only effectively 'wipe the slate clean' and give everybody a fresh start under the new regulations but also lead to a dramatic stimulation of the economy, encouraging creativity and the creation of new jobs and businesses, whilst simultaneously reducing debt, poverty and unemployment. The losses to the banking and financial sector would be offset by economic recovery and a new period of sustained growth and spending.