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Credit Reference Agencies (CRAs) collect and maintain information on consumers' and businesses' credit behaviour on behalf of organisations in the UK.
Fraud Prevention Agencies (FPAs) collect, maintain and share information on known and suspected fraudulent activity. Some CRAs also act as FPAs.
From publicly available information:
All organisations that collect and process personal data are regulated by the Data Protection Act 1998, overseen by the Information Commissioner's Office. All CRAs are in regular dialogue with the Commissioner. Use of the Electoral Register is controlled under the Representation of the People Act 2000.
No, access to your information is very strictly controlled and only those that are entitled to do so may see it. Usually that will only be with your agreement or (very occasionally) if there is a legal requirement.
We may contact CRAs to get information on your credit behaviour with other organisations. This will help us make the best possible assessment of your overall situation before we make a decision on your application.
If you make an application to us, we may apply to and send data to CRAs and/or FPAs. The next section will give more detail about how, when and why we will search at CRAs and FPAs and what we will do with the information we obtain from them. We will also tell you if we plan to send payment history information on you to CRAs. You can ask us at any time the name of CRAs and FPAs we use.
We want to make the best possible decisions we can, in order to make sure that you will be able to repay us. We may also use the information to check your identity. In this way, we can ensure that we make responsible decisions quickly and easily. By using up-to-date information provided electronically, we are able to make the most reliable and fair decisions possible.
Please read this section very carefully, it will vary from lender to lender.
You can contact the CRAs currently operating in the UK; the information they hold may not be the same so it is worth contacting them all. They will charge you a small statutory fee.
As responsible lenders, we take into account your personal circumstances when approving a credit limit. To help us do this, applications may be assessed using a process called credit scoring.
Credit scoring takes into account information provided directly by you, any information we may hold about you, and any information we may obtain from other organisations. Where we use information from other organisations, we will tell you which ones these are. We may also use information obtained from Credit Reference Agencies (CRAs).
Credit scoring allocates points for each piece of relevant information and adds these up to produce a score. If your score reaches a certain level, we will generally accept your application and assign you a credit limit. If your score does not reach this level, we may not. Sometimes scores are calculated by CRAs and we may use these in our assessment of your application. The rules for allocating points have been developed based on thorough analysis of a large number of repayment histories collated over many years of providing credit. This statistical analysis enables us to identify characteristics that predict likelihood of future performance. For example, if individuals of a particular age have proved to be more likely to meet payments than those falling within another age group, the points allocated will reflect this.
Credit scoring produces consistent decisions and is designed to ensure all applicants are treated fairly. Additionally, we may have policy rules to determine whether we will lend. These reflect our commercial experience and requirements. Every credit application involves a certain level of risk for the lender, no matter how reliable or responsible an applicant may be. Credit scoring enables us to calculate the level of risk for each applicant based on the information we have obtained. If the level of risk is unacceptable to us, we will not accept the application. This does not mean that any declined applicant is a bad payer; it simply means that based on the information available to us, we are not prepared to take the risk of lending to the applicant. Lenders are not obliged to accept any applications.
Because lenders have different lending policies and scoring systems, applications to them may be assessed differently. This means that one lender may accept your application, but another may not. If your application is declined, this will not be disclosed to the CRAs.
We believe that credit scoring is fair and impartial. It does not single out a specific piece of information as the reason for declining an application. We test our credit scoring methods regularly to make sure they continue to be fair and unbiased. Responsible lending is essential for the good of both applicants and lenders. The Financial Conduct Authority regulates credit and considers credit scoring to be an aid to responsible lending.
If we are unable to accept your application, we will tell you. We will also tell you the principle reason why we were unable to agree to your request. If you did not pass our credit score, we will tell you this. We will also give you an indication of the type of information that was included in the scoring system. Generally, this information will be grouped into categories such as your ability to repay, your credit history and stability factors, such as how long you have lived at your address. If we have declined your application, you may ask us to reconsider our decision. We will generally ask you to provide us with additional information and tell you what information you will need to give us. If you wish to ask us to reconsider a decision, then please contact us at help@sunny.co.uk
1 A financial associate will be someone with whom you have a personal relationship that creates a joint financial unit in a similar way to a married couple. You will have been living at the same address at the time. It is not intended to include temporary arrangements such as students or rented flat sharers or business relationships.
2 A small business is defined as an organisation which might be sole trader, partnership or a limited company that has three or less partners or directors.
3 CRAs may link together the records of people that are part of a financial unit. They may do this when people are known to be linked, such as being married or have jointly applied for credit or have joint accounts. They may also link people together if they, themselves, state that they are financially linked.
4 Financial associates (see 1. a.) iii) may "break the link" between them if their circumstances change such that they are no longer a financial unit. They should apply for their credit file from a CRA and file for a "disassociation".
Elevate Credit International Limited is committed to respecting and protecting your privacy and ensuring that all of the information we hold about you is correct, relevant and secure. We abide by the Data Protection Act 1998 and are registered as Data Controllers with the Information Commissioner's Office.
By using this website you agree to Elevate Credit International Limited holding and processing your personal and non-personal information for the following purposes to:
We do not disclose your information to any other person except:
We do not disclose your information to any other person unless:
All of your information is stored on our secure servers, and is reviewed on a regular basis to ensure that it remains up-to-date and relevant. We will not retain your personal information for any longer than necessary in line with our Data Protection Act obligations.
Countries within the European Economic Area (EEA) are required to have a similar standard of protection of personal data. We may transfer personal data outside the EEA but will ensure that before we do so, there is adequate protection as required by the relevant Data Protection legislation.
Elevate Credit International Limited is owned by Elevate Credit, Inc., a company based in the USA. From time to time customer data will be securely transmitted to, or our systems accessed by, Elevate Credit, Inc. in order to analyse our data and provide audit services. Elevate Credit, Inc., is certified under the US Safe Harbor Privacy Principles, which ensure that any data transmitted to, or accessed by it, will be used and managed in a way that is as safe, secure and appropriate. To view the full Elevate Credit, Inc., Safe Harbor Privacy Policy click here.
We will use the information stored about you to search the files of one or more credit reference agencies for the purposes of credit assessment or account administration.
As part of our application process, we will use and search the records of credit reference or fraud prevention agencies to check your identity and to prevent fraud and money laundering. We will also pass information to such agencies to inform them of the performance and repayment history of the loan account and if fraud is suspected or discovered.
You have the right to receive a copy of your information if you apply to us in writing. A fee (of up to £10.00) will be payable for this service. Please note that we will not provide you with a copy of your credit reference file.
We will, on request, cooperate with any organisation which we are obliged by law so to do. This may involve passing information about you to them.
By submitting your personal information to our website, you are providing consent to use your information for the purposes set out in this document.
Subject to your consent your information might be used to notify you about products and services by phone, email, SMS and in writing from us which may be of interest to you.
You have a right at any time to ask us not to contact you for these purposes. You may send an email to us at unsubscribe@sunny.co.uk if you wish us to stop. If you opt out of such communications, we will honour such choice once we have had a reasonable opportunity to process your request. We reserve the right to take reasonable steps to authenticate your identity with respect to any such request.
We reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time by notifying you of the existence and location of the new or revised privacy policy or by posting the changes online at our website.
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