Edited Electoral Register

The Edited Electoral Register is used millions of times each year to help a variety of organisations make decisions about consumers and businesses. The data is used in the following ways: 

• Creditworthiness checks on existing customers, such as when increasing/decreasing someone’s credit card limit.
• Fraud and crime investigations prior to passing to the police or other public sector investigatory authorities on existing credit customers.
• Identity and residential status verification, for example for debt tracing to identify or verify whether a named person was resident at the time a debt was incurred, or employment checks in the private sector.
• Marketing activity  

Data Protection Act

Under the Data Protection Act, people can opt out of the Full Electoral Register. Some 40% of the population already do so.

The FLA’s view

The FLA is convinced of the value of the Edited Register in lenders' continuing good management of credit accounts. We responded to the Ministry of Justice's consultation on the future of the Register earlier this year stressing its importance. The consultation closed in February, and we are awaiting the Government's response.