Can I Claim Without Old Loan Paperwork?
Yes — and this is the situation most people are in. Loan agreements, credit card statements and old correspondence get binned, lost in house moves, or simply never kept in the first place. None of that stops a complaint. The lender holds the records you need, and you have a legal right to obtain them. This page explains how.
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The lender keeps everything you need
Lenders are required by FCA rules and data protection law to retain customer records for years after the relationship ends — typically six years from closure for most consumer credit, longer in some cases. Those records include:
- The original application form and the information you provided.
- The credit reference agency search at the time.
- The affordability assessment outputs.
- The full account history — every statement, every payment, every charge.
- Records of any credit limit increases or refinances.
- Correspondence and complaint history.
Once you have these, you have the lender’s side of the story. Combined with your own bank statements and credit file, that is usually enough.
How to get the lender’s records — Subject Access Request
A Subject Access Request (SAR) under the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 entitles you to a copy of the personal data the lender holds about you. The headline points:
- It is free. Lenders cannot charge for a standard SAR.
- They have one month to respond, extendable to three months for complex requests.
- You don’t need a reason. You don’t have to mention a complaint at this stage; you are simply requesting your data.
- You can ask for a specific period or account if you want to narrow the response, but a broader request is fine.
Most lenders publish a SAR address — usually an email address or an online portal — on their website. If you can’t find it, an email to the customer service or complaints team asking for the SAR contact will do.
How to get bank statements you no longer have
For most banks, online banking goes back several years and lets you download statements as PDFs at no cost. For older periods:
- Ask your bank in branch or by secure message for statements going back to a specific date.
- Banks must keep transactional records for at least six years; many keep them for longer.
- Some banks charge for paper copies of older statements — typically a small fee per month or per statement.
- If the account is closed, the bank still holds the data and can supply it on request.
How to get your credit file history
You can get a statutory credit report at no cost from each of the three main UK credit reference agencies — Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. The statutory report covers a six-year window, which is usually enough for affordability purposes.
For older information, the data is generally not retained beyond six years from closure or default, which is why the lender’s own SAR response often becomes the primary source for older lending.
What you can put together with no documents at all
A typical evidence picture for someone who started with nothing:
- A SAR to the lender produces account history, application data, and the affordability assessment.
- Online banking provides 6+ years of bank statements for the relevant period.
- Statutory credit reports show open accounts, defaults and CCJs.
- Your own description fills in the human context — what was happening in your life, why repayments were a struggle.
A claim partner will usually handle the SAR and gather these for you as part of the case, so you don’t have to chase it yourself.
What if the lender no longer exists?
If the lender has gone into administration or had its book sold, the data trail is more complicated. The administrators are obliged to retain customer records for a defined period and can usually still respond to a SAR. Where loans have been sold to a third party (for example, to Lantern Debt Recovery), the new owner of the debt holds copies of the relevant records. Your own bank statements and credit file remain accessible regardless.
Where the lender has fully wound up without successor, the standard route may not be available — recovery in those situations runs through whatever administration scheme exists, not through FOS.
Common worries that don’t actually matter
Most people coming to a complaint think they have less than they do. A few specific worries that don’t need to hold you up:
- “I don’t remember the exact dates.” The SAR will produce them.
- “I don’t have my old account number.” Your name, date of birth and an address you lived at during the period are usually enough.
- “I changed banks.” Your old bank still has your statements; they just aren’t in your current online banking.
- “I moved house several times.” List the addresses you lived at during the borrowing period in your SAR — that’s how the lender will identify your records.
Related guides
- What evidence do I need?
- How a claim works step by step
- Do I have an unaffordable lending claim?
- What affordability checks should a lender carry out?
- Do I need a claims company?
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