My son (19) was looking at a car in a dealership recently, and could not get the finance himself. He put me on the paperwork without my knowledge as a "joint owner" ie guarantor. Later on he asked if I would guarantee it and go and sign a finance document and I said no as I felt he was over stretching himself, his job was no means secure and if he defaulted I would not be able to afford to monthly payments. He us a history of poor financial management also.
Throughout this I had no contact from the car dealership, but now I can see my credit report shows they did a hard search on my credit rating. Subsequently my credit has dropped 40 points. I am currently renting after selling my house and be looking at getting a mortgage soon, so this could also impact on this.
Where do I start with this? Surely it is against data protection?