Cifas help needed

fredfredfred

hello,

this is a first post, so here goes.......


I am hoping someone on here can help. I recently applied for a loan from Liverpool Victoria (by phone), they asked for three years address history which I told them. I have lived at my current address since feb 2005 and my previous address from feb 2002. The loan was declined. They said the loan was declined on scoring and because i had not given my full address hisory. I then got a credit reference printout and found they had entered a CIFAS entry. I wrote to them to ask about the CIFAS entry and they said it was because I had two CCJ's from Jan 2003 at an address i had not given. I am not disputing the CCJ's (they were due to a business failing and personal guarantees being called in by Royal Bank of Scotland) These CCJ's were given in Jan 2003 and are registered at my previous, previous address (I moved out of this address in Feb 2002). I have being paying the CCJ's every month and have a notice of correction explaining them on my credit file, so I wasn't trying to hide them.

They are refusing to remove the CIFAS warning and I now don't know what to do. The electoral role info on the credit file shows that the address history I gave them is the correct one. They only asked for the last three years and nothing prior to that.


I would be very very grateful for any help on this one.


Thanks

donnalove

sorry what is CIFAS

tetley

it stands for " credit industry fraud avoidance system " and is a very nasty piece of work:read this report.

http://www.home-repo.org/blacklis/cifas.htm

file_wizzard

tetley wrote:

it stands for " credit industry fraud avoidance system " and is a very nasty piece of work:read this report.

http://www.home-repo.org/blacklis/cifas.htm

Why Nasty? the CIFAS system is there to protect consumers and creditors from fraud and identity theft.

Positive all round as far as I can see ( providing the data controller gets it right )

UPDATE: just read the page on the link and it is misleading to say the least: CIFAS is in fact an industry body set up mainly to protect its members from financial risk exposure, but also to protect consumers from I.D theft, as the report states they do not hold personal data, but merely act as a conduit for the credit reference agency’s who do publish the data supplied by CIFAS members NOT CIFAS its self.

CIFAS data in itself is not a negative mark on your file for example if it is CAT 2 it shows that your address has potentially been targeted by fraudsters, and CAT 0 that you have ask for a protective registration to be place on your address, this basically means that all credit applications have to be manually scored by a creditor and there is no chance of an account being automatically created i.e. credit card.

With regards to the OP’s problem I can see why this has occurred, however it is not necessarily the correct response from the creditor in this instance. All CIFAS information stays on file for a minimum of 13 months from the date entry, however if the fraud attempts continue there is no upper limit to how long it can stay on your file. I.e it is not governed by the same 6 year natural expiry of all other credit file data.

file_wizzard

fredfredfred wrote:

They are refusing to remove the CIFAS warning and I now don't know what to do. The electoral role info on the credit file shows that the address history I gave them is the correct one. They only asked for the last three years and nothing prior to that.

How have they graded the CIFAS flag, CAT 1 ?

fredfredfred

hello,

it has been graded as a CAT 4,

thanks

fatbelly

CAT 4 Application Fraud (Facility Refused) - An application/proposal for any facility with one or more material falsehoods in the information provided - the facility was refused

I've had a look on the CIFAS site and this is what it suggests:

Your credit file will list the contact details for the organisation(s) who registered the CIFAS warning(s). When writing to the CIFAS Member to dispute CIFAS data you should:

- Ask for the matter to be formally registered as a complaint.
- Detail exactly what you are complaining about, giving a full explanation as to why you feel the CIFAS warning is unwarranted.
- Enclose copies of any relevant documents to support your case and copies of any correspondence you have received.

The CIFAS Member will investigate your complaint and respond to you. CIFAS Members operate their own internal complaints procedures and can either send you details of the procedure or advise you what to do. If you are not satisfied with the response of the CIFAS Member, write to them and request they issue a Final Response letter. This confirms that the Member's complaints procedure has been exhausted.

CIFAS advises that you keep a copy of all correspondence.

CIFAS will not become involved in a dispute until the CIFAS Member has issued a Final Response letter. CIFAS will request a copy of this letter before looking into your case.

Hope this helps.

Xbigman

Many application forms have catch all questions or small print. Sometimes there is a specific question (IE 'have you ever been bankrupt' or 'have you ever been known by any other name') or there is a general statement like 'please supply any additional information you think we should know/might affect the application'. Lastly the declaration that you sign can include a disclosure clause that you missed. Applying by email also has a declaration.

If you have CCJ's you are paying then your chances of getting a loan are almost zero and I think you know it. You've obviously thought about the application process and your 3 years clean address history, but it doesn't work quite like that. It looks to me like you played the rules and got caught.

Bottom line is that you might have inadvertantly made a fraudulent application and the CIFAS warning is legitimate.
I think you should accept it.

Also. If you have CCJ's just why are you trying to borrow more money. Take this as a wake up call and try clearing all your debts before taking on more.A bit of a harsh post but this is how I see it.
Regards



X

James

Don't rely on the Financial Industry to protect you from ID Theft - DIY:

http://www.techworld.com/security/features/index.cfm?featureid=1954

It's cheaper, more effective, and driven by you. What could be more easy and simple than forcing a crook to 'show their hand,' if they wish to steal your ID?

zincoxide

The fingerprint scheme would be ideal - however because there are some more 'dishonest' people out there, it is unlikely to take off as credit agencies are wise enough to realise that a genuine customer could go through a credit check, not give a print then say 'well it couldn't have been me' and got away with the genuine goods.

Unlikely to get caught either!!

But, like James says, don't trust the financial industry to protect you after all they just see you as a statistic and want to make money from you. Keep an eye on your credit reports and in the future, hopefully, they will start using Chip & Pin terminals in order to protect your credit with either a PIN code or algorithm of some sort.