Rant about CRB - Spelling mistake

tillymintoid

This happened to me a few years ago when I first volunteered for work with children.
Some of the letters in my surname had been transposed so (surprise surprise!) they could find no record of on their database, and therefore I got the all clear.
The bureau also refused to do a recheck and send another letter as they said it wasn't their problem.
Luckily for me it was the local council who paid as I was volunteering for work in a school, so they had to fork out for the recheck.
Just shows though what a useless 'service' this is - they get your name wrong, send you a letter giving you the all clear, and then even if you've a chequered history you're free to carry on regardless!

wuckfit

Surely this is a simple case of them failing to provide a contracted service?
The CRB check certificate you've paid for is useless if the name is incorrect, therefore they're in breach of contract I'd have thought.
You could write them a Letter Before Action stating they have 14 days to provide you with a corrected certificate or you will pursue the monies paid (assuming you've paid them already) through the small claims court.

peachyprice

scotsman4th wrote: »

And?????
If you'd murdered them 5 years ago it would be on it. Thats the purpose of it.
It may not be right, it may not be perfect but it's surely better than nothing.

What do you mean 'And?????'

Can you not see how useless a document is that only proves your lack of criminal record up that moment in time and has no expiry date?????

kilted_barbarian

peachyprice wrote: »

What do you mean 'And?????'

Can you not see how useless a document is that only proves your lack of criminal record up that moment in time and has no expiry date?????

It may be useless, but it is the best indication that can be given.

The theory is, if you have been charged with !!!!!philia or murder, then you will probably be in jail or up in court, so your CRB is useless anyway.

If you are caught for a crime then it will show, or you will need time off in your first few days in your job for your court case. If you are not caught, no database will show it up anyway. Its the best we have!

EDIT - just read your post again. Apologies. I now see what you are saying, it should have an expiry date. My arguement to that is that most employers will ask for a fresh one anyway, so you will have to be rechecked.

Gleeful

peachyprice wrote: »

What do you mean 'And?????'

Can you not see how useless a document is that only proves your lack of criminal record up that moment in time and has no expiry date?????

Most places will want you to be CRB checked regularly - every six months/year.

nellytheelephant

wuckfit wrote: »

Surely this is a simple case of them failing to provide a contracted service?
The CRB check certificate you've paid for is useless if the name is incorrect, therefore they're in breach of contract I'd have thought.
You could write them a Letter Before Action stating they have 14 days to provide you with a corrected certificate or you will pursue the monies paid (assuming you've paid them already) through the small claims court.

They would have to redo the checks as they'd been done under a misspelled name, and that'd be relying on the local police to get that done within a few days... Which isn't likely! x

Paul_the_Painter

CRB checks DO NOT have an expiry date, an organisation may decide to recheck after a given period of time, but there is no such thing as an expiry date, only an issue date.

On a practical level if an Enhanced CRB comes back in less than a month I'd be checking VERY carefully that the details are correct. Frankly it is not the CRB that causes delay, but the police forces doing the extra checks for an Enhanced CRB. If you live in London expect an Enhanced CRB to take around 2-3 months, few police forces manage a check of their records within a reasonable length of time.

I've managed to get someone (from abroad) accepted into employment with a CRB check based on residence in the UK of 2 days (I hasten to add that I had a Police Check from their home country that was clear, however that was of no interest to the employer - they had CRB on the brain - yep thats right they wouldn't accept a Police check based on 40 years residence in a foreign country, but a CRB based on 2 days in the country was fine)

The CRB system is a joke

sezzybear

The CRB does not make a charge for disclosures for volunteers.

flightinfo

I've now spoken to the organisation and I need to reapply. Interestingly, they weren't aware of the error (I think the borough will have been informed) and have asked me to give them a copy of the certificate. So, if I hadn't bothered telling them, I could have carried on doing the work and they would have been none the wiser.

Corpsebride86

theyre not the brightest crayons in the book..... there again neither are the DVLA, banks, job centre.

I had to get a passport for a holiday 10 years ago and had to get a full birth certificate, the registraar put my name on the full certificate as kirtsy not kirsty! and they sealed the envelope stuck quality stamps on it and i was in a rush so i didnt bother checking it i went straight to the post office to send my passport application off.

I obtained a passport, Provisional Licence, Credit Card, CRB Checks, opened new bank accounts, used it as proof of ID in job interviews and obtained my JSA using it. No one has ever batted an eyelid, infact id still be using it now just for some reason i picked it up and looked the day before a job interview and by chance saw the mistake, bit scary though how so many "professionals" didnt see the mistake.

they couldnt believe it at the registrars office either when i took it in as they have 2 people proof read them as well as the registrar