becoming a cop with bad debt

SiioCal

basically is it possible ? i have applied to become a police officer however i have bad debt from when i was a student which i have only recently got in control of. will a bad credit score go against me in my application?

SiioCal

out of the questions on the application the only one i answered yes to is the defaults - but i do have loads. i had been paying a few credit cards by direct debit and only when i had came into a bit of money and phoned to pay off and cancel them it came to light i had been above my credit limit and had been getting £12 added to my card every month. this had been going on for a few years. as i was paying my direct debit every month i assumed i was paying it off, it turned out the balance hadnt gone down one penny in all the years i had been paying it off.

Tiddlywinks

Are all of your debts now managed and serviced correctly? If so, how long has this been the case?

If you have debts which are not adequately serviced then you will not pass the financial part of the SC vetting process.

Unserviced / excessive debt is a risk indicator for all sorts of reasons: it is a personal stress factor, it can suggest a lack of self control, it *may* make you more vulnerable to external influences.

want-it-all

Existing/undischarged/unsatisfied CCJs/IVAs/Bankruptcies/Debt Relief Orders, etc. automatically bar entrance to the vast majority of police forces (in various employment roles).

Satisfied/discharged debt problems of the above variety can be considered.

Defaults are considered case-by-case. If you have defaults and only defaults, you may merely be required to explain yourself. However, their number, age and frequency will all play their part. This is possibly an issue that varies force-to-force, but the biggies (CCJs, etc.) are usually a major no-no.

Your credit score itself is irrelevant, but it is not just your credit file that will be assessed when considering your financial position. Steps will be taken to ensure that you're not at risk of bribery or corruption, though mere defaults don't usually indicate a propensity towards accepting backhanders from members of the public

Good luck.

Gingernutty

When I joined the FSS (yonks and yonks ago), I had to pass a security questionnaire which asked questions not just about me but also my family (names, dates of birth, places of birth, nationality and current addresses).

Part of the application process (with bizarre pull-apart booklets which could only be filled in on one side ("This page is left interntionally blank")) was about debt. Were there any (formal or informal) debts - CCJs, loans, mortgages or defaults?

They will check. Believe me. They want to know if you are a blackmail, corruption or bribery risk.

Once upon a time, the Metropolitan Police would have no debtors and you had strict guidance if you ever wanted to take out a mortgage.

If all you have is a mountain of debt which you are just managing to service, have defaulted on and are going to be paying off for the forseeable future, be prepared for failure.

Spend a bit more time paying off your loans, trying to make the defaults ancient history and good luck in the future.

agrinnall

Are any police forces actually recruiting at the moment anyway? I thought they were trying to get rid of people, and that many forces have a backlog of people who have already trained but then there were no positions for them.