cifas - how long for and is there any way I can contest?

charthestar

Hello everyone,

New to the forum so hope I'm putting this in the right place...

Last May (2012) my partner and I had our joint savings account closed down with a bank due to fraudulent activity. I had no idea why this happened until my partner admitted to me that he had cashed a cheque that came through the post and didn't know why it had been sent/who it was from (absolutely stupid of him I know). 6 months later they'd obviously twigged that this was fraudulent and shut the account down. Fair enough. We went to the bank at the time and explained the situation and they said could take months if not years for them to draw a conclusion to their investigation. We have heard nothing further from them since.

Our problem now is that he can't open an account with any other bank. Tried with another bank and they accepted, sent card out and then immediately sent letter to say they were closing it with notice and no reason given. Obviously it's still Not so much a problem as we still do have existing accounts to use, but we do plan to get a m*rtgage hopefully in the next couple of years and I'm really worried it will effect that.

I've since checked both our credit ratings on Experian (plus partner has checked his on Equifax and Callcredit too) but nothing is showing re. cifas on there. We both just show good/excellent credit ratings. I've recently just made him fill out an SAR directly to cifas to see if anything comes back from that, which I'm assuming it will.

I'm aware that my partner was INCREDIBLY stupid in his actions but I really don't want this to haunt us forever. Is there anything we can do? And if not, does anyone know how long it might be before any cifas entry against us is removed?

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated as I'm really worried.

Thanks

izools

I do wonder about the CIFAS section of credit files that we can see, I doubt their accuracy.

I've had a couple of applications accepted and then refused in this manner over the last nine months, but like you I see nothing under the CIFAS section of my credit file.

Do you mind me asking who turned him down for the bank account in this manner?

I suggest doing a SAR directly to CIFAS:

http://www.cifas.org.uk/find_out_if_cifas_other_data_registered

let us know what they come back with, it would be very useful for other members and I alike to know if the CIFAS section of our credit files doesn't provide a true reflection.

Best of luck!

izools

Ahh, CIFAS' website says that only protective registrations are shown on our copies of our credit files; things like application fraud or other such activity are only visible if you SAR CIFAS directly

Hmm. Looks like you and I are about to be £10 down.

charthestar

Hi izools,

Santander originally closed the a/c, tried to apply for Nationwide and they've now decided to close it (got letter to say it was closing the day he received the card!)

Yeah nothing shows on the credit reports, have sent a SAR directly to CIFAS to see what comes back there. From reading other posts, I suspect its a cat 6, which I've heard (and I quote) means no one will touch him with a barge pole.

Nationwide have closed down our credit card with them too - I was the primary a/c holder and managed to get it so until now I;m thinking my file is clean, though I suppose that could now have changed...

Thrugelmir

charthestar wrote: »

We have heard nothing further from them since.

What was the amount involved? Has it since been repaid?

charthestar

Hi thrugelmir,

It was for about £4,500 - I know I know, if it was me I wouldn't have been as stupid as to try and cash it... if someone you don't know tries to send that kind of money to you you know its going to be some kind of scam... if I'd had known I would have told him to rip it up and bin it!

He had transferred the money into his sole a/c and started spending the money. At the time of closure, there was around £2,700 in the a/c it was deposited into (of our own savings) and they took all that to pay off the debt, which I understood. When we went to the bank at the time we offered to pay the difference but they didn't want to know.

I'm wondering now if it will make any difference if we try to approach the bank again to settle the difference?

charthestar

From what I've been reading in other forum posts, CIFAS entries stay on file for 13 months. Can anyone confirm if this is the case - particularly for category 6 CIFAS markers?

Really concerned that we might be screwed for life here...

InsideInsurance

Read http://www.cifas.org.uk/how_can_I_complain_if_I_think_a_cifas_entry_is_incorrect on how to contest the entry

I believe they stay on your record for 6 years as per most other data

angelsmomma

I am no expert on this but could it be on National Hunter?

charthestar

Yes I've heard of them... does anyone know what is the difference between them and CIFAS?
I need to know long stuff is recorded with them or how I would go about getting it removed?

I think the 6 years is for CCJ's, bankruptcy etc?

Thanks

somethingcorporate

What do you intend to contest?

Seems legitimate to me if your partner fraudulently cashed the cheque and then proceeded to spend it.

Almost everything remains on the credit file for 6 years.