Who regulates Credit Agencies and Debt collectors?

VictimOfImpersonation

Thrugelmir wrote: »

That's the nature of the world we live in today. Doesn't just apply to financial services.

You seem to have forgotten, dear Thrugelmir, that if you get caught stealing money from a position of trust in financial services, you can get locked up for much longer than if you made the same money selling counterfeit t shirts.

Trouble is, no part of the judiciary yet seems to have the appetite, or has been let off the leash, to deal with the pinball wizards in financial services (or that notable few who have been ejected but let off the hook / battered only by the comfy cushion Monty Python style) who constantly tilted the machine to get the numbers, accolades and acknowledgements into their bank accounts via bonuses and other rinky-dinks.

We live in hope.

Skiff85

Tiddlywinks wrote: »

You knew you had an adverse credit history - so YOU should have checked that the file was accurate. It would have been in YOUR best interests to do that.

Not getting a job did NOT cause you to miss payments... taking credit in the first place and then not repaying the debt is what caused more issues - YOUR responsibility, no-one else.




Oh come on, there is always a chance that things might go awry... you knew that a job depended on the accuracy of your file... if that isn't incentive enough to spend £2 then what is?



Cost = £2

You didn't pay a company to update a file... you were making debt repayments - or not, as the case appears to have been.




Act like an adult who accepts responsibility for his own destiny and then people will respond in kind.

Right, so I was naive and ignorant. I don't deny that. But you need to read back the things you are saying. Does it make you feel good to belittle people? You responded to pretty much everything I said, I say responded, you basically just picked holes in everything I said and made me out to be a terrible person. The only thing you didn't respond to was my 2 simple questions, who regulates them?

Yes I was stupid. Yes, if I had never taken out credit it would never have happened. Yes, I am the root of all evil. All you seem to want to do here is judge me and belittle me. If I want that, I will just go to church. If you disagree with my decisions and choices, that's fine, but I did not ask for life coaching, I asked about regulating bodies. If you cant/wont answer that then keep your opinions to yourself. Regardless of your opinions of me and my primitive level of intelligence, someone DID do their job wrong, that's not on me, but you seem to want to blame me anyway.

I really really hope that one day, you make a mistake and ask for advice, and I really really hope that someone makes you feel the way you have made me feel!

TL;DR: I was dumb and stupid, but you sir are the worlds biggest douchebag!

happy_bunny_2

The ICO are responsible for CRAs I think. See ICO default guidelines.

As for DCAs, they come under the FOS. As if you send them a complaint and they reject it, you can refer to FOS. They also have to abide by OFT rules for debt collection.

You can send a written complaint to the DCAs demanding compensation then refer to a FOS if rejected. I wouldn't hold out much hope mind, but a letter saying that you didn't get a job due to an unsettled CCJ might help.

Sounds like too much for small claims court.

Best to check all 3 CRAs, the ones that charge can be fine via the £2 statutory report.

HB

Stabilo_Boss

Skiff85 wrote: »

So I have been unemployed and struggling for quite some time now. A big part of my problem is that a lot of jobs I apply for run a credit check, and I knew my credit wasn't great but I have no outstanding debts so assumed I would pass a vetting process. I actually got offered a job some time ago and then got a call later that day saying that they had to rescind their offer as I did not pass their credit check and I have been turned down for at least 2 interviews because I did not pass a credit check.

Now I decided as it is a new year, I will try to get to the bottom of this as my last debt was paid in full over a year ago and I always pay my bills on time. So I tried to sign up with experian for the free report, they wont give me one because I had one about 6 years ago. So I went to equifax (which I only recently found out about). Upon looking at my credit report, I have a debt from over 4 years ago showing as defaulted with an outstanding balance, which also has a ccj from the same time attached to it, also showing as still active. I contacted the debt collection agency in question and they confirmed that this was paid in full 4 years ago. I also found that a debt I had from 2 years ago had a duplicate file on there, one paid, one defaulted. Apparently as it was passed through 2 collection agencies, both felt they needed a separate spot on my credit history.

Both incorrect debts on my report are due to C L Finance not updating things correctly as far as I can see. Yes, they were on there in the first place because I was stupid and naive when I was younger, but this has been affecting me for years now, and has cost me a job and opportunities at with other employers.

If the prices for checking my credit file were not so steep I could have found this out years ago and things would probably be totally different now. I checked noddle midway through last year and that told me that everything was fine.

Who regulates these companies? Who regulates these debt collection agencies? If these people had done their jobs properly, I could have been in steady employment for the last 3 years, these mistakes have potentially cost me a minimum of £45000 (3 years employment at £15000 pa), this is disgusting. Unfortunately I'm willing to bet that I cant claim any form of compensation for this.

Sorry for the wall of text but I am so frustrated.

Hi. I am sorry that you are going through this. It is not up to me (or anyone else quite frankly) to make assumptions and/or judge you on your past financial history. I am sorry that you feel you have received a bit of a battering on here! It is unfortunate that some employers feel the need to pry into the financial lives of individuals before they employ them but I suppose this might be prudent for some roles and they would argue that if someone is unable to manage their own financial affairs then they might not be able to trust them with their business affairs. Anyway it is a shame because your potential employers probably only do a soft check and get data about CCJ's and defaults without knowing any of the background.

As has quite forthrightly been pointed out on here you can get your credit report for £2 or you can sign up to Experian for a month for free or www.noddle.co.uk for free. Remember that there are 3 different credit reference agencies in the UK and different financial institutions (and employers) will use one or more. I advise that you find a way to check all 3 so that you can understand what they show - good or bad and then you can start to think about what you can do about it.

Specifically you mention that you have a CCJ which states it is still 'active' but was paid 4 years ago. Unfortunately CCJ's and defaults stay on your credit file for 6 years from the date they were created (whether you paid them or not) so in any case you will need to wait a while longer for them to drop off.
If you did indeed settle the CCJ 4 years ago you should write to the company you paid and get written confirmation that this was settled and ask them to inform the CRA's of this fact. I would also send a letter yourself directly to the CRA's. You are frustrated with the CRA's and yes - they do make mistakes and they can be costly for individuals but often they show what they have been given by the credit companies and so the blame may lie with your creditor rather than the CRA

As for the duplicate defaults again you should write them and ask them to correct your file. As I understand it you cannot be defaulted twice for the same debt so you should not have duplicate defaults. Also write to the CRA and point this out.

I am sorry to say though that it sounds like you will still have at least one CCJ and one default on your account and you will need to wait 6 years from the CCJ/default date for them to drop off.

When you apply for a job where they do a credit check maybe you should just bite the bullet and come clean and explain the circumstances (if they are indeed explainable...)

Anyway good luck

Experian_company_representative

Office of Fair Trading and ICO (already mentioned) are our main regulators. Employers usually only see public data so just the CCJ here. Please [URL="mailto:uksocialsupport@experian.com"]let us know[/URL] if we can help you update anything on your Experian report.

James

rizla_king

FOS also has jurisdiction to hear complaints on regulated accounts and firms. They can be more useful on occasion, as they have legal powers that can be binding to order companies to put things right and award small amounts of compensation.

That includes the CRAs.

Aquamania

Skiff85 wrote: »

So I have been unemployed and struggling for quite some time now. A big part of my problem is that a lot of jobs I apply for run a credit check, and I knew my credit wasn't great but I have no outstanding debts so assumed I would pass a vetting process. I actually got offered a job some time ago and then got a call later that day saying that they had to rescind their offer as I did not pass their credit check and I have been turned down for at least 2 interviews because I did not pass a credit check.

Now I decided as it is a new year, I will try to get to the bottom of this as my last debt was paid in full over a year ago and I always pay my bills on time. So I tried to sign up with experian for the free report, they wont give me one because I had one about 6 years ago. So I went to equifax (which I only recently found out about). Upon looking at my credit report, I have a debt from over 4 years ago showing as defaulted with an outstanding balance, which also has a ccj from the same time attached to it, also showing as still active. I contacted the debt collection agency in question and they confirmed that this was paid in full 4 years ago. I also found that a debt I had from 2 years ago had a duplicate file on there, one paid, one defaulted. Apparently as it was passed through 2 collection agencies, both felt they needed a separate spot on my credit history.

Both incorrect debts on my report are due to C L Finance not updating things correctly as far as I can see. Yes, they were on there in the first place because I was stupid and naive when I was younger, but this has been affecting me for years now, and has cost me a job and opportunities at with other employers.

If the prices for checking my credit file were not so steep I could have found this out years ago and things would probably be totally different now. I checked noddle midway through last year and that told me that everything was fine.

Who regulates these companies? Who regulates these debt collection agencies? If these people had done their jobs properly, I could have been in steady employment for the last 3 years, these mistakes have potentially cost me a minimum of £45000 (3 years employment at £15000 pa), this is disgusting. Unfortunately I'm willing to bet that I cant claim any form of compensation for this.

Sorry for the wall of text but I am so frustrated.

So you don't think a CCJ on your credit file, even if satisfied, would adversely affect you? :huh:

If the CCJ is not shown as satisfied, then I am sure if you provide the credit reference agency with evidence that it in fact is, and when, they will amend your file accordingly

Skiff85

Aquamania wrote: »

So you don't think a CCJ on your credit file, even if satisfied, would adversely affect you? :huh:

If the CCJ is not shown as satisfied, then I am sure if you provide the credit reference agency with evidence that it in fact is, and when, they will amend your file accordingly

Well during the interview that was one of the questions they asked, this particular job was for a credit card company so I understand the need to ask this. I explained to them that I had recently been issued a ccj but it had been settled, they said this was fine. I was honest with them when they asked, but as my credit file was wrong, I looked like a liar.

Stabilo_Boss

Skiff85 wrote: »

Well during the interview that was one of the questions they asked, this particular job was for a credit card company so I understand the need to ask this. I explained to them that I had recently been issued a ccj but it had been settled, they said this was fine. I was honest with them when they asked, but as my credit file was wrong, I looked like a liar.

In which case that begs the question about what kind of check they did on you. I am not sure that a soft check of the type an employer can do shows whether the CCJ was satisfied or not, just that you have one - maybe someone else knows. As they were a CC company maybe they did a full search (as they will have access to such). Did you see the search on your credit report - that should enable you to work out what kind of search they did. If they did a full search this might explain it. Bit naughty if they did

Skiff85

Stabilo_Boss wrote: »

In which case that begs the question about what kind of check they did on you. I am not sure that a soft check of the type an employer can do shows whether the CCJ was satisfied or not, just that you have one - maybe someone else knows. As they were a CC company maybe they did a full search (as they will have access to such). Did you see the search on your credit report - that should enable you to work out what kind of search they did. If they did a full search this might explain it. Bit naughty if they did

I have no idea what type of search that they did, it was several years ago and if equifax can look back that far I haven't worked it out yet as the only searches I can see are in the last few months so I assume it only goes back a year.