Markers on file not visible on report?

neko2015

Hi,

I've got a few applications rejected recently (one bank account, a credit card extension and a credit card), which was quite odd as my credit score is perfectly normal and there's nothing unusual on my credit report.

When I contacted one the banks to investigate I was told that I had a
''black marker'' on my credit file left by another bank. But I requested a credit report (by the same credit agency used by the bank) and there's nothing in there. Everything looks normal (as expected, as I pay everything on time)

Is this guy just fooling me? Can I have any markers left by banks on my file that I wouldn't be able to see?

xHannahx

What does he mean by "black marker"? There is no black marks on any existing credit report I've seen. There will be number statuses, 0 for up to date, 1 for 1 month late and so on.

The biggest issue I've seen with credit reports causing rejection is electoral register related issues and also where more than one pay day loan has been taken seem to be causing instant rejection as they tell the lender this person doesn't manage their finance very well, even when the pay day loan is marked as repaid on time.

Ed-1

neko2015 wrote: »

Hi,

I've got a few applications rejected recently (one bank account, a credit card extension and a credit card), which was quite odd as my credit score is perfectly normal and there's nothing unusual on my credit report.

When I contacted one the banks to investigate I was told that I had a
''black marker'' on my credit file left by another bank. But I requested a credit report (by the same credit agency used by the bank) and there's nothing in there. Everything looks normal (as expected, as I pay everything on time)

Is this guy just fooling me? Can I have any markers left by banks on my file that I wouldn't be able to see?

Black marker could refer to data held at fraud prevention agencies such as CIFAS. As well as checking credit reference agencies (Experian/Equifax/Call Credit) banks run your details against databases held with fraud prevention agencies.

CIFAS warnings can show up on credit reports but can also be hidden from view and the only way you can find out for sure is to subject access request CIFAS for a fee of £10. Other data that doesn't show up on credit files can include data from National Hunter, Synectic Solutions and Experian Decision Analytics which tend to deal with inconsistencies in information provided on applications.

neko2015

I am writing to them straight away to check whether any marker is on my profile.

Does that mean a marker in the Fraud Prevention Agency could cause all my bank applications? It doesnt sound to happen by chance.

Is it a long way to remove any marker on the fraud agency?

Thanks again for the answer

Hazzinho

Check your 3 files and see what's on there first, if it's all correct there is no issue. Get your £2 reports worth Experian and Equifax and the free one with Noddle (Callcredit).

pvt

Ed-1 wrote: »

CIFAS warnings can show up on credit reports but can also be hidden from view and the only way you can find out for sure is to subject access request CIFAS for a fee of £10.

That's news to me. That implies the CRAs are holding information about people which they are not revealing to those people, but which they are revealing to companies searching their record.

Are you sure that is correct?

I thought the information in the CIFAS section of your credit file showed all CIFAS markers.

PaulW922

A CIFAS marker should not in itself stop you get credit, or impact your chances of getting credit, unless it is you who has been making 'dodgy' applications. The most common type of CIFAS marker occurs where, for example, someone is the victim of ID fraud. The marker would be there to stop an automated decision being made (i.e. the usual response in 60 seconds thing) and refer the application for manual review. The potential lender could then take extra care to ensure they are dealing with the real person as shown on the form and not an imposter.

However if an applicant was to make a credit application based on materially false data, maybe by lying about their income, employment, time in job, property ownership, then a CIFAS marker could be placed to ensure that future potential lenders are warned. That IS going to affect your future credit applications.

However I have never heard of a CIFAS marker being hidden from the subject before. It would not surprise me if the facility did exist to do that in exceptional circumstances, but if that were the case, I doubt a DPA request would reveal it - the same justification for hiding it from your credit report would equally apply to your DPA request.

In this case I think that Neko25 should exercise his right to go back to the bank and seek clarification. The bank does not need to reveal its credit scoring criteria but it has to give a broad explanation as to why the subject was rejected. If they have said it is done to credit data and that there is a 'black mark' (a colloquial term only) and there clearly isn't one, they have not complied with that requirement.

pvt

PaulW922 wrote: »

However I have never heard of a CIFAS marker being hidden from the subject before. It would not surprise me if the facility did exist to do that in exceptional circumstances, but if that were the case, I doubt a DPA request would reveal it - the same justification for hiding it from your credit report would equally apply to your DPA request.

It would surprise me.

If, and it's a big "if", the CRA were allowed to hold data about you that it can withhold from you, then I would suggest it is inconceivable that they could then pass that data to a third party. And if they can't do that, then there is no point in them holding it in the first place.

Furthermore, what would be the justification for withholding the information? For example why withhold a marker warning the subject has been "found to commit application fraud" from the subject. Either the subject already knows this, or it is wrong. If the former then withholding it is futile, and if the latter, unconscionably wrong.

Ed-1

pvt wrote: »

It would surprise me.

If, and it's a big "if", the CRA were allowed to hold data about you that it can withhold from you, then I would suggest it is inconceivable that they could then pass that data to a third party. And if they can't do that, then there is no point in them holding it in the first place.

Furthermore, what would be the justification for withholding the information? For example why withhold a marker warning the subject has been "found to commit application fraud" from the subject. Either the subject already knows this, or it is wrong. If the former then withholding it is futile, and if the latter, unconscionably wrong.

It is not the CRA that is withholding the information though as they don't have it. The fraud prevention agency do. Any CIFAS member can register a CIFAS entry on the CIFAS database and they also have the option of registering that data with the credit reference agencies but often won't do so if it is the person who they believe has committed fraud rather than been a victim - CIFAS data is not automatically shared with CRAs and so it is very possible that there will be no CIFAS entry showing on a credit file but a CIFAS entry does exist on the CIFAS database which all lenders will be able to see (as long as they are CIFAS members). A Subject Access Request to CIFAS will show any and all data about a subject that is held on their database.

Alternatively, the applicant could be rejected due to a National Hunter 'applicant refer' status on a previous application for instance (i.e. a lender has flagged an application to other lenders as there were inconsistencies between that and previous application data held with National Hunter).

GingerBob_3

pvt wrote: »

That's news to me. That implies the CRAs are holding information about people which they are not revealing to those people, but which they are revealing to companies searching their record.

Are you sure that is correct?

I thought the information in the CIFAS section of your credit file showed all CIFAS markers.

CRAs do that anyway; current account turnover, for example. The only sure-fire way of finding out what Experian really hold on you is to serve them with a Subject Access Request (£10).