Identity theft by mother

Buckers75

I would be grateful for any advice on how to support my niece. She found out yesterday, by running a credit report on herself, that her mother has taken out numerous credit accounts in her name; some she has been regularly paying and others she has not paid for 5 months. One of the accounts is now defaulted. The total debt is £2000 which we could deal with, however her credit score is 29 which poses huge problems for her future.
She is only 20 and the only debt she has taken is a student loan and overdraft with the bank. She is about to start a work placement away from home for a year and the estate agent will be carrying out a credit check for the flat she wants, we now know that this will fail.

Her mother has a long history of debt problems and clearly has a shopping addiction. She does not work as she is a single mother to 4 children and I suspect her earnings would be less than any benefits she receives.

The only way to clear my niece’s credit file would be to report this as fraud, however my niece is understandably reluctant to do this as she is afraid of what will happen to her mum. I want her mother to admit to what she has done in the hope that the courts are lenient with her and she may finally get some help. Does anyone know what the likely outcome of this might be? She (My niece’s Mum) has had a very difficult 10 years, and the past 3 years have been very traumatic. She also suffers from depression and anxiety.
Thanks for taking the time to read this !!!128077;!!!127996;

sourcrates

Hi,


Consumer credit fraud, at the lower end of the spectrum, are cases which involve perhaps a single transaction and/or a fairly unsophisticated approach.

These result in shorter custodial sentences, and, where the amount of money is quite small, may result in a community based punishment.


For a debt of £2000, with a letter of support from her family, she may not go to prison, most likely a fine and/or a suspended sentence or community service of some kind.


It is a difficult choice where family are concerned.

DCFC79

Buckers75 wrote: »

I would be grateful for any advice on how to support my niece. She found out yesterday, by running a credit report on herself, that her mother has taken out numerous credit accounts in her name; some she has been regularly paying and others she has not paid for 5 months. One of the accounts is now defaulted. The total debt is £2000 which we could deal with, however her credit score is 29 which poses huge problems for her future.
She is only 20 and the only debt she has taken is a student loan and overdraft with the bank. She is about to start a work placement away from home for a year and the estate agent will be carrying out a credit check for the flat she wants, we now know that this will fail.

Her mother has a long history of debt problems and clearly has a shopping addiction. She does not work as she is a single mother to 4 children and I suspect her earnings would be less than any benefits she receives.

The only way to clear my niece!!!8217;s credit file would be to report this as fraud, however my niece is understandably reluctant to do this as she is afraid of what will happen to her mum. I want her mother to admit to what she has done in the hope that the courts are lenient with her and she may finally get some help. Does anyone know what the likely outcome of this might be? She (My niece!!!8217;s Mum) has had a very difficult 10 years, and the past 3 years have been very traumatic. She also suffers from depression and anxiety.
Thanks for taking the time to read this !!!128077;!!!127996;

Is she getting help with the addiction ?

Maybe she needs to look into Cifas.

2 options, either she reports her for fraud or the debt is paid off and certain precautions are made eg Cifas, the mother gets help.

The advice from sourcrates re a letter is good, it could help the situation.

Buckers75

Thank you both, I shall look in to what you have said. Despite what she has done, I would not want to see her children without their mother.
If the debts were paid off, how quickly could my niece repair her credit score?

[Deleted User]

The score doesn't matter (as it's a made up number that no one sees).

She needs to build her credit history - and only time and good credit management will do that. The longer, the better.

Using a credit card regularly and clearing in full each month is the easiest and cheapest way of building a solid history. Plus, of course, make sure she is on the electoral roll.

System

Buckers75 wrote: »

Thank you both, I shall look in to what you have said. Despite what she has done, I would not want to see her children without their mother.

They won't be. However having the police interview her and her getting charged may be the wake up call she needs.

If the debts were paid off, how quickly could my niece repair her credit score?

Ignore the score, no lenders use it. The contents of the file are what are important, not the made up score reference agencies give.

The entries will have a negative impact for 6 years because that is how long they stay on your credit record. That impact will lessen as time goes on from the date of the last negative entry but for the first few years it'll cause real issues with everything from getting a mobile phone to renting/buying a house. If your niece reports her mother for fraud and provides a police crime number to the reference agencies she can get those records removed which will instantly fix her credit.

[Deleted User]

Buckers75 wrote: »

If the debts were paid off, how quickly could my niece repair her credit score?

CCJs, defaults etc. remain on a credit file for 6 years, so, unless they're reported as fraudulent, the credit file will be so marked for 6 years.

A_Nice_Englishman

A major concern seems to be the credit check involved in renting a property. Others may be in a better position to confirm, but it may be possible to get round this by paying six months rent in advance if the money to do so is available?

sourcrates

A_Nice_Englishman wrote: »

A major concern seems to be the credit check involved in renting a property. Others may be in a better position to confirm, but it may be possible to get round this by paying six months rent in advance if the money to do so is available?

It also depends which level of credit check the potential landlord carries out.


Look at any service website for landlords and there are various levels of check that can be performed.

Buckers75

Luckily her dad is able to do that this time, but it won’t always be the case. The credit cards she has taken out are really high interest ones so despite her mum now apologising and saying she will pay it all off, there is no way she possibly can. Than you all for your advice.

System

A_Nice_Englishman wrote: »

A major concern seems to be the credit check involved in renting a property. Others may be in a better position to confirm, but it may be possible to get round this by paying six months rent in advance if the money to do so is available?

More than one person on this board has posted that hasn't worked, some have even offered a year. Ultimately it depends on letting agency/landlord.