CIFAS help

Ed-1

ryan92 said:

I felt it was the least I could do given so many people offered their advice during the whole process.
The next step is going to see if I can get off the Lloyds 'blacklist' since they accounts were closed around the same time as this all started. 

You're not on a 'blacklist' with LBG. That letter that you received simply means you didn't meet their criteria at the point in time of their risk assessment review of your accounts. If you apply for a product with them now you should be OK, but you may even want to send them the evidence that the marker was wrongly placed to see if they can overturn their previous decision, or at least correct bank internal records.

ryan92

Ed-1 said:

ryan92 said:

I felt it was the least I could do given so many people offered their advice during the whole process.
The next step is going to see if I can get off the Lloyds 'blacklist' since they accounts were closed around the same time as this all started. 

You're not on a 'blacklist' with LBG. That letter that you received simply means you didn't meet their criteria st the point in time if their risk assessment review of your accounts. If you apply for a product with them now you should be OK, but you may even want to send them the evidence that the marker was wrongly placed to see if they can overturn their previous decision, or at least correct bank internal records.

Sorry that's what I meant I just wasn't quite sure how to word it!

ryan92

Hey all,
Just wanted to update this thread since it has my whole situation in here rather than starting a new thread

I am currently in a Trust Deed and I need a basic bank account. I opened one with the Halifax that was very quickly closed. I raised a complaint about it but they are stating I failed the secondary stage of checks and to refer to the credit and fraud agencies. Obviously the point of the basic bank account was due to the Trust Deed and I've already checked CIFAS and nothing registered.

LBG just will not help whatsoever and just refuse me an account ; this is therefore still a battle 2 years later. I'm quite limited in my options for a basic bank account and had no debt association with the LBG hence why I've tried them.

Does anyone have any suggestions for me or is it a case of taking it to the FOS and riding it out?

eskbanker

Have you tried any non-LBG banks?

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/basic-bank-accounts/#best

ryan92

Santander was one of the banks involved in my account closures back in 2019 so it’s a similar position with them - they sent me a letter back in 2021 after the cifas marker was removed telling me politely I was not welcome to bank with them - I haven’t tried the basic bank account application though.

in terms of virgin money they form part of my trust deed so I can’t bank with them unfortunately as they might use it to off-set I believe 

TheBanker

It would be best to try a bank that you've not previously been a customer of. Even though the previous CIFAS marker was an error, it's likely that both LBG (which owns the Halifax) and Santander still have your details on an internal list of people whose accounts they've closed and don't want to re-open.

This may be unfair given there was an error, but the easiest thing for you is to try another bank.

I doubt FOS will help because they cannot compel a bank to accept someone as a customer. 

The article eskbanker linked to only mentions Santander, Co-Op and Virgin Money, but all the high street banks offer basic accounts so try somewhere like Barclays, Natwest/RBS, HSBC or Nationwide?

eskbanker

TheBanker said:

The article eskbanker linked to only mentions Santander, Co-Op and Virgin Money, but all the high street banks offer basic accounts so try somewhere like Barclays, Natwest/RBS, HSBC or Nationwide?

It was a conscious choice to link straight to the part of the article that specifically highlights those considered easiest to get, but to be fair the first wording there is "While many banks offer these accounts (and the nine largest banking groups have to)" and this is amplified elsewhere in the article:

this is the full list of banks that are required to offer basic accounts:

• Bank of Scotland
• Barclays
• Co-operative Bank
• Halifax
• HSBC
• Lloyds
• Nationwide
• NatWest
• Royal Bank of Scotland
• Santander
• TSB
• Ulster Bank
• Virgin Money (including Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank)

Fighter1986

I found Nationwide provide a fantastic basic account offering, IMHO by far the best out of all the basic accounts. 

I opened one while I still had two CIFAS markers against me. 

ryan92

Managed to get a Virgin Money basic account and a Co-Op cashminder account absolutely no problem:)
So it's just a case of LBG saying no which I'll just take on the chin and move on!

ryan92

Just thought I would resurrect this thread with some new information!

I decided to have a review of my finances and tried to open an RBS account - I was only accepted for a basic account however it was opened and closed immediately.

Same with Santander who quoted Synectics Solutions - something I had never heard of or checked before.
NH and CIFAS SARs all clear as expected.

My SAR from Synectics Solutions has came back and I have Refer markers for applications made to LBG back in 2021 - shortly after my CIFAS marker was removed by the FOS. I have had a subsequent application to LBG made after the applications made in 2021 which shows my exact same details that was marked as clear.

So, I think after 4 years of declined applications I've got to the bottom of what has been going on - it's the refer markers in my Synectic Solutions data which I can only assume was Refered due to traces of the CIFAS marker still being visible at that time.

I've raised this with LBG so hopefully will be able to provide an update to this shortly!