Can employers see defaults through employment checks?

mbaske

Hello

So lately I've been so stupid with my decisions lately and completely neglected my finances in my final year of college. I took out a loan to pay down a deposit and first month rent for a flat that I had to sign at the beginning last year. I had no choice really or I wouldn't have had anywhere to live for final year of university.

I then took out a phone contract and ran up a PayPal credit debt. Payments were manageable at first but then my grandfather who used to help me out with money sadly passed away and I couldn't make my repayments by myself.

I want to settle the debts now but I have 2 defaulted. Should I just leave them defaulted or pay them back.

Can potential employers also see all of your credit history and defaults on my account. I am quite worried what they are gonna think since this paints a massive poor picture of my overall character and may hinder my chances of getting employed to a career I want.

Thanks

Finchy2018

I may be wrong but i think it depends on your career choice - If you intend to be advising people on finance then I don't think you can have adverse credit yourself and some other industries too (happy to be corrected on that) but I work in HR and carry out back ground checks and a financial one is not one we do for our industry.

Suseka97

Okay, things happen and it's good that you are looking to resolve the situation.

Your statement 'should I leave them defaulted, or pay them back' suggests you don't quite understand your current situation. The fact that you have defaults on your credit file is a result of having broken your contractual arrangements with these creditors and those defaults will now stay on your file for 6 years from the date they were applied. It wouldn't matter whether you clear them or not, but that doesn't mean you should ignore them because it could escalate into further action, although that often depends on the amount owed and how litigious your creditors are.

As for whether this will have an impact on your future career - that will depend on the type of employment you are looking for. Some employers will carry out a full review of your records, particularly if you are looking for work in the financial sector - but the same goes for jobs in certain public sectors organisations. If a particular job required such a search I would imagine that would be made clear to prospective employees at the point of application.

[Deleted User]

I'm not convinced they see generalised defaults unless you are applying to the organisation or it's association in which they occurred.

It's mainly CCJ's and bankruptcy/insolvency that cause the issues.

"Conflict of interest" can also be present - I applied to a short term loan company for an interview when it came up if the borrowing had been recent or reached payment plan stage/payment not made, then it would definitely have been an application reject. Ironically that was one of the highest paid jobs I've been for! And were actually the most decent at proving post interview feedback.