SIRA - N Hunter and CIFAS aren't alone

Fighter1986

This might be useful to anyone already aware of CIFAS and N Hunter, and anyone who's had a credit application turned down for "inexplicable" reasons.

CIFAS and National Huter are fraud prevention agencies which can hold information about us which leads to future applications for credit being declined even when our credit histories and personal circumstances are great.

SIRA are another, which I only found out about today. They are apparently used by some fairly big names like TSB, Santander, and Equifax alongside CIFAS and N Hunter when asessing an application for any kind of account / insurnace.

I'm going to perform an SAR to see what information they hold on me.

Their SAR template looks very similiar to that of N Hunter's.

https://www.synectics-solutions.com/Portals/0/pdf/Subject Access Request Form V.3.3.pdf

xlnc99

Yes, they have been around of ages. Did a SAR with them last year. quite poor, similar information to others but not the same. Smaller then National Hunter. Basically they are like Transunion when compared to Experian.

Riva69

I have just been declined a mortgage and was given the names of all the 3 credit agencies and then national Hunter, sira (Synectics solutions) and Cifas as potential reasons for decline. As my credit history is excellent I can only assume it is one of the fraud prevention agencies but have no idea which lender would have applied data about me on as have had zero issues obtaining credit until latest mortgage application with HSBC. 

my Cifas DSAR has come back as clear but just waiting on national Hunter and sira which could take up to 4 weeks, which if you are needing to move quickly with another lender snd not lose your house is actually really difficult.

I have read some awful stories about people being placed on these registers and not knowing they even existed and for some they were placed on them simply because of address mistakes or conflicting information about income. I have checked all my details for what I supplied and the only issue I can see is that experian and Equifax have a 1 year difference on my registered address with the electoral register. On the application I used the correct amount of years but am wondering if a mistake with the credit reports has raised an issue. But surely this can’t be classed as fraud?

Any info anyone has about these agencies or personal experiences it would be great to hear them. 

[Deleted User]

If your address detail is wrong, ask the CRA to correct it and send them proof e.g. being on the electoral register

Riva69

Deleted_User said:

If your address detail is wrong, ask the CRA to correct it and send them proof e.g. being on the electoral register

All my address details on the CRA’s are correct bar one stating I have been on electoral register for 2yrs + and the other stated 3yrs + so as the 3yrs plus was the right amount of time, this is what I stated in my application.

The data held on us with the fraud protection agencies is very different to what the CRA hold about us and as most of us don’t even know they exist, the inaccuracies can stay there for a long time without us even knowing they are there.

I have only been aware that HSBC may have reported inaccurate data about me on these registers after them stating I was declined for a mortgage after using these agencies as a reference for information held about me.

As I have not to any of my knowledge made any mistakes with my application and all my information was correct that I submitted, I was obviously surprised to hear I had been declined for this reason.

it takes up to a month for your information to come back from the fraud prevention agencies and even the application process to request this is awkward but if anyone is getting declined credit and they have a good credit report then I would suggest they check out what is held about them with these other agencies.

My personal frustration is that HSBC just declined my application without giving reason or for an opportunity to clarify if they thought something was inaccurate, which is resulting in me being unable to apply for another mortgage until I know what has or hasn’t been reported about me. 

It’s actually been very distressing and even though I have raised complaints with HSBC they have just refused to communicate further which has resulted in me making a complaint via the ombudsman. Again another process which can take months to conclude. 

eskbanker

Riva69 said:

Deleted_User said:

If your address detail is wrong, ask the CRA to correct it and send them proof e.g. being on the electoral register

All my address details on the CRA’s are correct bar one stating I have been on electoral register for 2yrs + and the other stated 3yrs + so as the 3yrs plus was the right amount of time, this is what I stated in my application.

The data held on us with the fraud protection agencies is very different to what the CRA hold about us and as most of us don’t even know they exist, the inaccuracies can stay there for a long time without us even knowing they are there.

I have only been aware that HSBC may have reported inaccurate data about me on these registers after them stating I was declined for a mortgage after using these agencies as a reference for information held about me.

Surely if HSBC have just declined a mortgage application, it's more likely that they will have been spooked by seeing an inconsistency between your reference to 3+ years and a CRA stating 2+?  In other words, it's not (necessarily) HSBC feeding a CRA inaccurate data but simply reading it after its supply by another institution....

Riva69

A CRA (credit reference agency) is very different to a fraud protection agency which is where I fear HSBC may have recorded incorrect data about me. 

And if HSBC have reported me to fraud protection agencies as a fraudulent person because experian has stated I have been on the electoral register for 2yrs and Equifax has the right information of 3yrs then surely this is hugely worrying as I have done the right thing and listed my address correctly as living there for just over 3yrs.

If a financial institution reports data about you to a fraud agency such as Cifas, national Hunter or Sira (synectics solutions).

1. You may not even know it has been reported so if it is inaccurate you will never know why you are being denied credit or getting offered credit at much higher interest rates. 
2. It stays there for up to 6 years again often without you knowing it exists.
3. It is really difficult to obtain the information reported about you as unlike credit reference agencies where you can see the data instantly by paying a fee. With the fraud protection agencies you have to submit a DSAR and wait for up to a month to have the information returned. Which then if you want to challenge the information held about you can then take months and months to sort out.
4. A genuine mistake in an application form can be considered fraudulent. 

And like I have said in previous posts about my application, all I know is that I got a letter from the HSBC fraud team stating my application had been declined due to information about me with one of the credit or fraud agencies. And as my credit history is really good and I have not made a fraudulent application, I am obviously left waiting to see what the DSAR’s actually state before I can even begin to know what the supposed reason for my decline could be as surely it can’t be that one credit reference agency has listed 2 years and another has listed 3 years. And even if that was the case that is not evidence to say I have been fraudulent, that is more likely that the credit reference agency has obtained its information from the local council incorrectly. 

As I have another 2 or so weeks to wait for the information to come back from the credit agencies I have probably lost the opportunity to proceed with another mortgage application because if data has been recorded it would end up in a decline decision which would mean even more declines in the future. 

eskbanker

Perhaps I should have worded my post more clearly but the point remains - if HSBC reacted to an inconsistency between an application and CRA data then it's that inconsistency that's the root cause of the issue, rather than anything HSBC may have done in response to it.

It may be that you hear something clearer back from your SARs to the fraud agencies or from HSBC (via FOS), but if you're now aware of an error in one of your credit files, the obvious thing to do is to get that corrected at the earliest opportunity, even if it ultimately turns out not to be the reason for the decline.

Riva69

.

Thank you for that and I hope that is all this is but as HSBC have just point plank refused to communicate with me and declined without asking for further information I really will not know until the DSAR’s are returned back to me from the fraud prevention agencies.

I guess what has made me think it has been strange is that I have not had any issue with obtaining credit with any other lender as nationwide had offered me a mortgage just before HSBC but couldn’t progress due to the property valuation coming back as  unsuitable for lending.

Hence why I believe it is regarding HSBC and not some incorrect data from someone else. But you right I should definitely get the address data sorted as consistent across all CRA’s and am in the process of that now.

thank you for your help!