Pre-Employment check

94pgr

Hi all,

I have been conditionally accepted for a customer service role for an insurance company. As part of the vetting process they require a credit check. The company doing the check states they only check for IVAs, bankruptcy, debt relief orders or CCJs on my credit file. I have never had any of these but have had a lot of missed payments in the past and 5 defaults. I have been on track for the last 2 years and in a much better place financially. 

The options on the site just asked if I had those mentioned above and nothing else- am I being overly paranoid or not? There wasn't anywhere asking to disclose other previous debt issues.

[Deleted User]

They'll only see the publicly available data, eg CCJs, bankuptcy.

Ebe_Scrooge

As ZX81 says, an employment screening is generally less comprehensive than if you're applying for credit.  It's pretty much standard practice for any financial-related job.  The theory is that if you're in financial hardship, you'll be more open to taking bribes and suchlike, thus causing grief for the company you work for.

y3sitsm3

Ebe_Scrooge said:

As ZX81 says, an employment screening is generally less comprehensive than if you're applying for credit.  It's pretty much standard practice for any financial-related job.  The theory is that if you're in financial hardship, you'll be more open to taking bribes and suchlike, thus causing grief for the company you work for.

This isn't true.

I applied and got a role working in the bank many years ago.  It all went fine for me but one of the other new starters was pulled out of induction over an apparent missed payment with a utility and told that unless it was rectified (it was apparently a mistake) they'd be let go.

However if they're only asking about a specific set of circumstances and they don't apply to the OP then I don't see the problem.  The worst they can do is withdraw the offer.

[Deleted User]

y3sitsm3 said:

Ebe_Scrooge said:

As ZX81 says, an employment screening is generally less comprehensive than if you're applying for credit.  It's pretty much standard practice for any financial-related job.  The theory is that if you're in financial hardship, you'll be more open to taking bribes and suchlike, thus causing grief for the company you work for.

This isn't true.

I applied and got a role working in the bank many years ago.  It all went fine for me but one of the other new starters was pulled out of induction over an apparent missed payment with a utility and told that unless it was rectified (it was apparently a mistake) they'd be let go.

However if they're only asking about a specific set of circumstances and they don't apply to the OP then I don't see the problem.  The worst they can do is withdraw the offer.

It is true. You are talking about a very specific role in finance which has enhanced checks because of the nature of the banking industry. A standard employment record check for a customer service rep in insurance is not like that, they just want to be careful they're not taking on someone dodgy

joesalprop

The type of job will factor into it, i went through the pre-employment screening recently for 2 roles.

One was at a bank which i was offered pending the pre-employment checks- everything passed except the credit report, the recruitment agency confirmed i failed the credit check- turns out due to a default on a credit card 5 years ago (which had been paid off a few years ago), and my job offer was pulled. 

The other was at an insurance company, via the same recruitment agency, and i passed this time and got the role. 

So it seems it differs based on the role and also the company. I explained the scenario that resulted in the default and proof that it had been satisfied but they still declined. 

It is a quite frustrating that they pulled the offer based on a 5 year old settled default rather than considering my work history for the past 10 years. Worked out in the end as the other role i was accepted for was a better contract but still it was annoying none the less.