Can I stop credit being taken out in my name?

JenP85

Hello.
I wonder if you can help me with this rather odd request.

I wanted to know if I can stop credit being taken out in my name? As I say bit of an odd one. About 7 years back my grandson took out a phone in my name without me knowing. He caught the delivery man before knocking at my door (it had to be delivered this this address) He stopped paying it 5 months later and it caused a lot of trouble in the family. A few years later he did it again. Which caused more arguments.
I am still worried he would do the same even though he says he won't and his family have promised he won't. I have zero interest in ever getting a mobile or anything on credit. Is there a way I can block this from even happening again? Can a bank can help ?

I know some may suggest getting the police involved etc but I'd rather just cut it off before it becomes a problem. Thank you.

MorningcoffeeIV

A CIFAS protective marker would be the simplest way forward. 

cymruchris

Nothing will absolutely stop it if he knows the ins and outs of your personal details - but there's a way to reduce the risk - and that's by registering for CIFAS protection. It costs £25 per 2 years, and basically whenever you (or someone pretending to be you) tries to open a credit account, it's flagged with the provider that extra checks should be taken to ensure it is you. It means that if you yourself apply for any form of credit, you might have to jump through a few more hoops to get it - as in speaking to someone, providing additional ID etc - but it should catch any fraudulent applications being made by a third party (ie your grandson).

Have a look here:

https://www.cifas.org.uk/pr

JenP85

cymruchris said:

Nothing will absolutely stop it if he knows the ins and outs of your personal details - but there's a way to reduce the risk - and that's by registering for CIFAS protection. It costs £25 per 2 years, and basically whenever you (or someone pretending to be you) tries to open a credit account, it's flagged with the provider that extra checks should be taken to ensure it is you. It means that if you yourself apply for any form of credit, you might have to jump through a few more hoops to get it - as in speaking to someone, providing additional ID etc - but it should catch any fraudulent applications being made by a third party (ie your grandson).

Have a look here:

https://www.cifas.org.uk/pr

Ty both for your reply. 
That sounds exactly what I need to be honest. 
I have two questions tho 
1: I always thought cifas was a really bad thing to have on your account? Will it affect my credit rating or have I totally misunderstood?
2: how long does it take from applying for it for it to be put into my account? 
I've just heard he's lost his phone so that's why I'm worried about it at mo. 

MorningcoffeeIV

A CIFAS protective marker isn't a bad thing. 

You're thinking of CIFAS markers where you have committed fraud and so on. Those ARE bad, so try not to get any of those.

You have no credit rating, just credit files that each lender will assess. The worst that a protective marker will do is to slow down applications while the lender deals with it.

cymruchris

JenP85 said:

cymruchris said:

Nothing will absolutely stop it if he knows the ins and outs of your personal details - but there's a way to reduce the risk - and that's by registering for CIFAS protection. It costs £25 per 2 years, and basically whenever you (or someone pretending to be you) tries to open a credit account, it's flagged with the provider that extra checks should be taken to ensure it is you. It means that if you yourself apply for any form of credit, you might have to jump through a few more hoops to get it - as in speaking to someone, providing additional ID etc - but it should catch any fraudulent applications being made by a third party (ie your grandson).

Have a look here:

https://www.cifas.org.uk/pr

Ty both for your reply. 
That sounds exactly what I need to be honest. 
I have two questions tho 
1: I always thought cifas was a really bad thing to have on your account? Will it affect my credit rating or have I totally misunderstood?
2: how long does it take from applying for it for it to be put into my account? 
I've just heard he's lost his phone so that's why I'm worried about it at mo. 

Won't affect your credit HISTORY in the slightest (no such thing as a rating).

As above - it's not a CIFAS marker - it's CIFAS protection - one side is for people who do dodgy things, and the other is for those who want to stop dodgy things happening to them. You're the latter.

Can't say I'm sure exactly how long it takes - but imagine it'll be fairly quick. There is a 'click here to speak to an advisor' button on the link I posted - so you could ask the question there.

la531983

I know blood is thicker than water but he sounds a deplorable individual if he keeps doing this. Know its none of anyone's business here but hopefully you have cut him out of your will and have made it watertight.

400ixl

First step would be to check your credit history with all 3 credit reference agencies. This will list credit accounts open that are associated with you. If there are any there that you don't recognise then you can start to follow up on them.

If there isn't then that's a good start and you should set yourself up to be notified of when they are updated so that you can then check them (monthly would be good).

This is something every one should be doing ideally and should allow you to pick up if for example a new phone contract is associated with you.

JenP85

la531983 said:

I know blood is thicker than water but he sounds a deplorable individual if he keeps doing this. Know its none of anyone's business here but hopefully you have cut him out of your will and have made it watertight.

Agreed. 
I hate to say it but he wasn't in my will and i wouldn't want him to be. He's family member so i can't hate him but i don't trust him and haven't done for about 10 years. He's done worse to others.
He is an alcoholic and a drug addict. I know it's an illness and an illness which my brother (who only managed to get clean a few years before he passed) had but he is still very much in the denial period and sees nothing wrong with steeling and blaming others when he gets caught. Its a very long boring story. 

Nasqueron

Report him to the police and then get the fraudulent credit accounts removed from your record. If you don't, unfortunately the firms assume you are ok with it and will expect you to pay the debt and he'll probably do it again if not to you, to someone else.

CIFAS protection will force manual checks before anything