New to DMP - is it likely to affect employment?

[Deleted User]

Hello,

I've been scouring the forums for a long while now. I recently reached my limit with debt, under the realisation that I'll never be able to clear it with the ever increasing interest rates and my reliance on the use of any and all credit to get by each month.

I took the plunge and finally reached out to a debt charity for help, went through my budget and set up a DMP. I have made the first payment and have had the majority of my creditors already accept the DMP.

I've never missed a payment, made reduced payments or had any orders etc., so the process is still quite anxiety inducing - however, I do believe the DMP will make a big difference to my future and I'm excited to start paying down my debts.

I'm sure I'm being irrational!! But, I do have one current concern and that is employment. I don't wish to disclose too much personal information but I work for an architectural practice as a designer. In any of my previous jobs in a similar position, including my current job, I don't ever recall my credit score needing to be checked for any reason (prior to employment or during). I can't see any searches on my credit report made by an employer. But I can't shake the worry despite reading a DMP shouldn't affect employment, generally speaking. I've gone through my contract of employment, including employment particulars and I can't see anything suggesting they run credit checks, a requirement to uphold a particular credit rating OR the requirement to tell them I'm having any sort of formal/informal debt aid.

I don't wish to speak to my company about this & I appreciate nobody here could definitely say they would or wouldn't check my credit report, but based on peoples knowledge & experiences, would it sound likely that my position is safe from being affected by a DMP? I assume they would require my permission to check my credit report now, if it's not in my contract to already do so?

Sorry for the very long post, it's just this one little niggle that keeps playing on my mind - annoying as it wasn't a concern initially. I wouldn't like my employer to find out partly due to embarrassment but also because I need my job and wouldn't want to risk losing it for any reason.

Thank you to anyone who's read my vent, but also to anyone who has any information or advise.

MattMattMattUK

outofinterest said:

Hello,

I've been scouring the forums for a long while now. I recently reached my limit with debt, under the realisation that I'll never be able to clear it with the ever increasing interest rates and my reliance on the use of any and all credit to get by each month.

I took the plunge and finally reached out to a debt charity for help, went through my budget and set up a DMP. I have made the first payment and have had the majority of my creditors already accept the DMP.

I've never missed a payment, made reduced payments or had any orders etc., so the process is still quite anxiety inducing - however, I do believe the DMP will make a big difference to my future and I'm excited to start paying down my debts.

I'm sure I'm being irrational!! But, I do have one current concern and that is employment. I don't wish to disclose too much personal information but I work for an architectural practice as a designer. In any of my previous jobs in a similar position, including my current job, I don't ever recall my credit score needing to be checked for any reason (prior to employment or during). I can't see any searches on my credit report made by an employer. But I can't shake the worry despite reading a DMP shouldn't affect employment, generally speaking. I've gone through my contract of employment, including employment particulars and I can't see anything suggesting they run credit checks, a requirement to uphold a particular credit rating OR the requirement to tell them I'm having any sort of formal/informal debt aid.

I don't wish to speak to my company about this & I appreciate nobody here could definitely say they would or wouldn't check my credit report, but based on peoples knowledge & experiences, would it sound likely that my position is safe from being affected by a DMP? I assume they would require my permission to check my credit report now, if it's not in my contract to already do so?

Sorry for the very long post, it's just this one little niggle that keeps playing on my mind - annoying as it wasn't a concern initially. I wouldn't like my employer to find out partly due to embarrassment but also because I need my job and wouldn't want to risk losing it for any reason.

Thank you to anyone who's read my vent, but also to anyone who has any information or advise.

Credit ratings/scores are meaningless numbers, you can ignore them entirely. Some jobs have requirements that an employee must be in good financial standing, that means no DMP, no IVA, no CCJ, no bankruptcy etc. with some being more strict and even specifying maximum thresholds for non-mortgage debt, although the latter is unusual. The key thing is that for all those job roles it is make very clear, they involve jobs in finance, banking, insurance, government, the police, officer ranks in the military, national government, anything involving security clearance etc. Unless you are designing buildings to house high level military, government or security services and have had to sign the OFA and obtain security clearance or higher I really cannot see it being an issue.

Your company may also have internal requirements, but that would again normally only be for employees with bank access, or company directors, I have never seen them for normal roles.

Brie

The companies that are most concerned about people going into debt arrangements of any sort are those where individuals are dealing with others finances.  So accountants, people in banks, maybe the post office.  Where someone is in a role that is completely separate from money it's less likely to be an issue. 

That said, there may be some concerns about general trustworthiness and as Matt implies there may be internal requirements.  Best thing to do is to talk to someone of trust within your organisation.  If there's an impartial HR person or union rep those would be good places to start.  Otherwise a trustworthy management person who might advise.  

[Deleted User]

MattMattMattUK said:

outofinterest said:

Hello,

I've been scouring the forums for a long while now. I recently reached my limit with debt, under the realisation that I'll never be able to clear it with the ever increasing interest rates and my reliance on the use of any and all credit to get by each month.

I took the plunge and finally reached out to a debt charity for help, went through my budget and set up a DMP. I have made the first payment and have had the majority of my creditors already accept the DMP.

I've never missed a payment, made reduced payments or had any orders etc., so the process is still quite anxiety inducing - however, I do believe the DMP will make a big difference to my future and I'm excited to start paying down my debts.

I'm sure I'm being irrational!! But, I do have one current concern and that is employment. I don't wish to disclose too much personal information but I work for an architectural practice as a designer. In any of my previous jobs in a similar position, including my current job, I don't ever recall my credit score needing to be checked for any reason (prior to employment or during). I can't see any searches on my credit report made by an employer. But I can't shake the worry despite reading a DMP shouldn't affect employment, generally speaking. I've gone through my contract of employment, including employment particulars and I can't see anything suggesting they run credit checks, a requirement to uphold a particular credit rating OR the requirement to tell them I'm having any sort of formal/informal debt aid.

I don't wish to speak to my company about this & I appreciate nobody here could definitely say they would or wouldn't check my credit report, but based on peoples knowledge & experiences, would it sound likely that my position is safe from being affected by a DMP? I assume they would require my permission to check my credit report now, if it's not in my contract to already do so?

Sorry for the very long post, it's just this one little niggle that keeps playing on my mind - annoying as it wasn't a concern initially. I wouldn't like my employer to find out partly due to embarrassment but also because I need my job and wouldn't want to risk losing it for any reason.

Thank you to anyone who's read my vent, but also to anyone who has any information or advise.

Credit ratings/scores are meaningless numbers, you can ignore them entirely. Some jobs have requirements that an employee must be in good financial standing, that means no DMP, no IVA, no CCJ, no bankruptcy etc. with some being more strict and even specifying maximum thresholds for non-mortgage debt, although the latter is unusual. The key thing is that for all those job roles it is make very clear, they involve jobs in finance, banking, insurance, government, the police, officer ranks in the military, national government, anything involving security clearance etc. Unless you are designing buildings to house high level military, government or security services and have had to sign the OFA and obtain security clearance or higher I really cannot see it being an issue.

Your company may also have internal requirements, but that would again normally only be for employees with bank access, or company directors, I have never seen them for normal roles.

Thank you for the information. I do feel like I would have known about it by now if I was required to have any specific financial standing and I think it's just paranoia given I've never had a DMP before.

I've never had to sign anything for any specific design work; certainly nothing relating to extra background checks. I would hope that if the company I work for ever took on jobs that required additional checks on specific personal qualities, such as a reasonable financial status, that I would have been told about it during my interview 2 years ago, certainly before it was an issue & job jeopardising.

I appreciate the reply and added peace of mind. Fingers crossed all will be OK.

[Deleted User]

Brie said:

The companies that are most concerned about people going into debt arrangements of any sort are those where individuals are dealing with others finances.  So accountants, people in banks, maybe the post office.  Where someone is in a role that is completely separate from money it's less likely to be an issue. 

That said, there may be some concerns about general trustworthiness and as Matt implies there may be internal requirements.  Best thing to do is to talk to someone of trust within your organisation.  If there's an impartial HR person or union rep those would be good places to start.  Otherwise a trustworthy management person who might advise.  

Thanks Brie. I appreciate you taking the time to reply.

I'm keen to keep it private, I work as part of a small team and I found it embarrassing enough telling my family.

As I say, I've scoured through all the contracts & handbook from when I joined, in that time, I've seen no sign or evidence of a credit search and so I'm sure it's just paranoia now that I've gone through with the DMP. I know the way to stop worrying would be to ask directly, but I just wasn't wanting to let anyone there know anything about my personal financial situation.

Thank you again for the information, helps a lot.

katsu

It sounds like you've just got a random job. In that case you don't have to tell your employer if your contract etc don't require you to.  It is different for police, accountants etc but as you aren't in those roles, I wouldn't worry. 

The majority of jobs and companies don't credit check employees, nor need to, as they can't go prying into your life where it isn't relevant to your work (hence the security clearance being a specific process for some jobs in defence, government etc).

Good luck in clearing your debts and having peace of mind. 

[Deleted User]

katsu said:

It sounds like you've just got a random job. In that case you don't have to tell your employer if your contract etc don't require you to.  It is different for police, accountants etc but as you aren't in those roles, I wouldn't worry. 

The majority of jobs and companies don't credit check employees, nor need to, as they can't go prying into your life where it isn't relevant to your work (hence the security clearance being a specific process for some jobs in defence, government etc).

Good luck in clearing your debts and having peace of mind. 

Thank you for taking the time to reply Katsu . Looking forward to the next year and getting everything in order finally. Thanks again for the reassurance.