Ombudsman for letting referencing agency?

SirCrisps

Hi. I've had trouble with a referencing agency in connection with a property I'm trying to rent. Does anyone know if there's a governing body for these types of companies? My beef isn't with the letting agency, it's with the company they used to reference me. Thanks for any help.

Mark_d

The referencing agency checks your references, income history, credit report etc. and passes this information on your the prospective landlord.  The referencing agency doesn't make any decisions as such - The landlord makes their own decision and does not have to abide by any recommendations from the referencing agency.

I am not aware of a governing body for these companies and am not convinced there's a need for one.

theartfullodger

Mark_d said:

The referencing agency checks your references, income history, credit report etc. and passes this information on your the prospective landlord.  The referencing agency doesn't make any decisions as such - The landlord makes their own decision and does not have to abide by any recommendations from the referencing agency.

I am not aware of a governing body for these companies and am not convinced there's a need for one.

Aye right....  You've seen those check reports ?  e.g. highlighting income issues - which may or may not be correct?

Best wishes to all ..

tacpot12

If the data they are accessing is incorrect, you can andd should apply to have it changed.

Voyager2002

Since they deal in information, the Information Commissioner might have some jurisdiction.

SirCrisps

Thank you, all.

The referencing agency in question have been so incompetent, it would be funny if their bufoonery hadn't lost me money. I'm in the process of complaining but wondered if there was a governing body of sorts. Wish me luck!

_Penny_Dreadful

SirCrisps said:

Hi. I've had trouble with a referencing agency in connection with a property I'm trying to rent. Does anyone know if there's a governing body for these types of companies? My beef isn't with the letting agency, it's with the company they used to reference me. Thanks for any help.

Most firms providing financial services need to be authorised by or registered with the FCA.  This can include referencing companies e.g. The Lettings Hub offer referencing services and are regulated by the FCA.  (I'm not recommending The Lettings Hub one way or another, I just know that they are regulated.)

_Penny_Dreadful

SirCrisps said:

Thank you, all.

The referencing agency in question have been so incompetent, it would be funny if their bufoonery hadn't lost me money. I'm in the process of complaining but wondered if there was a governing body of sorts. Wish me luck!

In circumstances where there is a regulator or ombudsman you are still expected to exhaust the company's complaints process before escalating to the regulator or ombudsman.

How has the referencing company lost you money?  Is this in relation to a holding deposit which the landlord/letting agent is going to keep off the back of some inaccurate information from the referencing company?

SirCrisps

_Penny_Dreadful said:

SirCrisps said:

Thank you, all.

The referencing agency in question have been so incompetent, it would be funny if their bufoonery hadn't lost me money. I'm in the process of complaining but wondered if there was a governing body of sorts. Wish me luck!

In circumstances where there is a regulator or ombudsman you are still expected to exhaust the company's complaints process before escalating to the regulator or ombudsman.

How has the referencing company lost you money?  Is this in relation to a holding deposit which the landlord/letting agent is going to keep off the back of some inaccurate information from the referencing company?

Hi. No, they've really been incompetent: they couldn't understand my payslips, they couldn't find one of my sources of income on my bank statements (it turned out they were looking for it in the outgoings column - they actually failed me for this), they acknowledged receipt of things but then asked for them again (four times in the case of my employer's reference. My boss was not happy). There didn't seem to be any connection between the information the telephone operatives had and what the decision-makers were basing their decisions on.

They failed me three times in total because I 'couldn't prove sufficient income ' but they weren't looking at the information I'd sent (and that they'd acknowledged) and, when they did, they didn't seem to have a clue how to read it. I literally had to explain to them how to find a very obvious date on a payslip - surely they must see hundreds of the things!

I had to spend a ridiculous amount of time sorting this out and I'm extremely grateful for the patience of the landlord and estate agent.  The agreement was that I'd complete by a certain date - this wouldn't have been an issue had the referencing agency been able to do their job. I still have to complete by the agreed date but I wasn't able to hand in my notice on my current rental until I'd passed the referencing, so I'll have to pay both rents concurrently until my notice finishes. This is how they've lost me money.

Thankfully it eventually got sorted out but it's now time to complain formally.  I recognise that I'll need to wait a certain amount of time for their response before I can escalate the matter, but I'm pleased to hear that they're regulated by the FCA.