Cifas marker removal

LilMissM

I have recently found myself in financial difficulties and with the help of another thread I think I can get myself sorted.

My query here is how to deal with a Cifas marker that has been logged against me by one of my creditors for "evasion of payment".

Admittedly yes I did get a £5000 loan with them and have not paid any payment but at the start of the year, which is when the loan landed, I realised I was going to be struggling to repay that and other debts and I contacted MCB to as if there was any way I could extend the loan from 24 months to 36 months. I explained my situation and that I was going with a DMP and asked them if they could help me with this. They did not reply. I then emailed them again a month later explaining that my DMP was going ahead and could they confirm that the direct debit was indeed cancelled. Again, they did not reply.

The DMP fell apart and so did everything else thereafter. My bank withdrew my overdraft and said I could not stay with them (I thought initially that it was because of the DMP) so I opened another account (Starling) and set up all my direct debits etc with the new bank. A month into being with the new bank, they contacted me and said they were closing my account in three months. So I started applying for other basic accounts and every single one of them either refused or revoked. 

Through the help in the other thread, I requested a SAR from Cifas and discovered that I have this marker against my name for "evasion of payment".

I have logged a complaint with MCB on the advice of other forum members, but my query really is do you think the marker is fair given that I did ask them for help and I did explain that I was going to be struggling financially to repay the loan over the original two years, and is there any way that I can get it removed?

I fully admit that I have yet to make a payment to them and I suppose in my naivety and panic I thought if I emailed them early on they could extend the loan and help me out, but they didn't even reply

I did manage to open an account with Monzo before the marker was in place, but I am very concerned that if Monzo do what Starling did, I will have no bank account to pay my bills or get my wages paid into. 

Any help/advice on this would be greatly appreciated x

Shakin_Steve

From the lenders point of view, you took out a loan knowing full well that you would struggle to make even one payment. I don't know exactly what questions you were asked on the application, but as well as the usual income and outgoings there is often a question about future changes to income. They obviously thought you were being less than truthful.
I'm not saying that this is the case but that's the way it could appear.

LilMissM

Hmm yes that's a good point. I was truthful when I applied for the loan and I did not foresee any changes in my circumstances, but then I also didn't foresee the unexpected washing machine break down, the unexpected vet bill, the unexpected tax office changing my tax code, the unexpected being off work twice and not being paid for it because I was in a new job. These were all the things that contributed to me feeling like I was going to be unable to pay the monthly amount of my loan. I never not wanted to pay it, I just wanted a bit longer and smaller monthly payments  

Will that marker stay with me forever?

born_again

TBH. You have pretty much no chance of getting it removed.
Had you interacted with the lender (not email, but talk to them) at the time then they may have looked to work something out.

Think they stay there for 6 years.

TheBanker

You have some good advice on your other thread.

What I am going to say may not sound sympathetic, but I am trying to be realistic.

You say you've not made any repayments towards the loan, and your posts suggest you took the loan out and then almost immediatly applied for a DMP. When the lender has tried to contact you, you ignored them. I obviously do not know how you answered the questions about income and expenditure on the application form, but if the answers were different to the figures on the DMP application that would also set alarm bells ringing. From the lender's perspective, this looks like you applied for the loan knowing that you wouldn't be able to repay it, and therefore the CIFAS marker is justified.

You are doing the right thing going through their complaints procedure, and you are able to escalate to the FOS if you don't agree with the lender's response to your complaint, but I would not be hopeful of the marker being removed.

LilMissM

I accept all of that, it is a fair comment. I did contact them first though to tell them I was going to struggle due to a change in my circumstances, which of course I could not have envisioned at the time of applying and it was them who did not reply.

It is looking like I will just have to accept this marker against me and put this down to a lesson learned the hard way.

What are my options for a bank account now though? I obviously need an account to have my wages paid into and my direct debits etc paid out of. So far Monzo have been good with me but I just need to be prepared if they do what all the other banks have done and revoke my account at some point. 

What a mess  

LilMissM

I have just found an email (and checked and verified it on my MCB account online) and I did make a payment to them, but then obvs didn't after that. Will that make any difference to my case? 

sammyjammy

LilMissM said:

I have just found an email (and checked and verified it on my MCB account online) and I did make a payment to them, but then obvs didn't after that. Will that make any difference to my case? 

Probably not.  Just go through the process and hope for the best.

LilMissM

Thanks everyone, wish me luck x

TheBanker

LilMissM said:

I have just found an email (and checked and verified it on my MCB account online) and I did make a payment to them, but then obvs didn't after that. Will that make any difference to my case? 

Generally CIFAS markers are not something used lightly so I would not be overly optimistic about having it removed. It's rare for FOS to order markers to be removed, although they do occasionally.

This marker is not there just because you missed a payment. It's there because the lender thinks you acted fraudulently. They do not need to prove this beyond all doubt, but there must be reasonable evidence.

LilMissM

Thanks TheBanker. I'll admit I am not particularly optimistic about it, but I will plead my case nonetheless. I've got nothing to lose at this point right