CIFAS protection and rejection of applications

STAVROS

It  appears that some organisations are declining to do business with customers who have taken out CIFAS protection.
 At present it appears that automated credit file checking produces a rejection notice immediately when confronted with a CIFAS registrative protection ( regardless of the  content of the file ).
In the instance I am discussing this ends the application immediately and prevents any further applications for another 6 months.
I am awaiting a response from the company's senior management to whom this issue has been referred by first line staff.
If this is found to be the case then it would be a breach of the FCA code regarding vulnerable customers
https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/finalised-guidance/fg21-1.pdf

Has anyone else had issues with CIFAS protection and automated searches ?

DullGreyGuy

Not sure that simply having paid for CIFAS protective registration automatically means you are vulnerable, anyone is entitled to pay the £30 for 2 years irrespective if they have been a victim of fraud, are paranoid or have some other reason for wanting to do so. 

Are these actually people selling regulated finance? If its not then it may be outside the scope of the FCA

PAMSE

I was the subject of attempted fraud last year and was advised to take out Cifas protective registration, which I did. Big regret as I've been unable to get a new phone contract or car insurance. The disruption and extra cost it has caused me on top of the stress of the initial fraud is incredibly annoying. It's a broken system. You should not be penalised for trying to protect yourself from fraudsters. 

CliveOfIndia

PAMSE said:

I was the subject of attempted fraud last year and was advised to take out Cifas protective registration, which I did. Big regret as I've been unable to get a new phone contract or car insurance. The disruption and extra cost it has caused me on top of the stress of the initial fraud is incredibly annoying. It's a broken system. You should not be penalised for trying to protect yourself from fraudsters. 

You can get round the car insurance problem by paying annually instead of monthly.  And buying a phone outright rather than on contract would probably alleviate that issue.

The whole point of CIFAS is to make it harder to take out credit, and ensure that more rigorous checks are performed for any credit application.

Nasqueron

PAMSE said:

I was the subject of attempted fraud last year and was advised to take out Cifas protective registration, which I did. Big regret as I've been unable to get a new phone contract or car insurance. The disruption and extra cost it has caused me on top of the stress of the initial fraud is incredibly annoying. It's a broken system. You should not be penalised for trying to protect yourself from fraudsters. 

CIFAS protection doesn't stop you getting credit, it simply applies an extra layer of security to stop credit being taken out in your name without you knowing

DullGreyGuy

Nasqueron said:

PAMSE said:

I was the subject of attempted fraud last year and was advised to take out Cifas protective registration, which I did. Big regret as I've been unable to get a new phone contract or car insurance. The disruption and extra cost it has caused me on top of the stress of the initial fraud is incredibly annoying. It's a broken system. You should not be penalised for trying to protect yourself from fraudsters. 

CIFAS protection doesn't stop you getting credit, it simply applies an extra layer of security to stop credit being taken out in your name without you knowing

It will stop you in some cases because the sales process is set up to be simple straight through automated process which is incompatible with how CIFAS protective registration works. Having the side process to validate the application with CIFAS is doable and is a well trodden path with traditional lenders that have sales staff but adds costs/complexity that not all want to take on.