Unauthorised credit search, couple of questions regarding removal

[crugga]

A well know Loan company known for being in a word Cr@p recently did a credit search on me, I know I didnt approve it so in my eyes its illegal and a footmark on my record. I'm going to write to them and ask for it to be removed. Are there any legal acts I can quote? and who would I be taking it to if they dont remove it? guessing the FSA, and is 14 days a reasonable ammount of time to give them to sort it out?.

 

So much for me trying to hide the company identity, does anyone know the Welcome finance complaints adress??

 

Any advice on the matter would be appreciated.

 

[pebs]

I noticed in October a company called citi financial had been doing searches on me without my permission, in both my married and maiden name.

 

I complained and I have received 2 letters saying they would apprieciate my patience while they look into this, however I have logged into my experian credit file and was horrified to see they have done a credit search on me again only yesterday

 

I will be on the phone 1st thing monday morning as it shows I have had a lot of searches in the past 6 months and 5 of them are citifinancial!

[sillygirl1]

For the same company to do five searches in 6 months shows great incompetence on their part. Tell them you are complaining to the Information Commissioner and need the name and address of their data controller as the person responsible... try to do things in writing instead of phoning as you will be given the runaround.

[Just~me]

Crugga & Pebs.

 

How did you both know companies were doing a credit check on you.??? & how can I check if they ever did the same to me.??

Is there a site I can register in to check online.

 

Can anyone explain to me please what the guidlines are regarding (law if any) companies doing credit checks and what the implications are by doing so.?? I always thought that if you had a good credit and you were going to take out some kind of finance the finance company would do a check. How come if you havent asked for finance why would a company do a search without you asking for any finance

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

Just~Me.

[crugga]

https://www.creditexpert.co.uk

You get a free months membership which you can check you report for free, need to give them a credit card and they send a pin number in the post, just make sure you remember to cancel or they bill you £6.99 or so a month, costs a bit more for a credit score. Failing that you can get it for £2 by snail mail.

The above is just Experian who seem like the biggest agency, also Callcredit & Equifax are agencies. Search google sure there will be details.

As for your second question, thats the problem here. They should not do a credit search without our authority. Theyre scouting for business, I got concerned when out of the blue I got a Wellcome form in the post with a random loan amount and some wrong details on it. I had been declined another loan a month back but at no time did they say they will share info with other companies other than for fraud control, training purposes or security.

[Michael Browne]

You can download application forms for the statutory credit reports (£2 each) here:

 

Credit Reference Agencies: Credit Report Application Forms

http://www.callcredit.co.uk/download/creditfileapp.pdf

 

http://www.experian.co.uk/downloads/consumer/cfa.pdf

 

https://www.econsumer.equifax.co. u...ile%209-05.pdf

[Just~me]

Thanks Crugga & Michael Brown,

 

Your replies have been very helpfull and informative.

 

I have another question.

What happens if I have a debt or a black mark on my credit report and that because I have moved house the people that I owe the debt to cant find me, what will happen if I register with say Experian and I give them my address details, will that address get added to my credit report, resulting in the person I owe the debt to be able to trace me ?? or is it against Experians rules to give out addresses.

 

Thanks,

Just~Me.

[rory32]

A well know Loan company known for being in a word Cr@p recently did a credit search on me, I know I didnt approve it so in my eyes its illegal and a footmark on my record

Do you have a loan with them or have you applied for credit with them, or is this just something they have done out of the blue?

[pebs]

Thanks Crugga & Michael Brown,

 

Your replies have been very helpfull and informative.

 

I have another question.

What happens if I have a debt or a black mark on my credit report and that because I have moved house the people that I owe the debt to cant find me, what will happen if I register with say Experian and I give them my address details, will that address get added to my credit report, resulting in the person I owe the debt to be able to trace me ?? or is it against Experians rules to give out addresses.

 

Thanks,

Just~Me.

 

 

This happened to me many years ago, I know I shouldnt have but I was income support at the time and couldnt afford my debts so when I moved I didnt tell them.

A couple of years later I applied for the free credit report and within months I had debt collection letters through the door. I ended up having to pay them all back anyway and would not do it again or advise anyone to run from the debts.....they always catch up with you in the end, usually with heavy charges added!

[crugga]

Do you have a loan with them or have you applied for credit with them, or is this just something they have done out of the blue?

I havnt applied with them nor had any contact with them whatsoever. theyve got a shocking reputation so i'd never even be willing to speak to them. Ive had a few debt consolidation agencies ring aswell without contacting any of them.

They got my details from 1 of the following(everything ive been near credit related in the last few months).

 

Virgin credit card

Money supermarket

Yes loans(cold call, my details must of been forwarded from 1 of the above) - spoke to these but never went through after realising there was something not right, did not consent to a credit check, sign anything etc. Come to think of it, after further research I suspect it may of been these sharing out my details. They sent me an application form in the post which went straight on the fire but they did maybe have enough details to do a credit search on me.

Oh yeah, another thing the credit search was incorrect, details were wrong. Time living at adress was 18 years out. Seems like they can do a credit search with little more than name, adress and dob.

[rh999]

NOTE

do not use these so called free services from equifax or experien

 

as soon as you sign up to it your name suddenly gets circulated

 

it happened to me.

 

do a search on this site for equifax or experian and have a look at the threads on these companies.

 

crugga the reason for these searches/letters is most likely because you signed up to this service with experian.

 

justme - just go for the snail mail version of credit report, its safer as it does not leave a footmark on your file...

[Just~me]

Thanks rh99,

 

Will take your advise and follow the slow road I think, with possibly using a different address for delivery.

 

Cheers.

Just~Me

[rh999]

No probs just me

 

heres the link to the thread on CRA's

 

it also contains links to others who have "issues" with them

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collectors-debt-collection/112671-cag-cra-r-club.html?highlight=Credit+Reference+Agencies