Understanding the GAIN - Gone Away Information Network

[DarkRain]

I'm looking at moving from my current address of 9 years into my girlfriend's house sometime next year.

 

I have several large debts which go back over 6 years and no longer appear on my credit file.

 

I am however still receiving a few letters a year from some DCAs. I can't yet send them a "statute barred" letter because sadly I wrote to them a couple of years ago.

 

So my question now is how to prevent new damage to my credit file.

 

If I just moved next year and don't inform them, can these DCAs add something to the GAIN entry, or is that only for existing defaults on a credit file? Any ideas?

[mrmarmite]

say nothing and do nothing (not that I told you

[cerberusalert]

It depends what you have written, unless you admitted to the debt or made payment it will be statute barred.

 

Unless there are defaults on your file they cannot update it with anything.

[DarkRain]

It depends what you have written, unless you admitted to the debt or made payment it will be statute barred.

 

Unless there are defaults on your file they cannot update it with anything.

 

That last bit is what I'm trying to establish. There are no defaults on my file now and so I don't want a GAIN entry if I just move.

[cerberusalert]

GAIN stands for the Gone Away Information Network. It is a trade organisation that shares details of customers who have had statements and other correspondence returned undelivered by the Post Office, marked ‘gone away’. Credit reference agencies and lenders who are members of this network share information on customers who have moved home and left behind a credit account, such as a credit card which is at least 30 days in arrears, without giving their lenders a forwarding address. This information can include both the address the customer has moved from and any address the customer has since been traced to. This information is only available to other organisations who are members of GAIN.

[DarkRain]

GAIN stands for the Gone Away Information Network. It is a trade organisation that shares details of customers who have had statements and other correspondence returned undelivered by the Post Office, marked ‘gone away’. Credit reference agencies and lenders who are members of this network share information on customers who have moved home and left behind a credit account, such as a credit card which is at least 30 days in arrears, without giving their lenders a forwarding address. This information can include both the address the customer has moved from and any address the customer has since been traced to. This information is only available to other organisations who are members of GAIN.

 

 

Thanks. I did read that. I'm hopiong that the "left behind a credit account" means there would have to be a default still on my file before they can make an entry.

[cerberusalert]

Not according to the wording in that, they can do it if the a/c is 30 days in arrears. One way of preventing it would be to have your mail re-directed to your new address by the post office.

[DarkRain]

Not according to the wording in that, they can do it if the a/c is 30 days in arrears. One way of preventing it would be to have your mail re-directed to your new address by the post office.

 

Hehe yes. Or better still forwarded to a rented private mail box.

[izools]

If you make sure to do two things (that you mustn't do because it's really naughty) then even if they DO mark a GAIN it won't affect you:

 

1. Don't transfer ANY existing accounts that appear on your credit file to your new address. Mobile phone, current account, whatever appears on your credit file, close the account.

2. Open new accounts at the new address and with every single application or request you make at the new address, when someone asks you how long you've been there say atleast six years.

 

This is something very naughty that you mustn't do because it's tantamount to fraud, so make sure not to, especially considering they can't prove you wrong.

 

Also especially considering that if you do do this, the people credit searching you won't see anything from your previous address(es). As if you had no credit in the past.

[b_clark_1]

My debts are over 7 years old. I moved address 7 years ago and told nobody. I got a new basic bank account and, to this date, that is all I have.

 

How is GAIN marked on my credit report? Do they use my name and date of birth to try and tie me to my old address?

 

I have applied for a credit report with Equifax and they've asked for a utility bill / bank statement plus a copy of my passport / driving licence. They asked for that as soon as I told them that I haven't had any credit for the last 6 years. I haven't submitted them to Equifax yet.

 

I want to build a credit score, but I'm scared that providing details will allow them to tie me to a GAIN maker on a previous address of 7 years ago.

 

How does it work?

[cerberusalert]

It's not on your credit report, it's a separate register which the public don't have access to.

[b_clark_1]

It's not on your credit report, it's a separate register which the public don't have access to.

 

Doesn't that mean that someone is holding information about me that I cannot get access to? Isn't that against data protection or something?

[cerberusalert]

You could send a SAR request but it would defeat the object if you don't want them to know where you are.

 

If your previous addresses are not linked on your credit file it is unlikely that the GAIN will have discovered your present address.

[cerberusalert]

Just to add, any information held on GAIN which is older that six years would be useless anyway as any debt would be Statute Barred unless they had of obtained a CCJ using a previous address and even then a CCJ cannot be enforced after six years without a courts permission which is rarely if ever given.

[b_clark_1]

Just to add, any information held on GAIN which is older that six years would be useless anyway as any debt would be Statute Barred unless they had of obtained a CCJ using a previous address and even then a CCJ cannot be enforced after six years without a courts permission which is rarely if ever given.

 

I suppose if I know what GAIN have on me, I'll know what to expect. I can still get post at the address at which I lived 7 years ago.

[b_clark_1]

I suppose if I know what GAIN have on me, I'll know what to expect. I can still get post at the address at which I lived 7 years ago.

 

I've been looking around. There doesn't seem to be a way of sending a Subject Access Request to GAIN. I've seen references to them being a trading entity in their own right, but there doesn't seem to be a way of contacting them.

[cerberusalert]

it's run by Equifax https://www.econsumer.equifax.co.uk/consumer/uk/sitepage.ehtml?forward=gb_cpo_gain