Defaults and Credit Checks on prospective employee

[jb000]

Hi there.

 

I don't know if I am posting in the right forum, hopefully a moderator can help me if not.

 

This is bit of a long story so please bear with me. I got made redundant through no fault of my own September last year and have been on Jobseekers Allowance since then. Everyone knows that when you have a job you have a better lifestyle, and when you lose that job, the lifestyle dramatically changes and you cannot afford the little luxuries anymore, this is where defaults start happening on your credit file and start to get harassed by the DCAs.

 

Anyway, I was placed on a 2 week course with a provider called Working Links. I was told that if I completed the course to their satisfaction, I would be guaranteed a job interview whether in person or phone with the Student Loans Company. Apparently they do CRB checks, person checks and credit checks even though it is a temporary admin job. (talk about paranoia and the snoopers charter). I have an Enhanced CRB which is clean so that isn't a problem.

 

I mentioned in the first instance on the course that we, as unemployed people who had lost their jobs recently would not have squeaky clean or positively glowing credit histories and if their selection process was so rigourous, why on earth are they recruiting this way. I was told as long as debts were being paid, everything will be fine.

 

Now this is the gist of my problem. I have defaults and a CCJ, all but two are being addressed, the two I am in dispute with consist of:-

 

One is a mobile phone where a DCA added an extra £300 to the balance, I have requested all paper work and everything associated with it but they will not give me this information. Secondly, a credit card to Vanquis Bank. The card had payment protection on it (or whatever version of payment protection they call it) and have refused to acknowlege it and have sent Moorcroft after me, I said to them that I would not pay anything to them when payments were supposed to be protected for 2 years.

 

So the course finished, got glowing reports and going forward to next stage. However, the course manager phoned me today and the subject of the credit check came up. he said don't mention your defaults on the phone as they will turn you down flat. I said what the hell, I told you about my defaults and my situation, why on earth did you let me finish this course if I had no chance of the end result.

 

Heres my quandary, should I just make the creditors I am in dispute with a token offer and hope for the best as this is not a guaranteed job offer, just an interview, or just totally forget about the interview and carry on being in dispute with those two creditors. And explain to the JC+ that my credit record prevented me. Otherwise I could be admitting to these debts and still have no job.

 

So sorry for the long post. Has anyone out there on CAG been in the same position and can help me out?

 

Many thanks jb000

Edited April 12, 2013 by jb000

[Emmzzi]

As this is an admin role they may be OK with you if you are honest. You do need to be honest! Tell them upfront and see what happens; ignore the suggestion of sins of omission as there is now way SLC will not find out.

 

Continue to treat your creditors as you are, token payments make no difference if you already have a ccj.

[jb000]

As this is an admin role they may be OK with you if you are honest. You do need to be honest! Tell them upfront and see what happens; ignore the suggestion of sins of omission as there is now way SLC will not find out.

 

Continue to treat your creditors as you are, token payments make no difference if you already have a ccj.

 

Hi there, the CCJ is a water debt and is being paid monthly at £1 per month. One default is car HP which I am paying back at £2 per month. It's just these other 2 creditors that are the problem.

 

In total I have 1 CCJ and 3 defaults. Sorry I should have mentioned that along with being an admin role it could be possibly call centre work as well.

Edited April 12, 2013 by jb000

[Emmzzi]

A ccj is a ccj.... Doesn't matter how you repay them. Seen as the more serious kind of debt. Really the other stuff won't make the situation much worse.

[jb000]

Thanks.

 

I think I will phone the course manager on Monday to seek further clarification on these mixed messages as the tutor said that if you are paying toward the debt you are OK, but the manager said if you have a default they will not entertain you. I will inform of the outcome.

[Sidewinder]

The defaults will also stay on your file for six years even if you were to make a token offer.

 

Agree about the fact that it seems strange to allow you to proceed even knowing of your financial situation!

[jb000]

The defaults will also stay on your file for six years even if you were to make a token offer.

 

Agree about the fact that it seems strange to allow you to proceed even knowing of your financial situation!

 

That is my whole point. If I find out that I have been wasting my time on this course for 2 weeks instead of using the time more constructively looking for jobs with less stringent checks then I will be giving Working Links and my JSA signing on advisor what for. I will also be sending a very stiff letter to the Managing Director of the Student Loans Company as to why are they using this method of recruitment when the majority of people I spoke to on this course would not pass this excessive recruitment criteria as they were in more or less the same position as me.

Edited April 12, 2013 by jb000

[Emmzzi]

The training companies lie to get you on the course, and will advise you to lie if they think it'll get you a job because then they get a bonus.

 

So ignore whatever lies they tell you to come up with; it's you that looks like a liar with the employer.

 

At the least I guess you have some recent office experience to show for it, and have jumped though a job centre hoop...

[jb000]

The training companies lie to get you on the course, and will advise you to lie if they think it'll get you a job because then they get a bonus.

 

So ignore whatever lies they tell you to come up with; it's you that looks like a liar with the employer.

 

At the least I guess you have some recent office experience to show for it, and have jumped though a job centre hoop...

 

Yes it was part of a jobcentre thing, and in my part of the country jobs are very very hard to come by at the moment. I am seeing graduates and other highly qualified persons going for the basic jobs and the less qualified have virtually no chance at the moment.

 

What has made me really angry is that I made a 60 mile round trip every day for 2 weeks to be on this course and I ended up out of pocket on one or two occasions because one of the tutors moaned about the mileage. And if I had walked off the course, my benefit payment could have been called into question.

 

I have been doing some research on the SLC and they are not regulated by the FSA and do not have adhere to their procedures. After all, does anybody need credit checking and a medical to work sorting out post and scanning documents onto a computer.

 

You're right I certainly wouldn't lie about it. I am an honest bloke with many years of unblemished service at work. But it boils my blood to be treated as a potential thief or fraudster by these tin pot companies just because I got made redundant through no fault of my own and my finances went awry.

Edited April 13, 2013 by jb000

[Emmzzi]

Well I think that is an entirely different question to whether the training provider was at fault....

[jb000]

Well I think that is an entirely different question to whether the training provider was at fault....

 

The Student Loans Company should not be entering into these partnerships with these training providers dealing with disadvantaged people if they set their recruitment standards bar so high. They should be looking elsewhere for the beautiful people.

 

This course was for unemployed people who have been unemployed for 6 months or more and at a disadvantage. Looking at it now in the cold light of day I feel as if I have been duped.

 

However, I am not one to take things lying down especially if someone has taken the p*** out of me, there will be repercussions with both SLC and WL.

[Emmzzi]

The Student Loans Company should not be entering into these partnerships with these training providers dealing with disadvantaged people if they set their recruitment standards bar so high. They should be looking elsewhere for the beautiful people.

 

I know many unemployed people who have never had credit so never had a poor credit file. I know many people on high salaries who pay late because they spend it like water.

 

You can't judge everyone by your own circumstances. You *can* suggest a better pre-filter to the job centre.

 

"Financial position" is not a protected characteristic to employ or not employ people. I don't see what further action you can take, and I suggest calming down a bit!

[jb000]

I know many unemployed people who have never had credit so never had a poor credit file. I know many people on high salaries who pay late because they spend it like water.

 

You can't judge everyone by your own circumstances. You *can* suggest a better pre-filter to the job centre.

 

"Financial position" is not a protected characteristic to employ or not employ people. I don't see what further action you can take, and I suggest calming down a bit!

 

I take your points. I am usually a level headed bloke who rarely gets annoyed, but somehow strangely this situation has angered me beyond belief.

 

Anyway, there is nothing I can do about it until they get back in touch. I will inform the forum of any further developments when they happen.

 

jb000