Getting a loan prior to the recession was as easy as walking into a clothes shop and buying a new pair of jeans. No shop assistants asked you whether you’d still fit into the jeans in a year’s time; they didn’t check your background to see if that pair of jeans was going to suit you in the long term and you didn’t have to go back every month and pay. Loans were easy to come by. There were no lengthy credit checks; you didn’t have to jump through hoops proving this and that and you weren’t charged over 7% interest on a loan of less than £5000.

Things have changed since then, perhaps, in a way, for the better. After all it was sub-prime and irresponsible lending that got us into this mess in the first place. In depth credit ratings are a good thing as they find out just how responsible or irresponsible we all are. However, credit ratings can be incorrect through lack of or miss-information or completely ruined due to ID fraud. It is vital therefore that you keep on top of your own credit history with regular credit checks.

Your UK credit rating is compiled using all kinds of data from financial through to information from the electoral roll. Every time you take out a loan it is marked on your credit history. Every time you fail to make or miss a repayment, that is also marked. Good behaviour is noted accordingly too. A bad credit rating can mean you will only have access to high interest rates and unattractive credit offers or, worse still, you will be refused credit altogether. Credit Expert offers free UK credit rating checks which enable you to keep an eye on your credit rating and do something about it if it’s not up to scratch.

There are ways you can improve your UK credit rating. The obvious and most effective is to pay off your debt as quickly as possible. Getting your lending under control and paying off your debts in full and on time will rapidly improve your credit rating. However, if you are struggling to pay back your loan it might be worth consolidating all of your debts so you have one monthly payment. You could also speak to your bank about renegotiating your loan or mortgage.

If your credit rating is much poorer than you imagined, you may be a victim of identity fraud. Criminals are using ever more sophisticated ways to steal personal data then use this information to open bank accounts and run up thousands of pounds worth of credit. If you want more information about ID theft, visit the Crime Stoppers website.

Equifax provides advice for consumers finding it difficult to get credit because of a lack of information on their credit file

www.equifax.co.uk

London, 20th February 2012 – This weekend’s BBC Radio 4 Moneybox featured the plight of a consumer who had been unable to get a mobile phone agreement because she was not very credit active. The lady in question had what is known in the credit industry as a ‘thin file’. She didn’t have any history of credit agreements which made it difficult for the mobile phone provider to assess her suitability for new credit and, as a result, they declined her application.

Having a ‘thin file’ means there is little data on an individual’s credit file, making it difficult, sometimes, for banks, building societies and other financial services providers to confirm their identity as well as gain an understanding of their ability to manage credit. Neil Munroe, External Affairs Director of leading instant online credit information provider, Equifax, admits that this can be a ‘catch 22’ situation. Someone without any credit can find it difficult to get new credit. But he has some useful advice for others who may have ‘thin files’.

“Thin files are most likely to occur for people between 18 and 20, who have only just entered the credit market or those in their 60’s and 70’s who may not have been very credit active previously” explained Neil Munroe. “Women whose husbands have been responsible for their mortgage payments are another group that can have ‘thin files’.

“For some organisations their automated systems will decline new credit applications simply because they can’t verify the credit status of the individual electronically. It’s therefore wise for those with ‘thin files’ to take a number of steps to give prospective lenders more confidence in their ability to manage credit.”

“First and foremost, make sure you’re on the electoral roll. Lenders will want to be able to verify the identity of the individual, which they do through electoral roll data. Then, if you know you haven’t been credit active, it makes sense to try to create a credit history. To do this, you can go to the bank or building society where you have your current bank account. They will have a picture of your financial history and, therefore, are more likely to extend new credit to you. So by opening a credit account of some sort with them, which you should keep paid up to date, you can start to create that credit history.”

“Another way to create a credit history is to apply to an organisation like a store card provider where they may be prepared to provide credit on the basis that you are buying goods from their store.”

“But if a credit application is rejected it’s important not to keep applying to new companies because this may also affect your ability to get credit”, continued Neil Munroe. “The more times it appears someone has applied for credit in a short space of time, the more likely a lender or organisation extending credit may reject the application because they will be concerned this will be an indication of possible fraud or over-indebtedness.”

“Instead, we strongly advise anyone who is planning to apply for credit, or who has had an application declined, to get a copy of their credit file – so they can see straight away what information is being used to assess them. They also have a right to ask the lender for a reason for their decision.”

“And if the consumer does believe that their lack of credit history is at the root of their inability to get credit, but they have a good history of paying other financial commitments, such as utility bills, then they can add a statement to that effect to their credit file, which lenders are obliged to read. This is called a ‘Notice of Correction’.

Equifaxoffers a free online credit check, where you can view your personal credit report, including any joint agreements you may have. The Equifax Credit Report, with the facility to access credit information for the first 30 days free, gives consumers a valuable insight into their credit status. Accessible simply by logging onto www.equifax.co.uk it is designed to help individuals understand their credit file and see what lenders see to assess new credit applications. It also includes expert tips and advice to help consumers take the right steps to manage their finances and navigate through life’s challenges.

If the customer does not cancel before the end of the 30 Day Free Trial, the service will continue at £6.99 per month, giving them unlimited online access to their credit information and weekly alerts on any changes to their credit file. It also includes an online dispute facility to help them correct any errors on their credit file simply and quickly.

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Individual insolvency levels hit record high

Official figures from The Insolvency Service have revealed that the total number of
people declared insolvent in England and Wales during 2010 reached a record high of
135,089.

Overall, individual insolvencies (IVAs (Individual Voluntary Arrangements),
bankruptcies and DROs (Debt Relief Orders)) were 0.7% higher in 2010 than they
were in 2009.

The figure from 2010 included 59,194 bankruptcies (down 20.7% compared with the
figure from 2009), 50,716 IVAs (up 6.5% on 2009′s figure) and 25,179 DROs (no
comparable yearly data, as they were only brought in during April 2009).

Despite individual insolvencies reaching their highest level ever, though, they actually
fell during the final quarter of 2010 to their lowest quarterly level since the first three
months of 2009. Just 12,049 people were declared bankrupt during this time – the
lowest figure since the first three-month period of 2005.

Click on the following link to read the full news story on this .

Meanwhile, as quoted in the Guardian, Steven Law, president of insolvency trade
body R3, said the figures from The Insolvency Service didn’t shed light on the number
of people repaying their debts through informal debt solutions – including debt
management plans, of which there are thought to be around 700,000.

I had been reading the news today, and thought I would strike up an intellectual conversation with a friend, so I started by saying “Have you head about the insolvency high?”, to which they replied “Is that something to do with the effects of sniffing glue and lighter fluid?”!!! So I then had to explain that insolvency was being unable to pay your debtors, and basically declaring yourself bankrupt. At that point I stopped talking about the news that I had heard, and thought I would share it on here for those who may live in a world without the BBC, or ITV, or 24hour Sky News!

So, the news that has recently come to light is that in 2010, personal insolvency within the UK hit a high for the first time since 1960. The Insolvency Service has advised us that it has risen by 0.7% on 2009.

So just how may people were declared insolvent last year? Well, the figure is 135,089 – which is enough people to fill the new Wembley Stadium one and a half times! May or may not seem like many, given the population of the UK, but that is alot of families to have had their lives effected by money last year. The stress, the arguments, the cutting out of treats etc etc.

There are three forms of insolvency which make up the numbers we have seen above.

• Bankruptcy: The traditional way of escaping overwhelming debt. Ends after one year, but you are likely to lose all your assets including your house to pay something to the creditors
• Debt Relief Orders: Introduced in April 2009, these allow consumers with debts of less than £15,000 and minimal assets or surplus income to write off debts without a full-blown bankruptcy
• Individual voluntary arrangement (IVA): A deal between you and your creditors, overseen by an insolvency practitioner. Less stigma, less chance of losing your home, but involves paying some of your debts in one go or over a number of years

So what can you do to avoid adding to the 2011 insolvency figures?

Well, there are companies that can help you with your debts such as The Money Advice Group. MoneyAdviceGroup.co.uk offer immediate UK debt solutions from Debt Management, IVAs and Debt Consolidation. They only employ experienced debt advisers, and have helped thousands of clients with financial difficulties regain control of there finances. So, start by having a look at their website to see if they can help you, and whether their service suits your needs.

If they aren’t what you are looking for then there are more companies out there that can help, such as Debt Line who offer the only fully online debt management service in the UK. They are currently dealing with over £215,000,000 worth of the UK’s debt for more than 16,000 customers and their online business is rapidly growing.

Debt management means that Debt Line’s clients stop getting creditor hassle, have a freeze on their interest and charges on their accounts and can relax knowing that all of their debts are being dealt with for them. They ensure that their customers only pay what they can afford leaving them with more money every month and no more struggling.

Of course, one thing to be aware of is that personal insolvency does effect your chances of getting credit in the future. It’s important that you rebuild your credit score.

If you have first hand experience of having to declare yourself bankrupt, or partaking in an IVA then please share below.

The mis-selling of loans, (homeowner, car loans and credit card), and the insurance sold alongside them, known as PPI is one of the biggest rip-offs carried out by banks

Around 50% of the 20 million PPI (Payment Protection Insurance) policies sold in the UK were mis-sold. In many cases, people were pressured into buying PPI, being told it was a condition of getting the loan. In others, policies turned out not to be worth the paper they were written on when the time came to claim.

The good news is there is a very high success rate for those making claims against lenders/ banks. Fines of more than £22 million were levied against Lenders, for mis-selling, in 2008. Although customers are able to make independent claims for refunds, most are reluctant to take on these mega-institutions on their own.

This is where First Refunds come in. They are regulated by the Ministry of Justice, which officially enables them to manage claims on behalf of these people. The majority of cases are clear-cut. Where there is any doubt, First Refund have the authority to obtain all data on the sale of the loan / PPI including all recordings of telephone calls made between the lender and customer.

For this service First Refund charge absolutely nothing until the claim is successful, and at this point their fee is 25% of the monies reclaimed. The process takes on average 8 – 12 weeks. Occasionally, when a settlement cannot be reached, a case is referred to the Financial Ombudsman to make a judgement. Although this process can take longer it is usually successful for the claimant (the success rate currently stands at 90%+).

Most of their claims fall under two categories:

1) PPI mis-selling
This is the mis-selling of single premium insurance policies sold alongside car loans, homeowner loans and credit cards, usually taken out to cover the loan premiums should the customer not be able to keep up payments– due to redundancy, illness, etc. There are as many as twelve reasons constitutes mis-selling, with the two most common being

• the customer was pressured into taking it, and
• the term of the PPI is different to the term of the loan.

PPI is considered ‘mis-sold’ if the lender or broker was guilty of just one of the twelve misdemeanours, (a full list is on the web-site www.FirstRefunds.com). PPI refunds are up to 20% of the value of the entire loan.

The sale of PPI is such a scam, that it has now been banned by the FSA.

2) Undeclared Broker Commissions.
Unless the financial broker declares to the borrower exactly how much they received in commission on the sale of a loan, the whole commission is reclaimable under established UK case law. This is further strengthened if the broker also charged a separate broker fee. Millions of broker commissions are undeclared and many of the big banks are making provision to pay back up to 15% of the value of the loans they gave out.

Click the link today to find out more, and to start claiming back monies that you may be entitled to!

Most of us know what our credit report is, and that it is used when we apply for credit. But do we all know that we can actually see our credit report, and why we should check it?

This article will cover:

• Why look at your report
• What should you look for
• How it can detect fraud
• Where to obtain your report – FREE!

As mentioned in a previous post, one way of improving your credit score if you have had a period of bad credit is to get a credit card.

Now, this is easier said than done – especially if your score is still bad. If you are not sure what your credit score is, then check it for free.

Once you have been approved for a card then the quickest way to rebuild your credit rating is to put your petrol or monthly shopping on there, and then pay it off in full at the end of the month before the interest gets added – just make sure you set up a direct debit so you don’t forget, and get landed with a late repayment charge, and lowering your score.

Vanquis Bank’s products serve customers ranging from those who have had credit problems in the past, to those completely new to credit, are self-employed or have a low income.
Their aim is to provide a range of credit cards that give you the options you deserve.

Their Visa card that offers all of these great benefits:

* No annual fee
* Up to 56 days interest free on purchases
* Additional cardholder/ free fraud monitoring at no additional cost – we’ll warn customers of any suspicious activity on their account
* Chip PIN technology for added security whenever a Vanquis card is used
* Visa is widely accepted in the UK and abroad
* Offers convenience for paying online and over the phone
* A friendly and dedicated UK customer call centre
* As a provider that is specifically geared towards servicing customers with previous credit problems or little or no credit history our higher APR’s reflect the additional business risk posed by this area of the consumer market.

Apply for a Vanquis Credit Credit and start to rebuild your credit rating.

Please Note: this does not imply that they are able to approve applications from customers irrespective of their present or previous circumstances. Vanquis have stringent and specific criteria that potential new customers must meet in order to be accepted, as well as applying all relevant money laundering and other regulatory validation tests to any new applications.

Bad Debtors Be Warned, You Are Being Watched!

By: Michael Challiner

As the recession takes a hold more and more people are struggling to repay debt. Personal debt in Britain is increasing at a dramatic rate and is now approaching the 1.4 trillion pounds mark. However for one sector, business is booming. These are the private investigators charged with tracking down non payers of debt.

Why should people get away with not paying? says a spokesperson for the Bankruptcy Advisory Service, which counsels bad debtors. There is an issue of financial morality: some people do borrow either in the full knowledge that they can t repay or that they have no intention of repaying.

Employed by banks, building societies and some accountancy firms (who themselves are employed by lenders) private investigators are hired to see whether debtors have any hidden wealth.. They can trawl and search all sorts of databases to discover the size of a person s debts, track down their quarry, including credit reference agencies. Private investigators can also work out how much equity people have in their homes by looking at the number of mortgages registered against that property and its current value. All of this perfectly legal and is happening every day.

Investigators may move to more devious, complex surveillance if basic searches suggest the debtor has access to substantial assets. And some, it seems, are not afraid to push the boundaries to the limits.

The most well known tactic is bin spinning . This means trawling through someone s rubbish in search of information such as bank accounts, balances, investments and pensions. This will then provide their clients with a complete financial picture of the individual. A spokesman for a major investigation firm says he knows of investigators who have taken away rubbish sacks in the early hours of the morning, gone through their contents entirely, copied anything found which could be significant and returned it all to the bin. Again, this is all perfectly legal, he adds.

A former private investigator, who has recently left the industry and wishes to remain anonymous, says he used illegal methods all day every day for his financial clients. Every single detective or investigator breaks the Data Protection Act at least once a week. If they say they don t, they re lying.

He admitted that he would make hundreds of phone calls a day, pretending to work within certain organizations. Each call would provide him with a tiny piece of confidential data that over time built up like a jigsaw puzzle to provide a fuller picture of a debtor s finances.

However, these tactics could fall foul of the Government s Information Commissioner, according to a representative of trade body the Association of British Investigators. He says They are getting tough with people who break data protection laws. In some cases they are prosecuting investigators. Another investigator says of his industry: More are breaking the law than not breaking it. The banks will say we didn t know , but it s difficult to argue that if they re expecting to receive accounts and balances.

Author Resource:-> Promise Debt Solutions ( http://www.promisedebtsolutions.com ) offer Online Debt Help, Online Debt Advice, Online Debt Plans and Online Debt Management. Visit Promise Debt Solutions and we promise to help.

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