On the 28th may i applied for virgin money current account based on reccomendation from a friend. On the 29th may around 12pm i received a email to say my account has been opened then followed by another email at 14:00hrs saying they can’t offer the account as i did not meet their credit scoring criteria. I accepted their decision and moved on and did not think anything else would be done and stayed with my current bank barclays. This was just the start of their abuse only if i knew before!!!
On the 15th june i applied for mortgage through halifax which was accepted, around 20th june i recived call from my broker to say halifax have picked up internal CIFAS marker on my name for application fraud and they are not willing to offer the mortgage but i should contact CIFAS and request SAR. To my shock i didn’t know what cifas was and why there was fraud marker in my name! So on the 22nd june i made SAR request with CIFAS, around 26th June i received report back from them and to my disbelief and utter shock i found virgin money trading under clydesdale bank put application fraud for the current account i applied. The reason for this was due to previous adverse credit on my previous addresses. To my disgust i contacted them immediately and was told by someone in yorkshire bank department that they did not put that because it’s not on my credit file, However i explained i have the SAR report from CIFAS in front of me and i am happy to provide them. The lady on the phone told me someone from virgin will ring me to discuss further, which sadly never happened!
After 6 weeks of waiting i rang virgin money on the 13th August (last week) and spoke to adviser called Stephen O’donnell he quickly advised he will speak to underwriting team and get back to me while on hold, After 5 minutes of waiting he got back saying, “sorry our underwriting team are not willing to remove the marker and are unable to provide you with more information, You are happy to log a complaint” So i went ahead and logged an complaint under referance C-11007660 with a lady and she advised she has escalated my complaint and should hear back within 4 working days.
On the 18th august i received notification from Experian credit agency that 5 new searches have been carried out in my name. To my shock i quickly checked my credit file and found virgin money under clydesdale bank did 3 enquiry hard searches and 2 unregistered searches. I was shocked again and angry as to why? as i haven’t applied for anything with them or ever want a thing from them.
Today 20th August i rang again and spoke to complaint handler name Tamy and explained the whole situation and how they have violated my privacy. I told her i didn’t give my consent for credit search so why they carried out 5 searches on my name? i am not getting any account with them simply logged complaint so wanted clarification. She quickly told me she has no idea and can’t see anything on the system. She advised she will have it escalated again. At that point i was soo angry i told her i wanted call back within 24 hours and explained why they abused my data without consent?!!
I also explained this is what i am about to do, Not only going to financial ombudsmen which can take 56 days, i’ll be applying to county court direct for their violation of my data and privacy without consent. I have all the relevant proof of searches they did without consent and CIFAS report. I will not be played around and abused for applying for current account!
i feel they see myself as some sort of criminal fraudstar and not an genuine customer. I wish i never bothered applying with virgin money anything, in my 18 years of credit life i never had anyone putting CFAS marker on my name for current account, That is what makes me laugh! If it was for loan or credit card it’s understandable.
I would not reccomend anyone or wish on anyone to go through stress and anxiety as i am going through. So please avoid them!
Reviewed on: 20th August 2020
