Credit Card Application ICB Search

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listen

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I recently applied for a credit card from one of the Banks here. The process went on for a while as i was not in a hurry for it. Anyway after about a month i sent them all the docs they had wanted. Got a call a week ltr saying it was turned down due to repayment issues. Which is total Bull.... Anyway i ordered a ICB report just to make sure everything was ok. My report has just come in and everything is fine. But i did notice that the bank i applied to carried out 2 searches from 2 different departments in the bank. There mortgage division did the first search and then an hour ltr the credit cards division did. I am wondering are they allowed to do this? This is out of curiosity more than anything else.
 
Have you applied for a mortgage with them?

Did you give all possible addresses etc for your ICB report?
 
I only applied for a credit card. I gave them my current address and previous address. When I got ICB report it had 2 searches.
 
Presumably you authorised them to do an ICB check as part of your application. It may be an error on the ICB but whether they checked it once or twice within an hour what odds does it make? They aren't going to glean any more information the second time. Methinks there's nothing to it.
 
Only thing i am concerned about is are they allowed to do it? And what are they using the information for?
 
I would be wondering if there are some crossed wires. Perhaps there is another "listen" on their database and you have been given information about their search history as well as yours. The credit details require an address to be supplied as the loan record has your name and address but I always wondered about the search history details, do they use current address and name or just name. I don't know - I found trying to get through to them quite impossible (short of turning up on their doorstep!).
 
Given that on any application for credit you are only asked for your name and your current address, banks requesting your history cannot supply as much info as you - which makes me wonder about establishing a true history ...
 
Listen;

If it is the same Bank on mortgage & CC they can call twenty ICBs if they want , once they have your authority,
it looks like the Banks system overjobbing.

I would be more concerned at {repayment issues} this seems wrong.
Suggest go on-line and get your own copy ICB.
 
Gerry Canning, the OP has requested and received their ICB report - which they state was fine - hence the reason they spotted the second search. Whilst I couldn't dispute you on the extended validity of the permission granted (because I don't know), I am wondering if it perhaps points to a possible reason.

The report we as ordinary Joe Soaps request requires we submit all previous addresses but banks never ask for that same level of detail on credit applications (from whence you would assume a search is initiated).

Furthermore there is no mechanism I am aware of that allows the ICB to link a chain of house moves (you don't inform them of a change of address for example)

I am wondering if the report the bank saw matches the report the OP received.

The bank would have had only current address and name to request the search so logically the search parameters applied to provide the bank with all of your details would be fuzzier and may pick up details that actually belong to someone else.

I am guessing they have some mechanism in place to minimise this obvious risk but I cannot see how they can mitigate it entirely. Fundamentally the search results you get cannot be guaranteed to match the search results the bank gets because you apply different criteria.

OP would it be worth sharing your copy of the report with the bank and asking them to clarify where the issue with your history is?
 
OP would it be worth sharing your copy of the report with the bank and asking them to clarify where the issue with your history is?
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The bank will not enter into a discussion on this issue. The CC was refused by the bank. The bank response was that the decline was due to repayment issues. they did not mention any ICB search or poor ICB result. Its' frustrating to get a response like this but the decision has been made and is unlikely to be overturned. If you feel that you have been unfairly assessed you should submit a complaint to the bank clearly stating your case and why repayment issues should not have been a problem.
 
I was not to worried about being refused. I just got a copy of the ICB report just to be on the safe side and i noticed the 2 searches. A friend of mine who was a bank official and would have had good knowledge was puzzled by it. He said the rules may hve changed but whenever he did a search it was only once. I am more concerned that the bank did 2 searches and one from a different department of the bank without my permission. There maybe something in the T&C that allow them to do it.
 
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