CIFAS markers can be a real headache for people unlucky enough to be on the receiving end, especially if the marker has been wrongly obtained in the first place.

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CIFAS stands for ‘Credit Industry Fraud Avoidance System‘. It is a fraud prevention organisation made up of several financial institutions, banks and credit providers.  Members of CIFAS are able to share information about an individual and warn other members about the risks associated with a particular individual. If a member suspects that a particular individual has engaged in any fraudulent activity then it can request CIFAS to enter a marker against that individual.

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A CIFAS marker can have a devastating and crippling effect on your finances. It can prevent you from obtaining credit or opening a new bank account. The main problem with CIFAS markers is the relative ease in which they can be arbitrarily obtained as there is no judicial scrutiny involved in the process.

 

The most common types of CIFAS markers are for first-party fraud, application fraud or misuse of facility. They can usually be held for up to six years on CIFAS’s database.
 

What to do if you have a CIFAS marker?
 

If you have had a CIFAS marker entered against you and wish to dispute this, you can apply to have it removed but the process can take a few weeks.

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The first step is to make a data subject access request to CIFAS to obtain details of the type of marker and the organisation that registered the warning with CIFAS. You can apply online and this is free of charge. Once you have this information, the next step is to contact the organisation that registered the warning to request its removal. The best way to do this is to make written representations, ideally through your legal representative, explaining the reasons why the marker should be removed.

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The organisation in question should provide you with their final written response confirming whether they agree to remove the marker or not. If they refuse to remove the marker, you then have the right to request an independent review of their decision directly with CIFAS. CIFAS should provide you with their response within one month although in some complex cases it could take longer.

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If CIFAS refuse to remove the marker then one option is to complain directly to the relevant ombudsman, such as the Financial Ombudsman Service, to see if they can assist. Alternatively, if the marker has caused serious damage to your reputation then it may be possible to bring a defamation claim against the relevant organisation and/or CIFAS in order to recover damages, although this option should clearly be exercised as a last resort. In some cases, the threat of issuing such a claim may persuade the relevant organisation or CIFAS to remove the marker.

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At Arax Law, we have extensive experience of successfully removing CIFAS markers for clients. If you require any further information then please do not hesitate to get in contact with Samuel Manok-Sanoian.