Hard search on credit report

[YI2]

Hi, there is a hard search on my credit account conducted by Virgin Media (it states that I have made a credit application with Virgin Media). I have never applied for credit with Virgin Media. I only use internet service with Virgin Media for which I pay in direct debit (there is a zero balance on my account, and I never made my payments late). This hard search significantly decreased my credit score, and I am in the middle of purchasing a flat. I have tried to contact Virgin Media by phone and email since 26 July 2022, but I was not able to receive any answers or resolution. The situation is very urgent, as I am about to suffer substantial monetary losses because of the error made by Virgin Media.

I have contacted Virgin Media customer service advisor (on WhatsApp channel) who informed me that there was no hard search done on my account and asked to talk to the credit file amendments team to get this removed. 

So I have contacted both CreditFileAmendments@virginmedia.co.uk and complaints team and both refused to remove the hard search and responded without looking into the details of my case with an automatic response:  'As per our terms and conditions when you apply for any Virgin Media products the credit search is carried out with the details provided on your application.' I have checked the terms and conditions, and nowhere in there it is stated that a hard credit check will be conducted if the customer joins the broadband.

No Virgin Media advisor I talked to on the phone was able to direct me to the exact provisions of the terms and conditions that would inform about hard searches on credit file. If Virgin Media in fact does this to every customer (conducts hard searches), it should be explicitly stated as hard searches impact the credit score for an entire year. Even the lenders do not conduct hard searches for the purpose of mortgages.

I would like the hard search to be removed from my credit file as I never made credit applications with Virgin Media. Please advise who can help me with this. I was informed that credit file amendment team does not take calls and they are not responding to my emails. The complaints team did not know the rules about the credit searches and referred me back to the credit file amendment team.

The issue is very time sensitive. For two weeks I have been trying to resolve this issue with no success.

Thanks.

[YI2]

Hi John,

Thanks for this. But none of the provisions you provided say anything about HARD credit checks. Legally, hard inquiries cannot occur without customer's permission. I have not given permission for a HARD credit check.

Best,

[That_E90_Guy · Accepted solution]

You are correct, there is no mention of a hard credit check on the details provided. I would assume virgin class hard and soft checks as just 'credit checks'. Your not going to get any further on this forum i fear, its clear their digging their heels in. I would take it to the ombudsman. One person might be able to offer some clarity on the matter @Andrew-G

[YI2]

Thanks, I will explore other fora and consider legal avenues to challenge this. There is no way it is legal for an internet company to conduct a hard credit check without explicit authorisation for a £25 monthly broadband bill where no loan/credit is requested/applied for.

[That_E90_Guy]

I agree, best of luck with getting it resolved. As you have found out, virgin dont like playing by the rules and regulations, and when challenged they retreat and basicly tell you to f off. 

[jamesofmerton]

'This hard search significantly decreased my credit score'

you can ignore that as only you see the meaningless score. banks use their own completely different scoring and methods to decide on mortage/loan criteria.

one hard search wiill make little if no difference in a well managed credit record.

[YI2]

Thanks, but the bank was the one who referred me to this hard credit search and acknowledged that I meet all other mortgage/loan criteria. So I do not think your advice is applicable at least in my case.

Even if you are correct in saying that one hard search does not make a difference (which I personally don't think is true), it does not make it ok for a company to conduct hard searches without good reason and without asking for explicit authorisation first. Your comment sounds a lot like victim-blaming: the company messes up, but it is still somehow the fault of the customer.

Also my question is about the authority of Virgin Media to conduct hard searches and the rules around it. I didn't request financial/mortgage advice, for which one would need special training/qualification.

[jamulloa]

Hi, 

Have you solved this problem? I have the same issue where Virgin Mobile ran a hard check on me for a £8 pay monthly SIM only plan. 

They first said it was a mistake on their end and my request showed as an application for credit for a headset, so they cancelled that order and then I was able to complete the order for the SIM only deal, but they will not remove the hard search. I contacted them and this was their reply:

Hello,

Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention.

I'm sorry to hear you are not satisfied with the credit checks carried out at point of sale. Unfortunately, we are not able to remove the credit search that is showing on your credit report, as it shows a true reflection to the credit reference agencies that you have requested and held services at your address.

Our business reports consistently with other telecommunications and utility providers, it's important to us and our customers to make careful considerations when installing and billing for our products and services.

Information that is provided by Equifax states that a soft search is usually conducted when an applicant has requested a quotation for credit, whereas a full credit check is done when you have made a formal application for credit or a company are extending a form of credit to you such as utility providers , telecommunications, and mobile phone companies.

At this point we believe we have acted in line with our expectations to both you as a customer and the credit reference agency .If you do require more information in regard to this please contact the credit reference agencies directly.

Kind regards,

The Virgin Media team

I am hoping to dispute this somehow too

[Natalie_L]

Hi jamulloa, 

Thank you for reaching out to us here on the Community. 

We apologise for any confusion with the original order and do hope this side of things has now been resolved. 

With the credit check, we run these for any order which enters in to a financial agreement. 

If you feel this was not conducted correctly or fairly, you can appeal this with our Credit File Team. This can be done via email on creditfileamendments@virginmedia.co.uk.

You can also raise a dispute directly with Equifax or Experian. 

Thank you, 

[YI2]

Hi, 

I was able to remove the hard search from my credit report, but it took more than a month with a lot of effort from my side and me ultimately losing a mortgage offer because of this hard search that has been wrongfully run by the VM. 

I received a similar template answer at first from the VM. But I had to email and call multiple teams at the VM to make them look at my particular situation (which was very stressful as customer service is atrocious). It was really difficult to get a hold of a person at the VM who understood credit searches--unfortunately there is a lot of incompetence. The VM credit file team does not even have a phone number to call; they are just sending out template emails without looking into individual cases. So I think your strategy should be to make the VM look at your individual case, because from the way you describe they haven't.

Just to note, that in my case, there was no form of credit, as I was paying for my internet in direct debit in advance of receiving any services. I am not sure what kind of contract/service you use, but if you do not use any type of credit, I do not believe they can do a hard search (as you are not making a credit application). I would advise also to contact the credit agency (Equifax or similar) directly (if you haven't already), explain the situation to them and request to remove the hard search. Only when I did that, my case started moving in the right direction. 

I think the VM knows that it is wrong to do hard searches for every customer, but they just do it anyway for all because differentiating between customers is additional work. Instead, they just decided to deal with individual customers who complain about the hard searches (I believe this is a company policy to save money or whatever). But because their customer service service is so terrible (where you sometimes have to stay on the phone for 40 mins just to speak to someone) and there are no physical stores anymore (at least in the UK), not many customers have the time/mental energy to challenge the hard searches. So I think it's a deliberate strategy by the VM: they know that they are not supposed to do hard searches on everyone, but they use the fact that complaining is so difficult, so almost no one would.

Ultimately, I think what they are doing is illegal and more people should complain about this issue. I should also say that some members of the forum who pretend to understand financial markets and credit applications, give wrong advice about hard searches not mattering for lenders. My lender did say that they don't see the credit score, but they see the hard searches and a single hard search can make or break a mortgage application (as a hard search indicates to a lender that a person is desperate for a credit and might be in a difficult financial position). Lenders don't look at who conducted the hard search--they just see a hard search for a credit application and it's a major red flag. I should say that my credit score increased by more than 100 points when the hard search was removed. So don't listen to the commentators who tell you that a single hard credit search doesn't matter--it does. 

Good luck!

P.S. The VM team here on this forum also provided me with wrong advice about credit searches and some members of the team were quite rude. They are using the same template messages I mentioned above. 

[ano0116]

I’ve just had the same signing up for a student contract. It’s massively impacted my credit score and now I can’t apply for credit cards etc to build my score. 
I did not see any warnings about a ‘hard search’ and like you, it’s direct debit not credit. 

Did you get any resolution from your complaint?