Rising Identity Theft Causing Increased Credit Problems
Research by home insurer LV=, undertaken by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), includes views from over 6,000 adults who were questioned about their experiences in applying for credit cards and other services.
Key findings of the report:
* CEBR analysis based on CIFAS (the UK’s Fraud Prevention Centre) data reveals that there has been an annual 33 per cent increase in identity fraud over the past 8 years (9,000 cases in 1999; 77,500 cases in 2007).
* The CEBR’s research for LV= asked 6,000 adults about their experiences applying for credit cards and other services, and found that 46 per cent had experienced some form of credit problem.
* Of those who had experienced credit problems, 27% blamed mistaken identity or being linked incorrectly to another person, and 29% said they had no idea why they had encountered a problem.
* The full repercussions of being targeted by identity fraudsters include being refused banking services such as a credit card (40%), having to pay legal fees to sort the problem out (8%) and even being denied a mortgage (6%).
* Previous occupants of a property can also cause problems with more than a quarter of people (27%) receiving bills meant for a former resident.
* One in ten (9%) have received a court summons intended for a previous occupier, and 8% have even had bailiffs knocking on their door looking for someone who lived there before.
* The research also reveals that victims of identity fraud face average costs of over £2,100 to clear their name.
John O’Roarke, managing director of LV=, says: “Our research shows that an unfair credit rating is a common problem for many and more worryingly, identity fraud is likely to rise sharply in the coming years.
“That’s why we’ve set up the LV= Identity Fraud Helpline, free to all our home insurance customers, so that anyone who thinks they might have become a victim of identity theft has somewhere to go for help and support.”
Source:http://www.findaproperty.com/displaystory.aspx?edid=00&salerent=0&storyid=23091
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