Overview
This article explains what you should do if an employee disputes the result on their Adverse Credit Check.
You will learn how to:
Review the original application
Understand how Adverse Credit Check results are generated
Identify issues with outdated or incorrect personal details
Encourage the employee to correct their records for accurate results
1. First Step: Review the Application Details
When an employee disputes their check result, you should first review the application form carefully.
Check that all personal details are:
Accurate
Complete
Up to date
You should verify the following fields:
Full name (including any middle names)
Date of birth
Full address history
Postcodes for each address
If any of this information is wrong or incomplete, it can affect the result.
2. How Adverse Credit Check Results Are Generated
Adverse Credit Check results are produced by cross-referencing the applicant’s details with external data sources.
These sources include:
Credit referencing agencies
The electoral roll
National telephone databases
The check uses the personal data you provide (name, date of birth, address history, postcode) to match records in these systems.
If the details do not match, the report may be incomplete or inaccurate.
3. Why Outdated or Incorrect Details Cause Problems
If any of the applicant’s details are:
Incorrect, or
Outdated
then the check may not match the correct records.
Examples include:
The applicant has recently moved house, but their address has not been updated with relevant organisations.
The applicant has changed their name, but has not updated all institutions with their new name.
This is particularly important if the applicant has:
A County Court Judgment (CCJ)
An Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA)
Other public financial records in their name
If these records are still linked to old details, the check may:
Miss relevant information, or
Return mismatched or confusing results.
4. Impact of Data Discrepancies
Discrepancies between:
The details provided on the application, and
The information held in public or commercial databases
can lead to:
Incomplete reports
Mismatched records
Delays in interpreting the results
Potential impact on employment decisions
These issues do not always mean the data is wrong; they may indicate that records are out of sync across different systems.
5. What You Should Encourage the Employee to Do
To improve the reliability of future checks, you should encourage the employee to:
Verify their personal information with all relevant authorities and agencies.
Update their details wherever necessary, especially if they:
Have moved address
Changed their name
Have CCJs, IVAs, or other public financial records
By doing this, the employee helps to ensure that:
Their records are consistent across databases.
Any future checks produce reliable and up-to-date results.
You can let the employee know that accurate, consistent information is essential for a fair and complete Adverse Credit Check outcome.