A recent BBC article highlighted new figures from CIFAS, the UK’s fraud prevention agency, which show that more people are lying in applications for loans and credit cards in the hope of covering up a poor credit history…

“Lies on application forms have risen by 13% from 19,239 in the first three months of 2007 to 21,780 in the first quarter of 2008.”

“The most frequent lie, according to CIFAS, was failing to disclose a previous address where the applicant had a poor credit history.”

It’s never a good idea to withhold information, or use misleading information in any application for credit. Not only is it fraud, but providers of financial services share information and any such record would seriously damage your ability to gain credit in the future.

If you are concerned about your credit history then the best thing to do is order a report from one of the major credit agencies, such as Call Credit, and seek advice about how you can improve it. Prevention is always better than cure, but you’ll find plenty of webistes offering tips on steps you can take.

Here are just a few examples: Thisismoney, uSwitch, TimesOnline and MoneySavingExpert.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 1st, 2008 at 9:51 am and is filed under Banks, Budgeting, Credit, General, Responsible borrowing.