Vulnerability registration service – auto decline advice

[acassx]

Hi everyone, I recently found out that my son who has a bipolar disorder and ADHD has taken out a number of payday loans which he now owes in excess of £1500. He has difficulty managing his finances especially during a manic episode and I believe he took the loans without realising the consequences and with no intention of paying them back. My husband and I have taken over his finances due to his condition and are trying to help him clear his debts to stop his credit rating from getting worse.

We spoke to all of his creditors and whilst some of them were more difficult than others, majority were very understanding and agreed to write off the debt or at least remove all interest and allowed us to pay a smaller amount.

One of our worries is that our son will try to take out more loans when his condition flares up and might get approved. One of his creditors suggested that we register our son on the vulnerability registration service so that anytime my son submits a new loan application this will be flagged in the lender’s system and declined.

Has anyone on here used the vulnerability registration service to add an auto decline flag against their loan applications?

We feel that this could help control our son’s reckless borrowing during his manic episodes and would appreciate any advice!

[ULA]

I have not used it personally but I am aware of the V

ulnerability Registration Service (VRS). The service is still developing so just a couple of things to point out when using the service.
1. Unless your son has authorised you and or your husband to act as a third party on his behalf perhaps under a Power of Attorney then it will need to be your son who registers himself.
2. Only those credit companies that have signed up to the VRS service will actually be able to check the register to see if your son has registered for auto decline status meaning that no financial or related services should be offered to him. Not all lenders have registered for this service so if he did have a manic episode and took out finance with a company not registered with VRS then there would be not check done on his status.

I know that VRS are actively trying to reach out to more financial institutions to sign up for access to the register and thereby check an individual's vulnerability status so over time there should be an increase in lending providers who will make use of this service before lending. The VRS website does have a good FAQ section if there is anything else you need to know.

[slainte caragh]

Ula playing devil's advocate here, if the OP did get POA for their son, and the OP took out a loan without their approval, what would happen?

[Amethyst]

You could also look at CIFAS protection - https://www.cifas.org.uk/services/id...e-registration