How To Repair Your Credit Report

I was recently asked, “Can a bailiff threaten you with prison if it has been to court” by someone - so to answer that question I posted this blog post to explain better.

So, to answer that question….

A bailiff can only threaten you with prison IF the debt is for council tax or child support payments. If it for ANY other type of debt then you CANNOT be sent to prison for it. This is just another ploy of the bailiff to get you to pay up.

A bailiff cannot send you to prison - the company or person that you owe the debt to can apply to the court for an arrest warrent to be issued but the debt has to be passed back to the company from the bailiff first.

IF an arrest warrent is issued it is normally just a ‘Bail’ warrent which means that should you be stopped by the Police and they check your details, they will see that there is a warrant for your arrest but because it is a ‘Bail’ warrant, it means that the Police will just verify your current address and your details will be passed to the court for them to send you a date for you to appear in court. You will NOT be detained and you WILL be allowed on your way.

If you then fail to attend court on that date then the court will issue a non bail arrest warrant which means you can then be arrested and detained at any Police station until your court appearance.

It is best not to let it reach this situation but it normally does take a while for things to get to this stage which may ‘buy’ you enough time to either pay some of the debt off or come to a payment arrangement.

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Some Pointers for Identity Theft Protection

Learning about identity theft protection is very important today; assuming that this crime just can’t happen to you or that it just isn’t a real threat is like sticking your head in the sand, so to speak. There is no one that is immune to the threat of this type of crime and there are many ways that it can happen. Learning about identity theft protection is important for both home, the office, and while doing any type of business online.

The first step for identity theft protection is to understand how it can happen and to learn about a thief’s favorite or most common methods for committing this crime. As an example, it may seem strange but there are still those who go “dumpster diving” or who root around through the trash or in landfills in order to find papers or anything else with sensitive information. The key to identity theft protection in this type of scenario is to shred all your papers and other sensitive information before you toss them. This includes utility bills, credit card and bank statements, credit card offers, and anything else with numbers and personal information. You may have heard it over and over again that shredding your paperwork is an important step in identity theft protection, but it really can’t be emphasized enough. Shredders are inexpensive and easy to use, so if you don’t have one already it’s time to add it to the shopping list.

Another important part of identity theft protection involves your personal computer and your internet use. Most sites today are encrypted meaning that any information you enter on their site is communicated directly to them and is not visible to anyone else online, but it’s important to be sure that websites you use are actually protected this way. Obviously the larger sites such as eBay and PayPal take extraordinary measures for identity theft protection as would your bank or credit union, but beyond these sites you want to exercise some caution. And if you are getting rid of an old computer or CD-ROMs, be careful of how your sensitive information can be pulled from these. Shred those CDs before you toss them out, and have a computer expert wipe your hard drive clean before you donate or toss that old computer. Deleting files is not enough for identity theft protection as remnants of virtually everything you type on your keyboard can still be found on the hard drive. Whatever you do, don’t just donate your computer or throw it away without first having it scrubbed by an expert.

While nothing can guarantee you absolute identity theft protection, remember that the more difficult you make it for a potential thief the more likely they will be to move on to another target. And just because no one can guarantee you identity theft protection, this doesn’t mean that you should be negligent about your sensitive information or just ignore the threat altogether. Be careful and you’ll be less likely to be a victim.

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Being Careful of Business Identity Theft

Most individuals know of the risk of identity theft, but it’s important for anyone that owns a company or that works in the accounting or human resources department to be aware of the threat of business identity theft. This crime has happened to even some of the largest companies today and can happen to you and your company as well, if you’re not careful. Many of the steps that individuals take to protect themselves are very similar or the same as one can take to avoid business identity theft. Let’s talk about some of these things here.

For one thing, “dumpster divers” or those who root around in the trash or in landfills for paperwork and anything else that might have sensitive information pose a threat of business identity theft. They know to check for dumpsters in the parking lot of buildings for not only paperwork but old computers, CDs, floppy disks, and anything else that might have information they can scour for business account information and so on. The practice of shredding paperwork before it gets thrown away actually started with business identity theft, as it was found out that people were not above picking through trash of businesses, hospitals, doctor’s offices, and so on. Retail stores also needed to protect themselves and began tearing up papers before they got tossed.

Accountants often do the business financials online, and checking information on a regular basis this way is another tool to avoid business identity theft. Individuals are encouraged to check their bank account and credit card balances online as often as possible, and this should be done for businesses as well. It may be more difficult for larger companies, but staying on top of charges, transactions, and everything else is important to avoid business identity theft. It’s also imperative for a business owner to do this himself or herself. You may hire an accountant or someone else you think you can trust but sometimes bad things happen right under an owner’s nose, and this include business identity theft by someone you thought you could trust. It’s imperative that there be more than one person responsible for double-checking these accounts and at least one of those people should be the business owner.

Many companies are also purchasing insurance to protect them from the cost of recovering from business identity theft. An insurance company can’t guarantee that this will never happen to a company but considering the time, effort, and cost of fixing such a problem this type of insurance policy may be a good idea. It can often take hundreds of hours and hundreds of dollars to fix any case of business identity theft, and a good insurance policy can reimburse a business owner from these costs and lost time as well. Usually insurance carriers that provide other types of policies for a business can also provide insurance for business identity theft, and you may also get a discount if you have several policies with one company.

Tags: general // Add Comment »

Some Pointers for Identity Theft Protection

Learning about identity theft protection is very important today; assuming that this crime just can’t happen to you or that it just isn’t a real threat is like sticking your head in the sand, so to speak. There is no one that is immune to the threat of this type of crime and there are many ways that it can happen. Learning about identity theft protection is important for both home, the office, and while doing any type of business online.

The first step for identity theft protection is to understand how it can happen and to learn about a thief’s favorite or most common methods for committing this crime. As an example, it may seem strange but there are still those who go “dumpster diving” or who root around through the trash or in landfills in order to find papers or anything else with sensitive information. The key to identity theft protection in this type of scenario is to shred all your papers and other sensitive information before you toss them. This includes utility bills, credit card and bank statements, credit card offers, and anything else with numbers and personal information. You may have heard it over and over again that shredding your paperwork is an important step in identity theft protection, but it really can’t be emphasized enough. Shredders are inexpensive and easy to use, so if you don’t have one already it’s time to add it to the shopping list.

Another important part of identity theft protection involves your personal computer and your internet use. Most sites today are encrypted meaning that any information you enter on their site is communicated directly to them and is not visible to anyone else online, but it’s important to be sure that websites you use are actually protected this way. Obviously the larger sites such as eBay and PayPal take extraordinary measures for identity theft protection as would your bank or credit union, but beyond these sites you want to exercise some caution. And if you are getting rid of an old computer or CD-ROMs, be careful of how your sensitive information can be pulled from these. Shred those CDs before you toss them out, and have a computer expert wipe your hard drive clean before you donate or toss that old computer. Deleting files is not enough for identity theft protection as remnants of virtually everything you type on your keyboard can still be found on the hard drive. Whatever you do, don’t just donate your computer or throw it away without first having it scrubbed by an expert.

While nothing can guarantee you absolute identity theft protection, remember that the more difficult you make it for a potential thief the more likely they will be to move on to another target. And just because no one can guarantee you identity theft protection, this doesn’t mean that you should be negligent about your sensitive information or just ignore the threat altogether. Be careful and you’ll be less likely to be a victim.

Tags: general // Add Comment »

Some Pointers for Identity Theft Protection

Learning about identity theft protection is very important today; assuming that this crime just can’t happen to you or that it just isn’t a real threat is like sticking your head in the sand, so to speak. There is no one that is immune to the threat of this type of crime and there are many ways that it can happen. Learning about identity theft protection is important for both home, the office, and while doing any type of business online.

The first step for identity theft protection is to understand how it can happen and to learn about a thief’s favorite or most common methods for committing this crime. As an example, it may seem strange but there are still those who go “dumpster diving” or who root around through the trash or in landfills in order to find papers or anything else with sensitive information. The key to identity theft protection in this type of scenario is to shred all your papers and other sensitive information before you toss them. This includes utility bills, credit card and bank statements, credit card offers, and anything else with numbers and personal information. You may have heard it over and over again that shredding your paperwork is an important step in identity theft protection, but it really can’t be emphasized enough. Shredders are inexpensive and easy to use, so if you don’t have one already it’s time to add it to the shopping list.

Another important part of identity theft protection involves your personal computer and your internet use. Most sites today are encrypted meaning that any information you enter on their site is communicated directly to them and is not visible to anyone else online, but it’s important to be sure that websites you use are actually protected this way. Obviously the larger sites such as eBay and PayPal take extraordinary measures for identity theft protection as would your bank or credit union, but beyond these sites you want to exercise some caution. And if you are getting rid of an old computer or CD-ROMs, be careful of how your sensitive information can be pulled from these. Shred those CDs before you toss them out, and have a computer expert wipe your hard drive clean before you donate or toss that old computer. Deleting files is not enough for identity theft protection as remnants of virtually everything you type on your keyboard can still be found on the hard drive. Whatever you do, don’t just donate your computer or throw it away without first having it scrubbed by an expert.

While nothing can guarantee you absolute identity theft protection, remember that the more difficult you make it for a potential thief the more likely they will be to move on to another target. And just because no one can guarantee you identity theft protection, this doesn’t mean that you should be negligent about your sensitive information or just ignore the threat altogether. Be careful and you’ll be less likely to be a victim.

Tags: general // Add Comment »

Some Pointers for Identity Theft Protection

Learning about identity theft protection is very important today; assum