A conviction for a criminal offence does not automatically mean an individual would fail a fit and proper assessment.
The firm would be expected to consider the seriousness of – and circumstances surrounding – the offence, the explanation offered by that person, the relevance of the offence to the proposed role, the passage of time since the offence was committed, and evidence of the individual’s rehabilitation.
A criminal records check is not mandatory for certified persons. Firms that choose to carry out criminal records checks on certified persons must be aware that it is illegal to check or ask for disclosure of spent convictions for certified staff under Rehabilitation of Offenders legislation.
Credit check
A credit check should be undertaken on the individual by your firm.
You may find from the credit check that they are not linked to the address details with which they supplied you – if this is the case, you should ask the individual to supply you with a recent utility bill or bank statement with their name and the appropriate address on it, as evidence that they live there.
Sometimes when credit checks are carried out, an undeclared address can be shown.
If this happens, you should ask the individual if they have been linked to any other properties over the past few years. It does not necessarily have to be a property they owned, it could be one they rented from another person, a buy-to-let or a business address.
Debts
If any references indicate a debt or CCJ on a credit check, you should first ensure this has been disclosed by the applicant within the application form. Once satisfied of this, establish the reason for the debt arising.
Where the debt is not under dispute, you should check a repayment plan is in place, the details and commitments to support this and that all payments are up to date.
The fact that an applicant is, or has been, the subject of a debt does not mean the application cannot progress.
The firm would need to take into account the circumstances behind the debt and ensure the applicant can service all repayments. To confirm, just by holding a debt it does not mean the firm cannot assess the individual as fit and proper.
When an applicant has been made bankrupt, their circumstances should be considered carefully.
In these instances, you should request a more detailed report from the applicant to establish the reasons for this, to determine that this was not brought about as a result of regulated business activities.
