Reply from Experian ARRGGH!!!

[hme.4x4]

Thank you for your e-mails received 31 July and 4 August 2008, which have been brought to my attention in the Directors' Office.

You have stated that everything contained within your representation is the solemn truth and that your dispute centres on the fact that the contracts in question do not exist. You later state that you are disputing the amount of the defaults.

There is a great deal of confusion across your correspondence and I would suggest that you seek professional legal guidance prior to proceeding with any claim. What I actually said was that I had requested my CCA's under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and had not received them. As such these accounts were in dispute until the said agreements were supplied and obviously if the accounts were in dispute then the amounts of those accounts were in dispute too. What part of that is hard to understand?
With regards to accounts being in dispute it is worth bearing in mind that any dispute with the company concerned would need to be considered valid in the context of the entry.

While you may dispute the amount of the default, this does not render the status history and actual default status of the account incorrect. The fact that you have advised it is the amount of the default that is in dispute suggests that, despite your claims that there is no contract, there has previously been an agreement between you and the companies concerned and there is potentially a debt owed.

We cannot amend or remove information simply because the individual concerned claims that there is a dispute. If we operated in this way, any individual could claim that all the adverse entries on their report were in dispute purely as a means of improving their credit report. This would put our clients at risk by enabling people to potentially obtain finance that otherwise would not be offered to them.

I will query these accounts on your behalf with the companies concerned as per your rights under Section 159 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. In the meantime, I am adding the following statement to your credit report:

"THE CONSUMER HAS DISPUTED THE ACCURACY OF THIS ENTRY AND WE HAVE THEREFORE ASKED THE PROVIDER TO INVESTIGATE IT. EVEN THAT THIS DATA IS DISPUTED, PLEASE TAKE CARE IF MAKING AN ASSESSMENT OF ANY KIND THAT MAY INCLUDE THIS DATA."

Although companies are not obliged to supply us with an actual copy of the agreement you signed, a voice recording or copies of computer records, they will investigate our comments and notify us whether the data provided complies with the relevant legislation and guidance.

The steps we take to substantiate the data we receive are considered reasonable by the Information Commissioner's Office and if you have any concerns regarding this may I suggest you address the matter with them directly.

By querying the disputed information and marking it accordingly, we are fulfilling our legal obligations under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and the Data Protection Act 1998 and are considered to be taking further steps to substantiate the accuracy of the information we hold.

Under the terms of the contracts we hold, the data remains the property of the company who supplies it. We cannot amend or delete entries without a company's direct consent.

Despite any confusion caused, my initial investigations suggest that the companies have responded to your requests despite your assertions to the contrary. As advised previously, it also appears there has been an agreement between you and the companies concerned, which you do not deny. What investigations are these? and out of 8 CCA requests I received two illegible unenforceable microfiche copies, six have not supplied CCA' s at all.

Providing details of how the accounts have been conducted would not be considered enforcement action under the Consumer Credit Act 1974. This is because by supplying us with details of how the accounts were conducted, the companies are not attempting to actually reclaim any money or goods they believe are outstanding.

If you are in dispute with a company over the provision of paperwork this is between you and them and does not necessarily imply that the information they are supplying to us is inaccurate.

The High Court has recently dismissed a case brought by Mr & Mrs Rankine along similar lines to your arguments (Mr & Mrs Rankine v American Express & others) that you may wish to make note of.

You have referenced Section 40(1) of the Administration of Justice Act 1970 as another basis for your claim. I would in turn draw your attention to Section 40(3) of the same Act:

(3) Subsection (1)(a) above does not apply to anything done by a person which is reasonable (and otherwise permissible in law) for the purpose-

(a) of securing the discharge of an obligation due, or believed by him to be due, to himself or to persons for whom he acts, or protecting himself or them from future loss; or
(b) of the enforcement of any liability by legal process.

If Section 40(1) of the Administration of Justice Act 1970 were to be construed in the manner you suggest then it is unlikely that any company would be able to take any action to seek to reclaim monies they are owed. Regardless of this, Experian are not taking any action in respect of any purported debt.

Credit is not a given right and the fact you are declined further facilities as a result of information we hold would not equate to enforcing an agreement or "coercing another person to pay money claimed from the other as a debt due under contract".

I refer you to Section 13 of the Data Protection Act 1998 that relates to claiming compensation in relation to a breach of the Data Protection Act 1998.

13. -

(1) An individual who suffers damage by reason of any contravention by a data controller of any of the requirements of this Act is entitled to compensation from the data controller for that damage.

(2) An individual who suffers distress by reason of any contravention by a data controller of any of the requirements of this Act is entitled to compensation from the data controller for that distress if-

(a) the individual also suffers damage by reason of the contravention, or
(b) the contravention relates to the processing of personal data for the special purposes.

You will note that an individual is only entitled to compensation if they suffer damage as a result of a breach of the Data Protection Act. A claim for distress can only be made in conjunction with a claim for damage, so therefore if no damages have been incurred a company is not liable to pay compensation for distress.

Although you feel that this information is to your detriment, it would be difficult to establish that any specific entry is definitely the cause of any applications for credit being declined. Oh really? with 6 defaults this would not be a reason for me to be declined?

When you make an application for credit several different factors are taken into consideration and a lender is not required to disclose to you the exact criteria applied to a particular application. The fact you are declined further facilities would not equate to causing you damage and subsequently being able to claim compensation for that decision. Except that any application I have made always comes back with the response 'we are sorry but.........our decision has been made is based on information held in your credit reference files'

If you are considering alleging defamation you will need to write to us in accordance with the Pre-Action Protocol. See copy attached.

If you have any further queries, please feel free to contact me directly either by e-mail at lee.hancock@uk.experian.c om, by telephone on 0115 8286485 or by writing to me at the following address:

Directors' Office, Experian Ltd, PO Box 8000, Nottingham, NG80 7WF

Yours sincerely




Mr L J Hancock
Consumer Compliance Executive
Directors' Office




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[Jesteruk]

Cheers for the twits email address.......

Might have to email him to get a default removed - they admit they cant find the CCA paperwork. oppss

good luck!