Cra Letters Help !!!

[LISAM696969]

Sent Letters To Cra's And Got Reply Saying That Even Though Agreements SEttled And No Longer Any Right To Process My Data Thay Will Not Remove Them From My Files What Now Sent Letter As Detailed On This Site For Removal Of Defaults Etc , Help !!

[dencha]

Hi Lisa

You may be interested in this thread which I found by doing a search in the search box in the tool bar at the top of your thread. I entered Credit Reference Agency and gave me a list of relevant threads.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...ference+Agency

Hope this is what you need.

dencha

[dencha]

Lisa

You may be interested in this as well. Something I have not seen before.

[quote=SurlyBonds;174513]Okay people... you're all looking at lots of paperwork (which is fine), but there's a little nugget of shiny stuff embedded deep within the bowels of the Data Protection Act 1998.

Ladies and Gentlemen, a little known fact about the Data Protection Act and credit reference agencies and automated searches:

You are legally entitled, under Part II, Section 12 (1) of the Data Protection Act to insist that no agency can use your data for automated purposes including... and I quote from the said Act...[drumroll]...

(1) An individual is entitled at any time, by notice in writing to any data controller, to require the data controller to ensure that no decision taken by or on behalf of the data controller which significantly affects that individual is based solely on the processing by automatic means of personal data in respect of which that individual is the data subject for the purpose of evaluating matters relating to him such as, for example, his performance at work, his creditworthiness, his reliability or his conduct. ...[tada...takes deep bow]

Okay, what does it mean in English...
Whilst credit ref agencies can store the data, you (and only you...not them... YOU, the "individual"/data subject/etc) can decide if you want that data to be included in any automated processes which includes the automatic reference transactions that banks and Co. send through for ref checks.

You may, if you so wish, ...(and the agencies can't do diddly-squat about it)... insist that your data is excluded from the automation process, and that it can only be utilised within manual reference purposes... which by the way, none of the agencies have the ability to process.

If you think I'm joking, I've done it for all three of the ref agencies, and they've all had to remove all my data from the automation process because I threatened them with a Court Order if they failed to do so.

So, what happens in reality. Well, maybe try what I did...

1) Send them a recorded delivery letter along these lines...
"Dear Sirs,

This is a formal notice, served under the provisions of Chapter 29 of the Data Protection Act 1998 in requesting that you conform to my demand for a change in the manner in which you hold and process subject data about me.

As you are no doubt aware, Schedule II, Section 12 (1) of the said Act allows all data subjects the right to insist on the removal of any and all data from automated processes in repsect of matters relating to them. I have reproduced that clause for your information, in case you do not have a copy to hand:
[insert clause from above in quotes].

You will note the exact language of the Act, in that such a request may be made in relation to a number of different reference checks "which significantly affects that individual", and the Acts specifically cites

"credit worthiness" as one of those examples.

Recent checks on my file have caused severe complications, and now "significantly affect" my everyday life, and that of my family. An additional point to note is that issues of this nature that adversely affect "normal family life" are in breach of the Human Rights Act.

Therefore, you have seven days from receipt of this letter to remove all such data from your system where it is referenced and processed via automated processes. You will obviously need to transfer it to your manual process system and alert your customers that my data can no longer be searched via an automatic process.

I look forward to receiving your confirmation that the above change has been made to my file at the end of that seven day period.

To that end, I look forward to receiving your confirmation by close of business of ...[date it nine days hence to give them time].

Yours, etc"

I did this to Experian, Equifax and myCallCredit last month. Equifax argued the toss initially, then I issued an N1 Court Form against them, and as soon as they got that they capitulated. By the way, they also had to pay the Court fee.

Of course, they don't actually have anything on their system that can manage a manual intervention on a credit check, so they have to bar all the data from being read.

The other tact is the contractual issue, and this is even easier.

Background, last year I cancelled my contract (after 2 years) with Orange to switch to another telecom. Orange (conveniently) forgot to cancel my contract and tried charging me up to 3 months of additional monthly tariffs.
I refused to pay, Orange got arsey, so I threatened them with a counter if they tried the recovery route, with copies of my letters and the Rec Deliv numbers of my cancellation letters.
A letter from them the next week... "blah, blah, as a gesture of goodwill, we have cancelled the £30 owed...etc.". OWED!!!! I'll give them firkin "owed" - cheeky bar stewards. Anyway, after I calmed down...

I noted about a month later that Orange had put three months of unpaid bills onto my credit files, so I had an "Up to 3 months late" marker on my file which is just about up there with a CCJ or default. I told them to adjust the data, they refused, so I sent the following within letters to Experian, Equifax and MyCallCredit:

"...As to the Orange account staying on my file for six years, you should note that this was not a defaulted account at all. I gave Orange notice to switch to another provider and they didn't process my cancellation in time. I then refused to pay the months after my notice of cancellation. They have now recognised this by asking all the agencies to remove the alledged late payment information..."

The agencies got hold of Orange who then cleared the 1,2 and 3 markers BUT left the account as default/settled.

The agencies all wrote back saying that they could keep such a reference on the file for up to six years.

I then sent the following to all three:

"... As to the Orange account staying on my file for six years, you should note that this was not a defaulted account at all and, even if it was, you are no longer permitted to hold such data on my file.

Upon signing my contract with Orange, I only gave Orange my permission to log my account dealings whilst the contract was in place. If you read the wording of that contract it states quite clearly that I "give permission for Orange to supply credit reference agencies with information relating to the conduct and payment history of my account." I neither agreed to any other purposes, nor did I agree for that clause to include the term "in perpetuity".

Additionally, the contract also states that "this agreement may be cancelled by either party in writing".

That contract is now (very) cancelled (and has been for some time now) and therefore they have no signed mandate or permission to instruct you to retain or store data on me.

Schedule I, Part 1 "The Principles" of the Act states, quite clearly in Clause 5:

"5. Personal data processed for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes."

So, you will kindly remove the entire record, or I will issue a Formal Notice on this matter. If you fail to comply with that Notice, then I will apply for an N1 County Court Order against you, which will result in you accruing Court fees and any other legal expenses and disbursements. This will also lead to a complaint to the Information Commissioners Office as to your suitability to hold a Data Protection licence when you are clearly holding data that is no longer relevant to the account, the account information provider or the data subject, and is being held after a contract has been terminated, by whatever means, whether by default or cancellation."

The entry was removed within two days.

So, my friends, we have a few extra strings to our bow on this front, go spread the gospel...

Good Luck

dencha

[rory32]

Well done dencha!!

[dencha]

Thanks for the tinkle Rory.

I read on another post about getting a copy of the Data Protection Act 1998.

You may be able to find something here.

Data Protection Act 1998

dencha