Hi there,

I am new to this site but have been lurking in the background for a few days. I pulled my Equifax file this weekend as part of the annual credit cleanse and was suprised to find a CCJ was issued against me in 2011.

I queried the court and found out it was Safeloans who took out the judgment against me. I have never taken out a debt with them and I began the dispute process in August 2012 as I did not recognise the debt on my Experian file.

Safeloans provided some proof that I asked for and it is rather obvious that the person they are pursuing is not me, and I replied that I was not the person they are seeking. I assumed this was the end of the matter as no further communication happened, until I discovered the CCJ this weekend.

I went to Barclays and presented the information that SL has that supposedly links me to the debt. It appears that someone has opened an account in my name and a fraud investigation has been started. The police have also been informed and I passed this information to the SL litigations team. They say that they are investigating this now. So a not-me is out there pretending to be me...

It is rather obvious now that my identity was used to open an account with Barclays, and the person who opened the account took out a loan from this company. Since the person defaulted on the loan a CCJ was issued and somehow that has been tied to me (because they used my previous address). I am certain this will be sorted out once the investigations are completed. However, I have been carrying a damaged credit file for quite some time with the CCJ on there.

Is there any recourse to compensation for the damage done to my file and the now many hours I have spent clearing up this mess? I have been turned down for credit products and it has affected my day to day banking, all whilst I was unaware of what was happening! I also have suffered from quite a bit of distress from this ordeal.

The lady I spoke with at their office has been polite and friendly (like me - win more flies with sugar as they say), but I do feel that some compensation would be due. Had they verified the identity of the borrower, this whole fiasco would not have occurred and my credit would not have been hurt. The only verification that ties me to the debt is a Experian Bank Wizard printout with account numbers and a birth date different to me, but everything else matched. So even that doesn't tie the debt to me, yet they have proceeded with the CCJ in my absence.

I am unsure what to do at this point, and I assume I will have to wait for the investigations to be completed. Anyone have any advice about compensation for my troubles - this company seems to really take the mickey out of people so I only think it is fair that they should also be punished in kind for their mistakes.

Thanks for the help in advance!

Russell

Hi russ and a warm welcome to CAG.

First you must set a side by making an application to the court that issued the judgment. Use(N244) Application Notice...there is a fee of £45 without an hearing or £80 with.You can reclaim the costs once you have exposed these Muppets who issue CCJs like confetti and are known for issuing CCJ against mistaken identities.(because their vetting and approving systems are so lax)

The court will inform them you have made application and invite a response...at this point they should withdraw the claim...but dont forget your costs.

Compensation and damages are another matter which you may wish to consider as a separate issue.

Regards

Andy