I had car finance with VWFS,

in 2011 I wanted to sell the car and settle the finance,

I asked for a settlement figure which they provided.

I paid the settlement figure and obtained a letter stating they had no interest in the vehicle.

On Equifax (via clearscore) it shows very oddly that I was a month behind from June 2011 until mid 2012,

I settled with them the day I sold the vehicle.

On Noddle it shows that there was a balance of 13 grand still during that period.

I have raised disputes with both agencies.

If VWFS fail to respond to the agencies do they have to remove the information?

(20 days in and nothing yet from VWFS)

Thanks,

Terry

send a copy of the letter to VWFS

give them 14 days to remove the incorrect markers

else you will escalate your complaint to the ICO

and also seek financial compensation for the damage these markers have caused.

Thank you for your advice, VWFS have replied to Equifax and have simply confirmed the information is correct with no explanation at all

I have replied as you suggested and also sent a copy of the letter/attached it to the dispute on

Noddle have come back and VWFS have given them the same one line reply that the information is correct.

I have also replied as per your advice to them, lets see what they come back with.

I'm going to try and ring VWFS and see how they can justify their claims, there is no way they would write a letter saying they have no financial interest in a vehicle with 13 grand owing on it, grrrrrrr

Just spoken with VWFS, and the finance department who deals with disputes are now off until January!

From the notes she can see I had settled,

they say I cancelled my debit after settling but there was a payment due hence showing a month in arrears,

she can't explain the balance of 13 grand.

Nowhere on their letter did it say I had to make further payments

nor was I advised of such at the time,

they admit they have never written to me about this outstanding amount which was £379 a single payment not 13 grand.

According to the notes they decided to write the amount off in 2012 hence ending the account.

I guess worst case if they amend it 379 looks better than 13 grand

but I feel its a bit unfair as it's their error really.

It seems strange that when you asked for a settlement figure that any outstanding payments would have been included the figure owed.

Of course they may have done that at the time and not been picked up by Accounts.

You could also ask which payment was missing and then ask your bank for the statement for that month to confirm whether you did pay it at the time.

But if you still have the letter stating that you no longer owed any money that should settle things.

I have provided the letter to both equifax and callcredit,

in their e-mails to both agencies VWFS admit that the balance on the account is wrong yet they won't amend it,

I have pointed this out to both that the minimum that should be done is for them to correct the balance and prove that they have ever asked me for that payment,

I think it's a tad unfair that they expect me to be mystic,

I believed at the time that what I was paying was full and final settlement,

they didn't inform me otherwise so that's their mistake surely.

The credit agency says I should go to the financial ombudsman,

I have seen the ICO mentioned on here....which one should I go to?

Many thanks,

Terry

The FOS used to charge £550 back in 2014 to investigate complaints against companies.

I imagine that figure would be higher now.

I shouldn't think that VWS would be stupid enough to argue this case when they are obviously in the wrong so would probably amend your report rather than pay up.

Should they cave in it is up to you to decide whether to push to get compensation for their error and saying you owe £13000 when the figure at most is less than £400 is a big error.

Did you check with your bank to see if they had paid that outstanding amount since if you had that would compound their error.

On the other hand the ICO does deal with data protection and while they don't seem to charge companies for their investigations, they are pretty strong in dishing out fines

Whether they also suggest possible financial compensation I don't know but perhaps the threat of a large fine may be enough for CWS to settle with you.

Perhaps other with more knowledge of both organisations could also advise you.

I am bound to say that I am surprised that VWS have not amended your credit report.

It may be that Noddle are culpable too.

I don't see how they can just take the word of their client in the face of your evidence.

Hi,

My bank didn't make any further payments to them,

it's all a bit odd as finance companies are normally quick to send you a reminder should you be behind,

I have put my complaint to the ICO and fingers crossed something might happen soon.

It would be interesting to know when they entered this data as maybe they have done this long after the event after realising an error by their accounts team.