I've heard back from Grattan who admitted that the defaults had not been registered in a timely manner. They also said that the accounts had been placed on hold but they did not know why, this is why there was a delay in registering them.

They said that they were going to register the defaults with the credit reference agency at the date they should have been.

I had two accounts and one had defaulted the other has shown a perfect payment history on my credit file and never showed a default. They are now wanting to show 2 defaults which is not correct. I have asked them for documentation that shows that the accounts were defaulted.

My response to them is that there is obviously a problem with their administration and that they are unable to honestly say or demonstrate that the accounts are defaulted on the and the actual dates that they have reported. They appear to be making it up as they go.

I'm probably clutching at straws but I've told them to remove the defaults as they are not a truthful reflection or account of our financial relationship or I will complain to the ICO.

Am I living in dreamland?

Absolutely not, how long have you given them to rectify the problem?

Longer than 8 weeks?

If so, send them an LBA giving them a further 7/14 days (your choice, but specify working or calendar days) before you will seek legal advice with

a view to taking legal action against them to rectify your data and claim compensation for defamation. (four figures ££££)

I gave them 14 days and they are still within that time.So straight to court and not the ICO?

Sorry didn't read your post properly. I take your point and will do that.

Yes before taking legal action, complain to the ICO see if they can do anything.

Okay, Grattan's got back to me and said that they would not remove the defaults and were only prepared to correct the dates as they should have been registered on an earlier date.

This is their final response.

I have complained to the ICO but not heard anything back yet.

Yesterday, Lowells wrote denying any wrong doing but said that when they purchased the accounts Grattan removed the defaults to allow Lowell to report in their name.

They said that they've asked Grattan for the CCA etc but had no reply so now they are handing the accounts back to Grattan and removing the defaults. This is good but can Grattan now be even more dificult and reinstate the defaults in their own name again?

Bearing in mind that there was only ever one default and another account which showed as closed on my credit reference files.

If they are not chasing the debt can they still legally report on it?

doubt it

dx

If they are not chasing the debt can they still legally report on it?

Yes because the default exists and must be reported for a period of 6 years pursuant to the ICO guidelines.If its over 6 years old then it should not now be showing.

Cheers.Well let's see what they decide to do

defaults have now been removed.

Excellent DMB, can you clarify how and why they did that?

Was it ICO ordered or did they just remove them?

I complained to Grattan initially who didn't want to know apart from admitting to a clerical error and recording the wrong date of default.

I then complained to Lowell and threatened them with the ICO.

They sent me this:

"Having reviewed our records, it appears our attempts to return the above accounts to Grattan PLC have been rejected and this has resulted in a delay in removing the defaults from your credit file. I can confirm we have now closed both the above accounts on our system and I have arranged for the defaults to be removed within the next 5 days. I apologise for any inconvenience this delay may have caused."

Thanks again for the help.

Well done DMB

Thread title amended to reflect the outcome.

Regards

Andy

No compensation offered, thank them but remind them of the distress their actions have caused and the efforts YOU have had to make to correct THEIR mistakes.