Hi All,

New to the CAG and really need some experienced help with my ongoing battle with this company.

I first submitted a Formal Complaint against Opos Limited in January 2016. This went to the Financial Ombudsman after I disagreed with their final response. The adjudicator advised that where Opos Limited is the debt collector and Kapama is the debt owner, he didn't think Opos Limited's collection practices were wrong, but he did advise me to send in a second complaint to Kapama about irresponsible lending.

The original loan was for £100.00, and with charges etc. it ended up at £300.50. This is where things get interesting...

I made a payment to Opos back on the 18th October 2014 for £149.45. When I looked at my credit report on Noddle, the 'Account Default Date' for this Minicredit loan was exactly the same I made a payment to Opos. When the adjudicator questioned them on this, apparently that date was incorrect and Minicredit defaulted me in November 2012. Please bear in mind that I actually took out the Minicredit loan in July 2013 so this definitely isn't correct!

Anyway, to resolve the first complaint we agreed a settlement of £100.00 which I paid in full two days after the adjudicators decision. This was 22nd April 2016. Around the same time I sent the second complaint to Kapama for irresponsible lending.

On receipt of my second complaint, Opos's Compliance Manager sent me an email on the verge of bribery saying that IF I withdrew my second complaint, she would remove the footprint of this loan from my credit file as a way of resolution. I got in touch with the adjudicator at the FOS about what they offered and he said he is personally going to call them and say it's unacceptable.

Their compliance manager said she was going to update my credit file within 28 days since the settlement was received. I check on my credit report at the end of April and there is now new information... Account Default Date is 17th December 2013 with the account showing a balance of £51.45 outstanding? As you can imagine I am now fuming with this. So I phone them, and they make up some sorry excuse that they never received the settlement form (despite having an email from their compliance manager saying the account is settled). When I mentioned court they hung up on me so I emailed them with a furious message.

I haven't been satisfied from the beginning that Minicredit defaulted me in the first place, so now I have opened a case with the Information Commissioners Office which they are investigating.

On Wednesday 15th June 2016, I received a final response to my second complaint. This time they offered to refund around £50.00 as a gesture of goodwill and decided not to uphold my complaint. (I believe this is very weird considering they had already offered to remove the default without looking further into the complaint and have now offered a refund). They also said that they updated my credit file information through Callcredit and that this is not the same as Noddle and the information may not have shown on Noddle as it takes longer to update. I have not accepted this and again have put it in to the FOS. In response to their Final Complaint I asked a series of questions regarding the default, dates and why they have offered me the above but not upheld my complaint. They responded that they will liaise with the FOS and did not answer any of my questions.

Yesterday I decided that I would pay for a subscription to Callcredit (Credit Compass) to see what my file on there shows in regards to this default seeing as this is where they say the updated the information. After looking everywhere for this account, it is NOT on there. Not in settled or outstanding. So I emailed the Compliance Manager again and said that this account is nowhere to be found and yet this is where they supposedly updated the information, and not through Noddle. She emailed me back with a screenshot of her computer with the screen showing my file details with the '£0' balance etc. (I think this could have been a big mistake for them) On that screenshot it shows Account Details 'May 2015 to April 2016'. It also looks like the boxes are available for them to amend themselves! I thought that they notified CRA's to enter personal information like that, I'm not sure if creditors are allowed to do this and are able to amend information freely themselves?

What I really need some advice on is surely if Minicredit defaulted me, it would be a case of a name change on the account on my credit file back in 2013 or whatever date they supposedly defaulted me. Minicredit passed over their accounts in December 2014 and on that screenshot they're showing account details from May 2015!? I have phoned Callcredit and they asked me to send a copy of the default showing on Noddle, as well as copy of that screenshot they sent me. I have also fowarded this on to the ICO and FOS.

I really apologise for the huge essay but I would like to share my story about these companies to you all. I would advise everyone that has had a default from this company to check the dates etc. If anyone can give me some advice I'd really appreciate it as I'm willing to go all the way with this. I've attached the screenshot for all of you to see. I have loads of emails for evidence and the responses so if you need to see them please let me know. I have probably missed a few things out but this is the main part of it all.

Thanks

Hi and welcome to CAG.

First of all, stay off the phone unless you are able to record it. You don't need to tell them they are being recorded.

All companies that use credit reference agencies have access to their systems and this is usually updated automatically once per month.

There is a company called Clearscore that have access to Equifax files except this is free. Noddle uses Callcredit info in their free service.

Rather than paying monthly, I would send a standard request (costs £2) to Experian, Equifax and Callcredit for your statutory report. This would give you all the info needed.

As for Kapama, so long as they remove any trace of this loan and default/late payment markers alongside a genuine offer of compensation then that should put an end to it but by going backwards and forwards through the Ombudsman i just going to confuse matters even more

Hi and welcome to CAG.

 

First of all, stay off the phone unless you are able to record it. Youdon't need to tell them they are being recorded.

 

All companies that use credit reference agencies have access to their systems and this is usually updated automatically once per month.

 

There is a company called Clearscore that have access to Equifax files except this is free. Noddle uses Callcredit info in their free service.

 

Rather than paying monthly, I would send a standard request (costs £2) to Experian, Equifax and Callcredit for your statutory report. This would give you all the info needed.

 

As for Kapama, so long as they remove any trace of this loan and default/late payment markers alongside a genuine offer of compensation then that should put an end to it but by going backwards and forwards through the Ombudsman i just going to confuse matters even more

Hi Silver fox,

The trouble is, Kapama haven't agreed to remove the default or refund interest and charges. They only offered around a £50 refund as a gesture of goodwill as they know that I was using other payday lenders around that time. They haven't accepted liability for irresponsible lending in their Final Response even though they previously offered the removal of the default without looking into the complaint. They're not willing to offer anything else..

Push with the fos. Get it up to ombudsman level not with the silly adjudicators

Push with the fos. Get it up to ombudsman level not with the silly adjudicators

Hi Renegadeimp,

I am trying as hard as possible to get this resolved. I am getting really frustrated with this company as they say one thing one minute and something else the next. These are the questions I asked them after receiving their latest final response:

Why was the default date on my credit file the same date I made a payment to Kapama Limited? (14/10/2014)

Why did you give an adjudicator at the Financial Ombudsman service a date of 01st November 2012 as the default date when questioned on this?

Why have you now changed my credit file to a default date of 17th December 2013?

Was a default notice even served in the first place? If so, please send me proof of this which has come from the original lender.

Why was I offered a removal of this default in a previous email and you have now decided not to uphold my complaint but refund £50 as a gesture of goodwill?

Why was my credit report not updated with accurate information within 28 days? As you stated, you had until the 20th May 2016 to update the information. The only information you updated was that I made a payment and changed the default date. The CRA report shows that you have not updated my file since the 01st April 2016 and it is now 15th June 2016. Any new changes would have shown up on May's report unless you are blaming the CRA now?

Why are you still under the impression that the account is not settled when this has been confirmed by yourself in an email? The default should have shown as settled when you manually*updated the account on the 22nd April 2016?

The response I got was 'I updated your credit file on the 22nd April 2016, please see the screenshot attached. This is the most real-time check I can give you'. And that was pretty much it! I'm not sure if this company is allowed to add the default on my credit file even though Minicredit never did?! The start date on that screenshot says May 2015. Kapama took over the accounts from Minicredit in December 2014. If Minicredit did default me, this would show the account from 2013 with all the details and the name simply changing from Minicredit to Kapama. This is a new entry from May 2015...

Hi All,

I'd also like for everyone to look at the FCA document issued to Minicredit/Microcredit. I can't post the link unfortunately..

In particular look at Sections 6, A & B.

Surely if the account has been added from May 2015 on my credit file on Noddle, this completely goes against what the FCA has said in that document in regards to transferring my account? In Section B it states that Minicredit have to notify Callcredit within 3 days that the debt has been written off and the account is settled. Yet on my Callcredit report there is no mention of them anywhere in the first place?

The more I look into this, the more concerned I'm becoming. I don't believe Kapama have been acting within the law/guidelines at all.

Have you actually been escalated to an ombudmsan in the FOS yet, or are you just going round in circles with the adjudicator and Minimuppets?

Opos, minicredit, kapama are the same company. Ran by the same people. They dont follow the law, which is why you see all the bogus charges added on, plus the silly little games theyre playing now.

Hi Renegadeimp,

As they only submitted their Final Response to me on Wednesday just gone, I was so angry that I only started to get the ball rolling again yesterday. After receiving the screenshot from Kapama, I forwarded it all to the adjudicator at FOS as well as my case officer at the ICO yesterday. The Adjudicator I'm in contact with dealt with my initial complaint with Kapama, and he is also dealing with my complaints against other Payday Lenders.

I'm not sure if I'm able to bypass the adjudicator and ask for this particular complaint to go straight to an Ombudsman?

Tell FOS you want it escalated. SOME adjudicators arent worth dealing with and will just have you run in circles purely because they are either busy or cant be bothered dealing with you.

Escalate it to the ombudsman and provide details info of what has happened. Dont waffle, they want straight forward accurate details.

Also PLEASE make sure you inform the FCA as well. As they are well and truely flouting law and regulation.

I don't think I have an actual Ombudsman's email address, otherwise I would just send all of the emails & correspondence in PDF directly to them. I think emailing the adjudicator and asking him to just forward it to an Ombudsman without an initial decision is probably the best route to get this higher up? Everything they would need including the latest response/emails I have sent to the adjudicator so this should be in my case file..

I will also report them to the FCA. I'm grateful that you have confirmed that what they are doing is unlawful, thank you for your advice. Would it be likely that this is found in my favour? If it's the case that Kapama should never have put the default on there in the first place, they have ultimately been damaging my credit report for over a year!

You tell the adjudicator you want it escalated iirc/

Ok I will send the adjudicator an email and ask for it to be escalated. Will let you know of any responses I receive from the ICO, FOS and FCA when they contact me. Thanks

Hold off a bit. As this is a totally separate complaint to the original one (or is it?) then the process needs to go on first. Only when an adjudicator has offered a resolution that you don't agree with, the Ombudsman will get involved.

Having said all that, if this is a continuation of the first complaint then you can ask for somebody more competent to review it

Hi silverfox,

The first complaint has been closed as it was in regards to Opos collection practices. The second complaint is the one where these latest developments have taken place with regards to irresponsible lending. The adjudicator hasn't seen the final response or the emails yet that I know of for the second complaint. I'm wondering now whether I should put in a third complaint with regards to my credit file even though this has been brought up in their latest final response?

You can update the adjudicator with the latest info and any response from Kapama that the FOS haven't seen as yet. This is normal practice.

With your credit file, this has already been brought up and will likely be addressed when the response comes to you.

OK thanks for the advice. I believe I'm correct in what I am saying and hopefully the FOS agrees. May need more assistance on their decision and my options which you can hopefully help me with. Will wait for the adjudicator to come back to me and let you know their response.

we'll be here to help. Just be aware the FOS does tend to drag their heels. Minicredit/kapama know this as do other creditors which is why they do anything to drag it out hoping you give up.