Thanks for your comments PJ - i think I need to do a bit more research on this. When I get a moment i'll trawl though some of the other CC threads to get a better idea of what to emphasise in the particulars.

Many thanks - just what I needed! Good luck with yours. b8byd

Yeah good luck, and i'm bumping this to the top so someone else can answer your question

I've decided not to respond to their letter at this stage. I've said all I need to say so they are well aware of my position; and they must know that if they pursue me for the debt now they will be commiting an offence. Noteably, the DCA have not contacted me (yet!) - perhaps they know they can't and NatWest threats are empty? Anyway, i'm going to hold off and see what happens...

Yeah exactly - and by saying its their interpretation they are more or less saying its a load of twoddle. But what I want to know is, why do they care? When the going gets tough, why don't they just remove the defaults - surely it makes no difference to them?

Thank you, that's great. Its good to have a legal team behind you as it appears that HFC are quite persistant. Have you thought about why they defend their position on this so strongly? I can't understand why they are risking a complaint from the ICO on something that, as far as I can see, doesn't really effect them...

Hi Mortious I would be really interested to know how you got on with HFC. Here's my thread - I basically exhausted their internal complaints system trying to get my defaults removed (three!), none of which they could substantiate with a 'signed, true' copy - merely templates. http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt/78968-b8byd-hfc-bank-default.html I would now like to forward my complaint to the Information Commissioner, but am interested to know how you got on.......

Sounds like the creditor never got round to applying the default notice, therefore you don't have a default. It may be the missed payments which have caused your credit rating to plummet. Have you checked with the other credit reference agencies (Call Credit and Equifax) to see if there is a default registered with them?

Thanks CB - I already sent that one and this is their response to it. That's why I start my letter by referring them to my previous letter (i.e. your template) because they have completely ignored its contents. So do you think mine is ok to go - its bascially just reiterating what we've already said plus including a S.10 Notice as I would like the default removed? Cheers b8byd

Anyone about tonight with any comments? I'm going to send letter tomorrow

On 11 August we sent the following to Halifax: I am writing further to your letter dated 7 August 2007. You appear to have ignored the contents of my letters dated 9 June and 4 August 2007. I have not yet made a complaint to you about unlawful bank charges. I have simply made a subjectaccess request under the Data Protection Act 1988. If you continue to respond to my request with standard letters which do not relate to my request, I will have no choice but to report you to the Information Commissioner. In my letter dated 4 August I gave you seven days within which to comply with my request. I suggest that you now do so immediately. I look forward to receiving the requested documentation. Talk about banging head against brick wall - this is what we've received today!!! :- Dear b8byd's other half Thank you for your recent letter. As advised in our letter dated 7th August we have asked the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to suspend the normal timetable for dealing with bank charges complaints. [Lord, give me strength!] Until the bank's legal proceedings with the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) are concluded we will not issue or respond to any further communications received from you (or a chosen representative) on this matter. [The only matter we have contacted you about is a legitimate request under the Data Protection Act - i'm sure the Information Commissioner will have something to say about you not responding to our request!! The OFT legal proceedings have NOTHING to do with our request] We can assure you that your complaint [what complaint??] has been registered and will be resolved as quickly as possible once the bank's legal proceedings with the OFT are concluded. We will keep you updated appropriately about the proceedings with the OFT and you can also check the latest position on our website. And then finally, the penultimate paragraph: I have ordered statements for the last 6 years to be sent to you under separate cover. I enclose a copy of our previous letter for your information. [Why? We have clearly received this as our last letter referred to it.] We're not taking any chances on this - the timit limit has long expired so i'm forwarding this to the Information Commissioner until we receive the statements. We look forward to receiving all this gumph again when we finally DO submit our bank charges complaint!!!

I have received a letter from NatWest today, as follows: Thank you for your letter dated 31 July 2007. Our position remains as stated in my letters of 28 June and 30 July 2007. As we have complied with your request under the Consumer Credit Act, your indebtedness on this account remains due and payable and we will be pursuing you for the full repayment. I trust this clarifies matters for you. I've drafted the following - does anyone have any comments / advice / suggestions? I refer to your letter dated 13 August in which you state that you have complied with my request under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (CCA). I further refer you to my letter dated 31 July, the contents of which you appear to have overlooked. I would remind you that the only correspondence I have received in response to my request has been an application form. Contrary to your understanding, an application form does not constitute a true copy of a credit agreement under the CCA. Furthermore, the application form you have provided does not contain all the prescribed terms and is not properly executed by both parties. This debt therefore remains in dispute and I do not acknowledge any debt to your company. As I stated in my aforementioned letter of 31 July, you do not have consent to share my data with credit reference agencies whilst you remain in dispute of my request under the CCA. Therefore, please note that this letter represents a Statutory Notice under Section 10 of the Data Protection Act 1998 (“Data Protection Act”) to cease and desist from processing any data in relation to this account within 21 days of the date of this letter. If you do not comply with this Notice, I will forward my complaint to the Information Commissioner. Furthermore, if you continue to pursue me in relation to the alleged debt, I will not hesitate to report you to the Office of Fair Trading, the Financial Ombudsman and Trading Standards. As you are no doubt aware, any pursuance of this debt whilst you remain in default of my request under the CCA constitutes a criminal offence by your organisation. Yours faithfully I would be grateful for any comments! Thank you

Bumpety bump Just wanted to keep this near the top - somebody must have one that they don't mind sharing

I've filled out a DPA non-compliance complaint form which I found on the Information Commissioner's website. For anyone in a similar situation, here's a link to the form: Complaints about data protection – Information Commissioner’s Office - ICO I'll keep this post updated if & when I get a response.

I've

Ok excellent, keep us posted!

I've got a top notch filing system, and this site is great at keeping me up to date with where I am. Thanks for the advice though - I may need some more if these catalogue claims get a bit tricky!

Dear oh dear... its it absolutely necessary for Halicrap to employ such idiots? As you will know from the above, my partner received a response to his 'complaint about bank charges' after he had merely sent a subject access request. Well, we didn't receive the statements within the 40 days so I just sent a reminder... to which they responded with their brand new standard bank charges complaint response - e.g. that they are awaiting the outcome of the OFT test case before proceeding with our claim. For goodness sake - we have not made a claim yet. We have merely made a lawful request for data under the data protection act to which they have failed to comply with! Don't worry, I'm drafting an EASY TO UNDERSTAND letter to them explaining what they need to do next. Pur-lease!

Thanks CB

Thanks, you too

We sent a subject access request on 28 June, and have today received the following reply from GE Money: Thank you for your letter dated 28 June 2007, regarding your data subject access request. Please accept my apology for the delay in my response. I have carefully noted the comments in your correspondence, however, I must advise that after extensive enquiries, I have been unable to retrieve any transaction history for your Goldsmith account. Due to the amount of time that has elapsed since your account has been used the transaction details have been removed from our system. We have been unable to retrieve any statements from our archives, as they hve not been retained. As a gesture of goodwill please find enclosed your fee of 10.00. I appreciate this does not fully meet with your requirements and apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. This is certainly not our intention and I am sorry we are unable to provide the information you have requested on this occasion. Please accept my sincere apologies once again. If we can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us. Yours sincerely Mark Metcalf Customer Service Manager Does anyone know how to proceed now, as I don't buy their story that they simply don't have the details of this account still? I sent a CCA request earlier this year and they responded by sending a copy of the application form and stating that there are late payments recorded hence the adverse recording on my partner's credit files. Therefore, I know they have details of this account on their system. We also know that my partner's payments were late for a number of months, so there are likely to have been substantial default charges on this before it was settled in 2002/03. Thank you in advance for any advice on how to proceed.

Received a reply from them today almost identical to that I also received from Freemans today, signed by the same person. See http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/other-institutions/109093-b8byd-freemans.html. Once again, i'm sticking to my timescales on this, and am prepared to submit a moneyclaim if necessary. Watch this space........

Letter received from Freemans today.... Further to your letter dated 4th August regarding default fees charged to your Freemans [account X]. As previously stated the OFT did not state that these charges were unlawful, and our payment of [pound]8 was made simply as a gesture of goodwill. Please be advised that any fee charged in respect of a Subject Access Request is not refundable under the 1998 Act. However, in common with the banks, please be advised that we are suspending dealing with this type of claim until the outcome of the High Court decision currently sought by the banks and the OFT. It is my understanding that the courts are also suspending dealing with such claims. I am going to stick to my timescale on this. Mail order companies have not been giving the right to suspend dealing with customer complaints so I will send my LBA in due course and file a moneyclaim if necessary. Wish me luck!

They are so crafty aren't they - false promises in the hope that you will take their word for it so they can stall for more time. I just don't see the point! Good luck