Oh I will!!! Just on the move at the minute but at sone stage over the weekend I will post a diary of events which I hope others will find helpful. There are a couple of private messages which I will do first but when all said donkey you have been most helpful and I can't thank you enough!!!

Well today I checked my file and found that it had GONE!!! Barclaycard write me a letter advising that they had told HFO to delete the eatery and it should be done soon... OK the guy on the phone said a few days but I'm so happy it has gone I can't believe it.

Well... 1 reminder and 1 broken promise later I am still waiting from my promise from the "directors office". I will be given him another call tomorrow but as soon as everything is done I will post what's been going on. Not as clear cut as first promised!!!!! VERY annoyed!!!

Very very very professional and decent response. Spoke sense and very to the point, there is something going to happen but I won’t post that until all is said and done.

Absolutely AMAZED!!!! Sent an email to Barclaycard CEO yesterday at 16:00, this morning 9:36 I have a missed call and a voicemail from the director’s office. Time to call him back now me think... I’ll let you know

OK I have dusted myself off and stopped sulking a little and have now decided to go at this in 4 different ways. 1. I am going to send a letter of complaint (again) to HFO informing them of all of my actions 2. Send a letter explaining the whole situation to Barlaycard CEO and explain that I will if needed go to court and claim damages 3. Continue to push the CRA on this 4. Send a letter to the ICO asking them to investigate I am still absolutely fuming about this and hope my new 4 pronged attack will bring me the resolution I need.

I am absolutly stuck and frustrated now!!! We (my partner and I) would like to buy our first house, we have had the funds in place for over a year now but I will not be able to get a mortgage with this set of lies on my file. HFO have ignored my complaints, requests and have arsed set me an application form with NO correct terms on it. They ARE harming our lives now with no agreement in hand, where can I go and how the hell can people get away with this????? It's just wrong it stinks and I don't know what to do!!! I'm so so angry and don't know where to turn, would a solicitor be able to help with this?

Donkey thank you ever so much for that... I guess the complaints procedure is my next point of action. All my communication has been sent recorded delivery and I have kept absolutely everything so I am fully armed and ready for this fight. It just seems so unfair that after months and months of ignoring me they have another get out on this. The sad thing is we are ready to buy a house, have the deposit and house prices around us are looking pretty good at the minute but HFO are the ONLY thing stopping us from getting on with our lives. I feel trapped by them and I honestly do not know why!!!! I am now thinking that my next point of argument should be a letter of complaint accompanied with all communication and a request for their full complaints procedure breakdown OR should I try and obtain the complaints procedure first?

I'm back off holiday and after checking my credit file instantly became angered as a perfect credit history is been hammered by the idiots that are HFO. They updated the file last week and have advised the cra that all the details are correct... I know have no more options left, I have to take them to court... I have tried everything but!! I have recieved a 2 responses to 9 letters asking for a copy of the agreement in which I have been sent an application form with NO terms in place. Has anybody any advice or link to a similar situation to me? I have looked through the forum and cannot find anybody who has been on the offensive.

Guys I'm really stuck now is there any advice anyone could give me here?

OK I think I am going to have to get some reading up done as it looks like we will be going to court over this. On Saturday I received a letter stating that this is the second time they have responded to my request and I should find enclosed a copy of my application from. Attached was the form that received a couple of months back but still no credit agreement or any other documents to support this "debt". I was amazed that I actually received a response but after months of ignored letters and 2 application forms I honestly have no other options left... This is where I need helps guys.

Things are getting serious... HFO Ref No XXXX I do not acknowledge any debt to your company You now have only 5 working days to prevent further action Dear Sirs, I write with reference my last communication dated 11th June 2009. Although I am very disappointed by your lack of a response and action I am not entirely surprised. Your commitment through out this ordeal has been very unprofessional and true to your reputation of sub standard debt collecting agency who’s grip on reality and documentation is somewhat lacking. Through out my communication with you I have made 5 requests for you to send me a true signed agreement for the alleged account under consumer credit Act 1974 s77/8. These requests have been ignored and I have been left very frustrated even though I know these requests have been received as all of my communication has been sent via recorded delivery. You have now left me with a clear and precise message, you are obviously not willing to follow the law or you legal requirements. I will be pursuing complaints through the governing bodies as an initial step and then I will start legal proceedings to have this “account” removed from your files and credit reference agencies in the absence of agreement as required by law. I will make my final point and your final opportunity very clear – If you do not wish for further action then you have until Friday 10th July to remove all of my details from you system and all of my details from credit reference agencies. If you failure to do so then I will be left with no option than to start legal proceedings. Yours Faithfully,

OK after the initial response we have heard nothing so I have odopted teh default letter to suite and Mrs Rentarded will be sending this first thing in the morning... Hope it's OK! 1st July 2009 ACCOUNT IN DISPUTE A/C No – xxxxxxxxxxx Thank for your letter dated 17th June of which all the contents have been noted. I am particularly grateful that you also spent the time on forwarding 2 links however I must advise that I am not using a 3rd party to address my concerns. I also acknowledge the contents of that communication however remain unsatisfied with the details as this is not what was asked for. You have failed to respond to my legal request for you to supply me a true copy of the original credit agreement for the above account. On 15th June I made a formal request for a true signed agreement for the alleged account under consumer credit Act 1974 s77/8. This was sent via recorded delivery and signed for within your office. You have failed to comply with my request, and as such the account entered default on 29th June 2009. The document that you are obliged to send me is a true copy of the executedagreement that contained all of the prescribed terms, all other required terms and statutory notices and was signed by both your company and myself as defined in section 61(1) of CCA 74 and subsequent Statutory Instruments. If the executed agreement contained any reference to any other document, you are also obliged to send me a copy of that document. As I am sure you are aware the Consumer Credit Act allows 12 working days for a request for a true copy of a credit agreement to be carried out before you enter into a default situation. This limit has expired! As you are no doubt aware section 78(6) states: If the creditor fails to comply with Subsection (1) (a) He is not entitled , while the default continues, to enforce the agreement. Therefore this account has become unenforceable at law. As you have failed to comply with a lawful request for a true, signed copy of the said agreement and other relevant documents mentioned in it, Failed to send a full statement of the account and Failed to provide any of the documentation requested. You will also be aware of the CPUTR 2008 and the OFT's guidelines on debt collection which state under the title Deceptive and/or unfair methods - Examples of unfair practices are as follows - 2.8 (i) - 'Failing to investigate and/or provide details as appropriate, when a debt is queried or disputed, possibly resulting in debtors being wrongly pursued' (k) - 'Not ceasing collection activity whilst investigating a reasonable queried or disputed debt' Consequentially any legal action you pursue will be averred as both UNLAWFUL and VEXATIOUS. Furthermore I shall counterclaim that any such action constitutes unlawful harassment. Please note you may also consider this letter as a statutory notice under section 10 of the Data Protection Act to cease processing any data in relation to this account with immediate effect. This means you must remove all information regarding this account from your own internal records and from my records with any credit reference agencies. Should you refuse to comply, you must within 21 days provide me with a detailed breakdown of your reasoning behind continuing to process my data. It is not sufficient to simply state that you have a ‘legal right’; You must outline your reasoning in this matter and state upon which legislation this reasoning depends. Should you not respond within 14 days I expect that this means you agree to remove all such data. Furthermore you should be aware that a creditor is not permitted to take ANY Action against an account whilst it remains in dispute. The lack of a credit agreement is a very clear dispute and as such the following applies. * You may not demand any payment on the account, nor am I obliged to offer any payment to you. * You may not add further interest or any charges to the account. * You may not pass the account to a third party. * You may not register any information in respect of the account with any credit reference agency. * You may not issue a default notice related to the account. I reserve the right to report your actions to any such regulatory authorities as I see fit. You have 14 days from receiving this letter to contact me with your intentions to resolve this matter which is now a formal complaint. I would appreciate your due diligence in this matter. I look forward to hearing from you in writing. Yours Faithfully,

After obtaining and gaining some great advice from these forums I decided I would see what could be done with Mrs Retarded situation. Mrs Retarded has a credit card with Halifax, she has had this for a few years, always paid on time (as with everything else) and she has never encountered any problems with credit. A few months back she received a letter from Halifax stating that they will be putting her APR up (after some notice period) from 16.9% to 25.9%. She has a few thousand on this balance and has always paid at least double the minimum payment as the card was used mainly as a day to day running expense. Mrs Retarded was also offered a cancellation of the account with the balance to remain as well as the current 16.9% APR until cleared, looking at her options we both agreed that this would be for the best, she is now continuing to pay more than the minimum although the draw of actually having this card has now been withdrawn. I advised her of this site and said that I have received some great help from a very useful forum. So last Friday 12th June we sent the basic CCA request through to Halifax and on Saturday we received a response (I will post up later when I get home). Basically they have sent us through a copy of their terms and conditions, not even a signed application form... They have advised us that they will not be communicating further with the issue as they have met their legal requirements. They also showed concern that Mrs Retarded may be using a 3rd party agency in which we received 2 links to where the OFT has provided warnings against these companies... All in all the letter seems pretty standard although they have supplied absolutely nothing of any personal relevance what so ever. I was going to send this before taking the next action, Dear Halifax, Thank you for your letter dated 18th June 2009 re a/c xxxx. I must confess that I am a little confused with your response, I had hoped that this would be part one of many to address my concerns surrounding the credit agreement however after reading that this is your "only and final communication on this matter" I understand that you may not be sending anything else though. As you are aware we are still within the initial time frame so I will not be taking any further action until this time has elapsed. To clarify what you have send so far is not a credit agreement as required by law. I also appreciate your concern with my use of 3rd party agencies although I can confirm that I am or have never used 3rd part agencies through out this issue. Should you fail to provide me with a true, executed credit agreement with the correct terms within the prescribed time scale I will take further action. I Look forward to your response, Regards, Mrs Retarded Am I right in thinking that once the 12 + 2 days has gone we should issue a "account in dispute" letter to Halifax? Thanks again, this should be an interesting one...

Using another post and editing where appropriate I have come up with this letter that I will be sending to HFO. I am in no doubt that I will end up in court over this and to be honest I am actually looking forward to it!! In the absence of strict proof of an enforceable credit agreement containing prescribed terms as required in Law, I would suggest it in your interest to remove this default immediately. To mark it as settled is unacceptable. I require it's complete removal. This alleged debt is irredeemably unenforceable and should therefore not exist. In view of the shocking lack of communication I now I expect this matter to be dealt with promptly and without question - and for this reason I will expect the complete removal of the default by close of business on Friday 26th June 2009. At 6pm on Friday 26th June, I will purchase and view a copy of my credit reference file from Experian or another reputable Credit Reference Agency and if the default is still present, I will issue a claim against you for costs resulting from the issue of this default and damage to my (previously impeccable) financial reputation. I should not need to explain the situation presented to me as a result of the default although it has caused some considerable loss to my financial situation. If you are in any doubt or intend to refuse this request, then may I please suggest you first study carefully the case of Kpohraror v Woolwich Building Society - Mr Kpohraror sued the bank for damage to reputation following a (wrongly) bounced cheque. The pertinent part of the Court of Appeal judgement was: "The credit rating of individuals is as important for their personal transactions, including mortgages and hire-purchase as well as banking facilities, as it is for those who are engaged in trade, and it is notorious that central registers are now kept. I would have no hesitation in holding that what is in effect a presumption of some damage arises in every case, in so far as this is a presumption of fact." For the avoidance of doubt, if my request is not executed to my satisfaction by the time I purchase a copy of my record on 26th June 2009, a further notice pursuant to s.78(1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and Data Protection Act 1998 will be issued to you without hesitation. I please ask that you be in NO DOUBT as to my resolve in this matter, after having 'financial doors' quite literally slammed in my face for the last year as a result of your actions. Best Regards

Well it really is amazing that HFO has responded so quickly to Experians request but I am still left high and dry... Just taken back by this response. Further to our recent correspondence, I have been contacted by HFO Services Ltd (C8). They have confirmed that the details we hold are accurate and have requested that we retain the information on our database. Unfortunately I am unable to amend this information without the authorisation of the company in question. The 'Notice of Dispute' will remain on your report for 28 days. It will then be removed, unless I receive further notification from you: "THE CONSUMER HAS DISPUTED THE ACCURACY OF THIS ENTRY AND WE HAVE THEREFORE ASKED THE PROVIDER TO INVESTIGATE IT. GIVEN THAT THIS DATA IS DISPUTED, PLEASE TAKE CARE IF MAKING AN ASSESSMENT OF ANY KIND THAT MAY INCLUDE THIS DATA." If you have any further queries or wish to discuss this further, may I suggest you contact the company concerned direct at the following address: HFO Services Ltd, Lavender Park Road, West Byfleet, Surrey, KT14 6NP Kind regards Mr Richard Haigh Consumer Services Officer Client Queries Rentarded pondering response!

Just thought I would keep you guys updated and this is the response I have had from Experian... Thank you for your email, which we received on 01 June 2009. In view of your comments about HFO Services Ltd, I am writing to them for you, as I cannot amend your report without their consent. While I investigate your comments, I am adding the following statement to the information you have queried. "THE CONSUMER HAS DISPUTED THE ACCURACY OF THIS ENTRY AND WE HAVE THEREFORE ASKED THE PROVIDER TO INVESTIGATE IT. GIVEN THAT THIS DATA IS DISPUTED, PLEASE TAKE CARE IF MAKING AN ASSESSMENT OF ANY KIND THAT MAY INCLUDE THIS DATA." I will let you know what they say as soon as they reply. Your report will change in the next seven days. Please use this correspondence if you need proof in the meantime. The account information we hold actually belongs to lenders. Only they can amend it or tell us to amend it for them. When companies provide information to credit reference agencies, they do not provide documentation regarding credit agreements. Once we have received further details from HFO Services Ltd, you will be notified immediately. Kind regards Mr Martin C Breslin Consumer Services Officer Experian Interactive

Well done and I do hope many people get to see letters like that... Is there not a way to get them to remove your details completely from there system as they have no agreement to go on, surely they can not legally hold your information "just in case"?. My only concern is that 2 years down the line a letter could drop out of the blue when life seems to be going so well.

Even though she is a big fibber you have to admire the name! She would have got some stick for that at school which I'm sure no doubt made a big impression on her career choice (unpopular kids becomes Police officers etc.)

I have a paid off debt with Lowell that was settled a couple of years ago. The default was registered March 2004 so I only have a few months to wait for it to drop off but I send a letter requesting a true certified copy in the hope that the letter would be opened by a donut who able to get this removed. When I received a response advising that the default notice is to be sent to me (over 3 weeks ago now) it came from a company called "RED" who referenced all previous correspondence. When I did a little searching I found that this group is also Lowell... Why so many names for one company? Is it to scare people into thinking there are so many people chasing them?

Isn't taking a bank to court over charges applied to an account that you were never responsible for a little hypocritical Not that I am a fan of the bank's or anything (far from it) but I often wondered what reaction the banks would get in court if they turned round and said "oh we have no credit agreement therefore the debt is not legit?" Just trying to think of the bigger picture!

OH just a thought (I think I might have read it somewhere a few weeks back now)... Am I right in thinking that HFO have 28 days to respond to a request by the CRA. If they do not respond within 28 days I can force the removal from my file?

I will try the CRA and maybe get a little more aggressive and threatening, they can only say no... cant they?

OK well it will come as no surprise to anyone on here but HFO have not responded to my last letter despite giving them much more than the 14 days allowed in the letter. I have now decided to make this a 2 pronged attack and decided to get the CRA involved... They are the ones who process this data and seem to be getting an easy ride in this. So here is my communication, thoughts and advice please... Letter to HFO Dear Sirs, I do not acknowledge and debt with HFO, Barclaycard or any affiliated company. I write with reference to my previous communication dated ** *** 09 in which I once again requested a copy of the full executed agreement with the prescribed terms in accordance with section 78 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. As with my previous communication I have received what seems to be an application form which does not contain the prescribed terms to make this "debt" legally enforceable. As I am sure you are aware the legally prescribed terms include credit limit, interest rate, payment terms and signature's from all parties this application form includes no prescribed terms what so ever. I have also requested a true certified copy of the default notice currently showing on my credit file. This agreement is simply unenforceable as there is no documentation to support your claims that I owe this money and this "debt" can not be perused. Furthermore you are in clear breach of the Data Protection Act 1998 as you do not have any documentation containing my express written permission to process my personal data in connection this alleged account. Unless you can provide me with documentation in which I gave HFO, Barclaycard of affiliated groups my written permission to process my personal data, I require them/you to cease all use of my personal data, with immediate effect and remove all entries from my credit reference reports. It will not be good enough to assert that I must have signed it – I require clear documentary proof of written permission. I will now allow a further 14 days for you to supply me with this information. Your none response strikes me as not only unprofessional but also brings into the moral concerns for HFO and any affiliated groups. If you are unable to locate my previous communication I will be able to supply you with a proof of delivery from the Royal Mail website although this will not extend your 14 days. In addition to this communication I will also be filing a dispute with the Credit Reference Agencies. At this point this is the only action I will be taking however after 14 days if you have failed once again to supply me with the correct information I will start formal complaints to the Information Commissioner and the Office of Fair Trading Consumer Credit Licence Fitness Department re gross misuse of my personal data and blatant breaches of the consumer credit laws. To simplify my request, I require 1) A signed agreement with the correct prescribed terms 2) A true certified copy of the default notice 3) Any documentation showing my agreement for HFO or any affiliated group to process my personal data When - 14 days Kind Regards, Me Letter to CRA Dear sirs, I writing with reference to a "default" that you have showing on my credit file from HFO on ** ** 2007. I do not acknowledge this "default" and request the removal of this immediately. With reference to section 78 of Consumer Credit Act 1974 I have requested a copy of the executed agreement along with a true certified copy of the default notice. I understand that for you to process my data you must have received this documentation. My complaint with HFO has been ongoing along with my request for information for over 6 months now and still I am to receive this documentation. Furthermore the Data Protection Act 1998 clearly advises that my permission must be given for any company to process my personal data, there has been no documentation supplied that proves that HFO or Barclaycard are legally entitled to process my data. Unless you uncover sufficient documentation to support HFO's claims of a default on the date and for the amount please can you remove this from your records with immediate effect. Regards, Me

I have kept a close eye on my credit file for some time now and 2 things are standing in my way from a perfect credit history one of them is this and the other is HFO who are seemingly making the rules up as they go along (it's on another post). I'll send them a letter asking for them to remove it as they have not supplied me with a default notice as promised a couple of weeks ago. You never know they may just say yes and remove it... I have nothing to lose!