Nothing, the Q should not be taken as a negative - anything with a 1or 2 is slightly negative beyond that - 3, 4, 5, 6, 'D' or 'AP' are very negative, especially if they are within the last 3 years.

I would go directly to call credit; They should be able to see that these debt are the same and should dispute it with MBNA to remove their default since the debt has been bought by Link. Ideally you'd want MBNA to admit it never defaulted and that the account was under dispute and should never have been sold on - which means your file would be completely clean - BUT THAT TAKES A LOT OF EFFORT

I fully understand where you're coming from, and the frustration you're receiving must be body crippling and stressfull. It's not alaways fair, but I have recently applied for a credit card and when I read through the terms and conditions it states that by signing this agreement, you consent to all the above terms and that this is our information to share to other CRAs etc. After all it is the Bank's money. If I borrowed my Dad's money, he's entitled to let anyone know that I have just borrowed it, and if I didnt pay him back - then he's allowed to say that too. Banks get a raw deal in things too - they lose millions in unpaid loans and and defaults etc. I hope that you will get this sorted, especially if this is WRONG info - no-one deserves to have incorrect details stored on them.

Well if you get the 30day free trial on-line one with Equfx they'll provide linked address info; so if you supply just your current address you'll see if a lender picks up linked address info too. If you get the postal one - they wont supply info at the linked addresses.

As you will see they have not updated Experian since 30/05/2006 which mean you may have been removed from their monthly supply of data at that time. You will need to contact Experian to dispute this info saying that your file has not been updated by Redcats since 30/05/2006, and you want this to reflect your actual circumstances which is up-to-date and £0.00 balance etc.

To be honest, there's not much of a case there. No.1 The ICO and CRAs although different, act on the same principals. There's thousands of people per day disputing information on their files, some legitimate - some not so much - (just chancing their arms). No.2 It's impossible for the CRA's to hold signed credit agreements for over 600,000,000 records - hence should you need to challenge this information they have agreed with the ICO as per DPA that they will contact the data supplier to validate the information held on their records. Should that company then come back to say it is accurate, the CRA has done its side of the bargain in accordance to the DPA and liabilty then lies on the company. No.3 CRAs can't remove this data unless they have authority from the company supplying this directly. All they are is database who if asked, will challenge this info for you. If you have already disputed your information with CRAs, then your beef lies with the companies who say it's correct and continue to supply it. Plus, in reality if you're disputing a lot of info on your file, then you're not goin to be applying for credit anytime soon; so no-one is goin to see this info anyway.

Don't mind that comment; There's nothing to worry about - paranoia All is above board and if you apply to all 3 CRAs you should be fine; you can also get a free one if you have a debit card on Equifax 30 day free trial as well as Experian.

That's true, As long as you do not apply for any joint accounts, credit cards or loans you will not be associated with him. Even if you took his name, there is still no financial association so when a lender searches his file using opt-in (includes financial associates) you will not be included on this search and only his info will be brought back.

crew74: "I therefore have stopped repaying this debt and informed them of the dispute" I have come across people in this situation, and since you say you were re-paying the debt, this is admission of liability for the debt and you are therefore liable to pay this back. If it has been registered with Equifax or other CRAs as a 'D' Default, then once it's paid in full it'll remain on your file for 6 years from the default date and will continue to have a negitive effect on your file for a number of years. Also by using the card and making payments on it, this is also classed that you agree to the terms of use of the card.

Have you actuall gained any proof that it is the same DCA ? Have you compared the debt on your English credit report ? It is highly unlikely that the debt is the same, especially the amount of work and cost it takes to track someone down in the UK, never mind Canada - then signing a contract with the canadian credit bureau just to register the debt - who was this company, and how much was the debt for ?

The 'S' just states that you have settled the account, the 'Q' means that you have contacted O2 to dispute a charge or to query something for that month's bill. For some reason it looks as if they settled the account, re-activated it and then settled it again 7 months later.

I have been told by an Equifax agent, that they run bi-weekly system updates (every 2 weeks). When this runs, (usually every second Saturday) any information that has passed 6 years will be removed. Plus - if you call them and let them know that it has been passed 6 years, then they can pass it to their data management team and they can remove it within 24hrs.

If you have duplicate accounts with Equifax, Equifax can raised disputes for you to have one of these removed - they can see by the default dates and start dates that there's a large possibility that they are the same. Also quite often they will end in the same last 4 account numbers like what happended to me. I managed to get both of them removed. Paid off RBS (the original defaulted loan) and they never put it back on my file.

They could have been removed if the information is over 6 years old, or if you have moved address since your report you refer, the one you can download from last year, then it me have been added to another format of your address by accident.