The following news article featured on SCOOP today: http://www.publicsectorexecutive.com/Public-Sector-News/london-council-to-launch-ethical-debt-collection-for-residents?dorewrite=false/Page-1749 https://www.scoop.it/t/lacef-news

Hello, I am looking for some advice. I applied for a mortgage in December after receiving a Decision in Principle earlier this year. I was disappointed for the application to be declined based on my credit file. I got a copy and noticed that a default from 2012 with Motormile had been moved to 2016, which is likely to be why the mortgage was declined as other than that my credit file is clear. I contacted Motormile who admitted to their administration error and said they would update my file in 4 weeks. After 4 weeks it wasn't updated so I chased again and they confirmed it would be done within 2 weeks. After 6 weeks it was finally updated. 2 days later I was about to submit my mortgage application again, went on to quickly check my credit report again and noticed the default has been updated again with a 2016 date! While all of this has been going on the seller has been getting quite upset (rightly so) and at this stage it looks like the house purchase will fall through because I can't secure the mortgage. I know if this default is updated I will get the mortgage though. does anyone have any advice on getting Motormile to fix this again and update the CRA's immediately, is it even possible? I have reported it to the ICO but I don't have time to wait on them investigating. Previously I raised notices of correction with the CRA's but they all came back to say they were not updating their records, even though I have correspondence from Motormile saying the date on my credit file is incorrect. Thanks in advance!

Hi all, I need your help I find myself in a weird situation where I recently checked my credit file to find that BT had registered two bits of information all relating to the same account number with Equifax but the weird bit is they Show confliction one entry shows an account with a different 4 digits ending and the other shows another account with a different four digit ending both relating to the exact same debt hope I haven't confused yous yet. I recently contacted bt and they told me this was as a result of a bill incurred when I left bt for bt vision bt broadband and phone. When I discussed this with bt I disputed the legitimacy of the sale of bt vision to me at the time as I asked them if I needed to have freeview to be able to watch pause and record live tv they said at the time of sale no but to my shock and horror I did need it but we could not get freeview at the time so I felt I should not be held responsible for this contract as bt had miss sold me a product I would not have other wise bought after all why by something you cannot use? Bt said they did not accept this and when I told them at the time they had refused to take this back they stated they could not find any proof of this and that there evidence at best was sketchy I told them this was having an adverse affect on my mental health and causing a great deal of distress to me due to this issue and quoted them chapter and verse of Scottish contract law and miss representation which may lead to a consumer entering in to a contract they would not other wise do so and the consequences and what Scots law said from the stair memorial encyclopedia after some debate they agreed to write off this debt but failed to agree to remove two account entries from my debt stating it had nothing to do with miss selling and was instead on grounds of my mental health. When I first contacted bt I gave them the account number for the account which had been defaulted and they told me they could not find such an account and when I gave them the account number for the one which showed as settled they told me this was in fact the correct account they then stated that the account had been passed on to the debt collection agency and that as far as they where concerned was settled but that bt had registered a default on the 17/03/2010 but despite the fact that there own customer service agent states say for example account 1234 was the correct account the only default I can find is registered on a different account number say 4321. Now bt have refused to remove the two accounts what I would like to know is did bt breach the data protection act by Giving this debt two separate conflicting entries under two separate account numbers when in fact it relates to one account in this case say 1234 and by their own admission they where unable to find any such account ending 4321 is this a breach of the DPA? The reason I ask is there are two separate accounts with conflicting information on my credit file pulling down my credit rating and it seems like to me bt deliberately is attempting to miss lead people by giving these accounts two separate account numbers when in fact they all relate to the same account which according to their agent is supposed to be account 1234. I feel like they may have broken the rules possibly even the law but legally where do I stand can i insist this is sorted in to one account number instead of two or that this is removed as it is in violation of the DPA or what? I must say I find it highly suspicious as to why they would give it two separate account numbers for the same debt and also strange why they would have the two separate account numbers show conflicting evidence can someone help me here please I am confused as to how to approach this one a nd why bt feels the need to give the one debt two different account numbers? I hope yous can see why I am seeking your help on this one as I find it really strange in relation to posting two separate entries on my credit file with equifax stating conflicting info for the same debt. Robert

Hi Folks. My wife and I both declared ourselves bankrupt in Dec 2009 in the face of insurmountable financial problems arising from the credit crunch and subsequent downturn. My wife has an IPA in place which should expire in early 2013. I was not given an IPA as I have insufficient earnings. Although I am self-employed and earn very little, my wife is a senior teacher and earns >£50k. She would like a credit card with a low limit just to be able to charge things then repay the card in full each month. It's very difficult to hire a car abroad with a debit card, for instance - she has found one firm that will do it, but they will take a €600 deposit from her debit card when she collects the car. If she'd had a credit card it would just be a case of taking the card details. So that's a lot of money tied up in the deposit that cannot be used for the holiday - or anything else- and there's the risk of spurious charges being made to it on returning the car. Even the very bottom end of the credit card market won't touch her - I don't even bother asking. I know our credit files look a mess because we recently had them all sent to us. As a result we posted notices of correction on all of them to explain our circumstances. We also wrote to all creditors asking them to mark our accounts as 'satisfied' wef the date of our discharge, June 2010. We asked them to confirm that this had been done. Some replied and said they had done so. One, a former secured lender, said they could only mark the account as partially satisfied as they hadn't got all their money back and some (including some big names) have not replied at all. Since our bankruptcy we haven't missed a payment on any service from utilities, rent etc. In fact before we were made bankrupt our records were squeaky clean for years, but this seems to count for nothing, as do the notices of correction. So I'd like to ask: 1. Where is it set in stone that credit records are kept for six years? I cannot see what useful purpose it serves, as by keeping bankrupts and thousands of others in purgatory it effectively removes them as contributing consumers, which must have an impact on the economic recovery, especially the housing market. I wrote in this vein to Vince Cable but was effectively fobbed off with the reply that it was up to the finance industry to decide to whom they wished to lend money. We are in our mid-50s and having lost our home will probably not be eligible for mortgage finance until 2015, by which time we will be too old to be able to afford the repay a mortgage before retirement (ha ha - what retirement?). 2. Where can we get impartial advice that will include looking at our credit files to check that all entries are legitimate and fair? 3. Should we have the notices of correction removed from our credit files as they don't seem to be doing any good? 4. Is anyone running a campaign to get the law changed so that credit file entries are removed in a more sensible time-frame - say three years, rather than six? 5. Why do credit files not contain positive information from utilities, local authorities, insurers, landlords etc so lenders can see that you are currently up to date with all accounts? They only seem to contain bad news. 6. The credit reference agencies insist they are just impartial recorders of information and that there is no such thing as credit blacklists, but plainly this is not true as a) they can give you a credit score and b) if your credit file looks bad then blacklisted you definitely are, because all lenders use the agencies and base their decisions on the information they hold and your credit scores. Thoughts, suggestions gratefully received. Thanks very much for reading this lengthy post.