Would you like to clean up your credit file?

[BankFodder]

You should challenge your credit file if:-

 

You were defaulted for bank charges since July 2007

 

or

 

You were defaulted after you began your bank charges complaint

 

We will help you

 

 

 

Firstly you should understand that there is no magic bullet which will force/persuade anyone to clean up your credit file.

 

This forum started a bank charges revolution which caused about £750,000,000 to be returned so far - but believe me, this was a pushover compared to getting charges-related debt removed from credit files.

 

The banks etc would rather cut off their own legs than remove their negative entries from credit files.

 

I am only aware of maybe a dozen or so occasions when it has been successfuly managed.

 

However it should be possible if the bank has broken the terms of its agreement with you in relation to the sharing of your data with third parties.

 

The BBA, of course say that the Banking Code of Practice is a voluntary code. So do the banks.

 

Despite this is it very much part of their sales pitch. Potential customers are meant to notice it and frankly it would be scandalous if they didn’t conduct the banking contract mainly along the lines set out in the code.

 

We think that the appropriate argument is to say that the voluntary nature of the code is that the banks can subscribe to it or not – as they wish. However once they have subscribed to it, then it becomes binding upon them in relation to their customers.

 

Furthermore it is likely that subscribing to a code of conduct and then not abiding by its terms – or by not notifying customers that some terms of the Code won’t apply would be an unfair commercial practice under the new CPUT regs

 

As you all know, charges claims are generally stayed. However the banks are allowed to continue charging. What is more disturbing is that although their customers can’t doing anything to halt the charging; the banks are still free to enter negative entries on their customer’s credit files, to default them etc. The banks are still continuing to pursue recovery of charges by charging orders and repossessions. It is really quite merciless and very inequitable.

 

The current account contract says that the customer agrees to the sharing of information with third parties

 

Para.13.6 of the Banking Code states very clearly the conditions which must exist before personal data will be passed to the CRAs under the contractual permission to share data with third parties:-

 

It appears to create 3 conditions but actually it creates 4.

 

 

1. You must be behind with your payments
   
2. The debt must not be in dispute
   
3. The bank must have given you a formal demand with reasonable time to respond
   
4. Your response must be unacceptable to the bank
   

 

 

 

 

If any of these conditions is not met then it seems to us that the communicating of negative information to the CRAs is unlawful as it is not carried out under the terms of the account contract.

 

The two most likely conditions to be broken are no.s 2 and 3.

 

We hear about these all of the time. An enormous number of people tell us that they receive no notification, default notice, or final demand. They simply discover by accident that their names have been placed upon the credit register.

 

No.3 might be tricky to prove as we expect that the banks don't carry copies on their files - although they should contain a file note that the demand has been sent out.

 

We also hear from an even larger number of our users that the banks go ahead and mark their credit files even though the sum has become subject of a charges claim – even though it has been stayed.

 

Of course, this is very easy to prove where the claimant has begun a complaint or a claim. It also helps a great deal that it is clear that all charges issues since July last year are the subject of dispute as the banks themselves have acknowledged this by asking the OFT for a test case.

 

Would you like to try challenging your negative credit file entries on one or both of these grounds? We think that there is a basis to challenge a credit file entry when the sum was the subject of a charges claim as being breach of the Code and therefore breach of contract - or merely a breach of the code in its own right.

 

It might even be possible to argue that as there is a general dispute as to charges, the banks are prevented by the Code from making any negative credit file entries in relation to charges-related debt during the period of the dispute with the OFT

 

If you feel that this applies to you and you would like to try and challenge your bank's behaviour, post here:- http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...efault-issues/

 

Also, put your Credit Reference Agencies on notice

 

 

If you feel that your circumstances fit the bill the post in this forum and we will see if we can help you to clean up your credit file.

Edited July 21, 2008 by BankFodder

[tr03bor]

Just had this reply, any help?

 

I note your opinions concerning the ongoing OFT test case and your intended complaint to the Information Commissioner.

 

The information held by credit reference agencies only shows the conduct of an account in relation to the original terms and conditions. This has no immediate bearing on whether charges applied to that account by the company concerned are fair or unfair. We are not advising other companies of the charges you may have incurred and we are not aware of that information.

 

Although, an individual may claim charges back from a financial institution this does not mean that the status history of the account is necessarily incorrect. Therefore, if the OFT test case results in penalty charges being adjudged unfair, companies will simply need to alter the balance owed on that account rather than the late payments recorded or default status.

 

In order to have initially incurred a charge you will have breached the terms and conditions of the agreement you held. The status history simply reflects that fact.

 

With regards to the data you have disputed, the Barclays Bank account is marked as settled with no history of late payments. I am therefore uncertain of how you believe this data is inaccurate regardless of the outcome of the OFT test case.

 

You have made reference to our responsibilities with regards to the Default Guidance Note issued by the Information Commissioner. Neither of the accounts you have disputed are marked as defaulted so therefore this guidance does not apply and places no further obligations upon us.

 

If you believe that certain account entries are not a true reflection of how you conducted these accounts I would ask that you please clarify why.

 

I refer you to Section 13 of the Data Protection Act 1998 that relates to claiming compensation in relation to a breach of the Data Protection Act 1998.

 

13. -

 

(1) An individual who suffers damage by reason of any contravention by a data controller of any of the requirements of this Act is entitled to compensation from the data controller for that damage.

 

(2) An individual who suffers distress by reason of any contravention by a data controller of any of the requirements of this Act is entitled to compensation from the data controller for that distress if-

 

(a) the individual also suffers damage by reason of the contravention, or

(b) the contravention relates to the processing of personal data for the special purposes.

 

You will note that an individual is only entitled to compensation if they suffer damage as a result of a breach of the Data Protection Act. A claim for distress can only be made in conjunction with a claim for damage, so therefore if no damages have been incurred a company is not liable to pay compensation for distress.

 

Although you feel that this information is to your detriment, it would be difficult to establish that any specific entry is definitely the cause of any applications for credit being declined.

 

When you make an application for credit several different factors are taken into consideration and a lender is not required to disclose to you the exact criteria applied to a particular application. Credit is also not a given right and the fact you are declined further facilities would not equate to causing you damage and subsequently being able to claim compensation for that decision.

 

With regards to your comments concerning the information being defamatory, it is important to remember that defamation is the communication of a statement that makes a false claim, expressively stated or implied to be factual, that may give a negative image.

 

The information we hold is simply a record of how your account was conducted. You do not appear to be disputing the fact that there were breaches of the contract on your part, but rather the level of the charges applied in respect of these breaches. Therefore there is no evidence, regardless of the outcome of the ongoing court case, that the information we hold makes false claim.

 

All of our clients sign up to strict terms and conditions within their contract stipulating that they must only provide us with information that is compliant with the Data Protection Act 1998.

 

I recommend that you seek professional legal guidance prior to considering any claim. You may wish to consult with our regulator, the Information Commissioner's Office, in order to obtain an unbiased opinion.

[chinbo99]

Hi there,

 

Have just seen this thread and feel that it is pretty relevent to my current situation with my bank, just wondered what anyone thinks I can or cannot do about it.

 

I am currently £113 overdrawn with my bank, I don't have an overdraft of any type, so that being the case, its fairly obvious to see that the whole £113 is made up of bank charges and part bank charges. In fact, its only a real basic account with no credit facility at all so I cannot make myself go overdrawn unless I have bank charges on there.

 

My account has sat like this for some time now. Due to the high number of charges I have had on this account, I put a claim in for them in December 2007, and got the reply about the claim has been noted but the cases are on hold etc, so left it at that. After the ruling a month or so ago, I re-issued the claim with some extra charges attached to it, and received a slightely more detailed letter saying the claim was on hold and detailing more about the decision etc. So again I left it, figuring I'm not going to get anywhere.

 

Yesterday, though, I have received a notice of intended default (ie they are intending to default the account on 18th July if I have not paid the balance off).

 

Now I don't think this is very fair, the charges on the account are clearly in dispute, and according to the last letter they sent me the FOS and FSA have agreed to the claims being put on hold SUBJECT TO CONDITIONS THAT PROTECT THE CONSUMERS RIGHTS.

 

Issuing a default notice against me while the charges are in dispute is clearly not protecting me in anyway.

 

What do you reckon I should do about this?

Any hep would be appreciated!

 

Chinbo99

[Mistermind]

deleted

[Jayd81]

Hi everyone,

 

Im new to this forum, although i have been on the case for some time now. I have already had one 'default' removed from my credit file and i am in the process of having the other removed.

 

Basically i had a Clydsedale account, which fell into default over excessive charges.......a Default was put on my credit file... But as current accounts are not 'credit' accounts there is no necessity to issue a default.

 

i hope that you resolve the issue....

[BLADES65]

My wife's Natwest current account had a balance of £584 Overdrawn, after adding up all the charges they came to £1150 including interest so the overdraft balance was made up wholly of charges.

 

A claim was made to Natwest for the refund of the charges, the usual letter regarding the OFT case was received.

 

Natwest continued adding charges to the account despite being clearly put in dispute in our correspondence.

 

They default notice for £782 and this now appears on the CRA files.

 

We issued a claim in the County Court for £1750 this included costs, and 8 % interest. Also as part of the claim was the removal of the default from CRA files.

 

Of course the case was stayed and now we are waiting for the outcome of the test case.

 

My wife has now had two applications for credit turned down due we believe to the addition of the default to her file.

 

Could this damage be a good reason to have the stay lifted.

 

Thanks

[Mistermind]

deleted

[humbleman]

Couple of years ago, if you had contested a DN with the argument of no CCA or permission together with a S10 notice most creditors would have given in to your requests. BUT lately some of us have tried to be clever in open forum with counter arguments that the CRA's and others can use, enabling them to evade the issue ad making it difficult for us to challenge them

[IR2365]

I sent the letter to experian, and received the following reply today.

Sorry unable to post reply, try again tomorrow

[IR2365]

Hi folks,tried to post this last night but was suffering from hayfever and my eyes were killing me.

 

[Mistermind]

deleted

[nyc_lond10]

Could someone please explain : Is a current account covered by CCA, if so does that include overdraft? If that is the case, I have a default on my current account - could someone explain how a bank could put a default on a non-cca account then...? Thanks

[sytra]

Need all the help i can get!!

3 NW defaults, gotta get them removed

Well need to try and sort these out for my wife, 3 defaults from NW all invalid and along the same lines as in this thread: What makes a default void?

 

1, NW credit card

2, NW current Acc (with overdraft)

3, NW current Acc (without overdraft)

 

the Acc 3 she has been disputing and claiming charges since Nov 07, then on 30/6/08 gets a letter saying we will register a default no less than 28 from date of this letter, then on 8/7/08 they send another letter inc a default notice????????

 

this acc if the charges were refunded would be in credit as it was before they added first charge.

 

As you will see the defaults they send out are completely invalid, so got a fight on my hands now. She has 3 defaults, all with NW.

 

sytra

 

Sytra

[Mistermind]

deleted

[flash]

It would seem that many people (including myself) have been defaulted in circumstances where there was no enforceable CCA in place. Surely, it cannot be possible to default on an unenforceable or non-existant agreement? In the absence of a legally binding agreement how is it possible to breach it? Therefore, should it not be possible to challenge the default on this basis? Probably only through the courts.

 

I know that the ICO do not consider this to be relevant in their view - as far as they are concerned if there is a debt then if you don't pay it back in terms of even a non-existant agreement you deserve to have it recorded on your credit file. They are basing this view on the new 2006 CCA regulations, even though they don't apply to agreements before the inception of the new Act.

 

Is this something that the FOS would have any bearing on?

[Penfold12]

Hi

I need some help, I have just looked over my credit file, and I have found that default have been place on my account.

The first one is by capital one, I made a claim against capital one for unfair charges to that account the limit on this card was 400 pound. Capital one settled out of court by closing my account and sending me a cheque for around an extra 800 pound which I accepted because it was for full amount which I was claiming for (I received a cheque this week) My credit file show a default notice on the account with a status of satisfied. How can I have this notice removed? I have already informed the credit reference agency that this will be challenge but I am unsure of what wording or process is required in order to have these removed.

Secondly I was in the process of reclaiming my charges from Lloyds TSB, overdraft charges, But due to the test case this is on hold, but since I started to reclaim my charges from both parties above they proceeded to place default on my account when I started legal proceeding against them ?

[Chalkitup]

Hi

 

I need some help, I have just looked over my credit file, and I have found that default have been place on my account.

 

The first one is by capital one, I made a claim against capital one for unfair charges to that account the limit on this card was 400 pound. Capital one settled out of court by closing my account and sending me a cheque for around an extra 800 pound which I accepted because it was for full amount which I was claiming for (I received a cheque this week) My credit file show a default notice on the account with a status of satisfied. How can I have this notice removed? I have already informed the credit reference agency that this will be challenge but I am unsure of what wording or process is required in order to have these removed.

 

Secondly I was in the process of reclaiming my charges from Lloyds TSB, overdraft charges, But due to the test case this is on hold, but since I started to reclaim my charges from both parties above they proceeded to place default on my account when I started legal proceeding against them ?

 

Hello Penfold12,

 

You may wish to go here:-

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/data-protection-default-issues/149403-would-you-like-clean.html#post1580664

 

Which is:-

You should challenge your credit file if:-

You were defaulted for bank charges since July 2007

or

You were defaulted after you began your bank charges complaint

We will help you

 

BankFodder started the thread in June 2008.

 

Onwards and Upwards

 

Chalkitup

[omissimo]

Hi,

 

I had two loan agreements with Lloyds (Black Horse) for which I have a penalty charges claim against them in the county court which is currently stayed (and shouldn't be!). In this time Lloyds have passed the debts around several different collection agencies and I've had a big battle to get them to pass the debts back to Lloyds.

 

They are also continusouly marking payment defaults on my credit file, breaking the Banking Code, OFT guide lines and the Administration of Justice Act. I've written to them (recorded) several times now and have been completely ignored. I also haven't received any default notices from them.

 

Today I've been on the phone to The FOS, The banking Code Standards Committee and The OFT. The FOS aren't interested because I already have a claim in the courts and I got pretty much the same response from the others. Really the defaults are a separate issue to the charges claim and they should be doing something about it.

 

There's also multiple defaults relating to the same account, both lloyds and the collection agencies have marked defaults, can they do this?

 

Do I have any legal grounds to threaten more court action or can I add it to the claim I already have against them?

 

If anyone can help me with this it would be great. I've just started my own business and the defaults are preventing me raising finance for it.

[mikeb1]

Hi

I would like help regarding defaulting

I beleive I qualify from steps 2 and 4.

 

help please

[bfg]

hi there

i stumbled on this srting ,my problem is with hfo services .They have been on my case for a while and have put a note on my credit history with equi fax .How do i put a note on it saying that i am contesting their claim? i have a number of other questions but wont bore you with them all.

many thanks bfg

[BankFodder]

mikeb1

bfg

omissimo

BLADES65

 

and others

 

You should start your own thread in this forum and we will try to help you through it

[sarah3473]

Yes I would!!

 

PLease try to help me... do I need to post specific details here or will you get in touch with me.

 

Thanks

 

Edit ...... Removal of personal information

Edited October 15, 2008 by saintly_1
Removal of personal information

[Jamesx81x]

Hi everyone,

 

Im new to this forum, although i have been on the case for some time now. I have already had one 'default' removed from my credit file and i am in the process of having the other removed.

 

Basically i had a Clydsedale account, which fell into default over excessive charges.......a Default was put on my credit file... But as current accounts are not 'credit' accounts there is no necessity to issue a default.

 

i hope that you resolve the issue....

 

Is this right? Can you actually use this argument to have defaults removed in reference to current accounts?

[Guest Alison82]

^^BUMP to above