Hamptons / Lowell - can they get a copy of my Credit File?

[jo5ephedward5]

Hi,

 

Can Hamptons Legal request a copy of my credit file without my permission?

 

I have received a letter from them today that states I owe Lowell Portfolio 1 Ltd £8085.20.

Lowell have written to me on numerous occasions and I have ignored them as I have no idea who I could owe 8K to…I assume like many other debts it was a tenner I owed someone and its escalated…

 

…anyway I’ll deal with the alleged debt in the correct manor should it ever escalate to legal action – what I would like to know is can they obtain a copy of my credit file without me saying they can.

 

The letter says:

 

We refer to previous correspondence and note you have failed to enter into a repayment plan or make realistic arrangements to settle the amount outstanding to our client.

 

We are now going to request a copy of your credit file from Experian the credit reference agency, which will help us decide what form of litigation is best for us to recover monies that are due.

 

If you are a homeowner and the balance warrants it, we could issue legal proceedings against you, if we are granted a judgment we could then apply to the court to enforce the judgment by way of charging order, if you then still persist with non payment we could apply for further enforcement and ask the court to grant an order of sale, if granted this could ultimately mean you losing your home.

 

If you are not a homeowner, we could issue legal proceedings against you. If successful in obtaining a judgment, we could then apply to the court for an enforcement order which could, for instance, take the form of an attachment to your earnings, or instructing a bailiff or sheriff to remove goods from your property.

 

Please note that if we are successful with court action you would incur further costs being added to the outstanding balance in the form of court costs, solicitor’s fees, and interest.

 

You still have the ability to bring this outstanding matter to an amicable conclusion without any of the above happening

 

Please call to arrange repayment

[bigegg]

short answer: yes they will.

 

whether it's lawful or not is another matter.

 

Empty threat, and should attract the usual reply:

CCA, SAR, claim charges back,

tell them to consult

the case Arkell v. Pressdram (1971)

[jo5ephedward5]

that was the conclusion i came too - now who knows if its lawful or not..and if not what can i do about it!?

 

they have found out where i live by doing an address search 10 months ago so they alreay have access to it - its the ordering it to check your other outgoings i'm not keen on!

[ODC]

Unless they can produce a signed agreement from you allowing them to process your data they could be in breach of the Data Protection Act. What is this alleged debt for? Have they told you. Are you sure they have the right person. Its not unknown for these muppets to chase the wrong person.

[jo5ephedward5]

it says Cetelem...after a quick search thiis looks like a sister company oh Haifax [i used to bank with Halifax]

 

IF i owe them anything then it cant be 8K...i've never owed a single company that much money...

[Lula]

then you need to send them the prove it letter

 

I ACKNOWLEDGE NO DEBT TO YOUR COMPANY

 

 

 

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Account no:

 

You have contacted me/us regarding the account with the above reference number, which you claim is owed by myself/ourselves.

 

I/we would point out that I/we have no knowledge of any such debt being owed to (insert company name).

 

I am/we are familiar with the Office of Fair Trading Debt Collection Guidance which states that it unfair to send demands for payment to an individual when it is uncertain that they are the debtor in question.

 

I/we would also point out that the OFT say under the Guidance that it is unfair to pursue third parties for payment when they are not liable. In not ceasing collection activity whilst investigating a reasonably queried or disputed debt you are using deceptive/and or unfair methods.

 

Furthermore ignoring and/or disregarding claims that debts have been settled or are disputed and continuing to make unjustified demands for payment amounts to physical/psychological harassment.

 

I/we would ask that no further contact be made concerning the above account unless you can provide evidence as to my/our liability for the debt in question.

 

I/we await your written confirmation that this matter is now closed. Otherwise I will have no option but to make a complaint to the trading standards department and consider informing the OFT of your actions.

 

I/we look forward to your reply.

 

Yours faithfully

 

 

 

(Your Name) Print do not sign

Never talk to them, sign nothing and dont give them a specimen of your signature

[PGH7447]

If the get a copy of your credit file report them to the information commision

[jo5ephedward5]

I really want to hold off in doing this as i have not aknowledged this debt as far as i know, i know they have been sending letters on and off for 4 years and i have no recollection of what i may have done in terms of responding - i think i was on a DMP years ago and they may have had some tocken payemnst through that.

 

I know its just a request but i don't like them knowing i've aknowledged their correspondance - or does every one conclude the CCA is the route to go? - with that in mind do i sent a CCA to Lowel, Hamptons or Cetelem?

 

When i used to bank with Halifax payments seemed to cease in 2001 with a few DMP payments recived to an old Halifax account up to Novemeber 2002...i can only assume this is when i stopped paying every one so i'm trying to ride it out in the hope it will be Statue Barred.

[PGH7447]

send lulas letter then that will stall them

[jo5ephedward5]

i guess it wont do any harm - just a CCA or is it worth sending a SAR so i can see all the correspondance on the account and see if and when they last had a payemnt voa a DMP [i say that assuming they have had something in the past - i'm not sure i ever had anything with Cetelem, let alone 8K - i did have a loan with Halifax for 3.5K - Halifax say they have no record of this though and i think that was direct with Halifax not Cetelem]

[Belaflat]

I posted this yesterday. took it from Equifax's site.

 

Only lenders who are members of CAIS

can see it, and then only with the

consumer’s permission. They must be

companies who grant credit and must be

registered with the Office of the

Information Commissioner under the

Data Protection Act and be licensed by

the Office of Fair Trading under the

Consumer Credit Act.

Companies who access only public

information do not have to go through such

strict controls, because the information is

publicly available from other sources.

We record all enquiries and ‘footprints’ are

left on the database to allow every search

to be tracked so consumers can see which

organisations have accessed information

about them.

 

So in short, No, Lowells cannot legally request a copy of your file.

[ODC]

i guess it wont do any harm - just a CCA or is it worth sending a S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) so i can see all the correspondance on the account and see if and when they last had a payemnt voa a DMP [i say that assuming they have had something in the past - i'm not sure i ever had anything with Cetelem, let alone 8K - i did have a loan with Halifax for 3.5K - Halifax say they have no record of this though and i think that was direct with Halifax not Cetelem]

Send the prove it letter first of all until they give you more details as to what this is actually about. Sending an SAR to Lowells is a waste of a tenner. Dependant on their response to your prove it letter we will tell you if it is better to CCA Lowells or SAR the OC and claim excessive charges.

[jo5ephedward5]

Well as i'm not sure i owe the OC i think i'll CCA Lowel - afterall they wont have proof if it doesnt exist, and if it does exist at least i will know what, who and where - i can then take it from there ... i'm sure its Statue Barred by now though - as i said when i got into difficulties with other companies i didn't make any payments after Nov 2002...its pretty close to 6 years now.

 

I've done the letter and will obtain a £1 postal order tomorrow, should be posted and recived by the weekend [recorded of course]

[ODC]

Send the prove it letter first to make sure its an account covered by the CCA 1974. It will only cost you the price of a recorded delivery letter

[jo5ephedward5]

sorry - yeah that makes sence...will do this today, is it worth me modifying it to add they cant obtain my credit file as they suggest?

 

afterall surly makeing false claims like they can obtain my credit report is a lie and therfore outside of DCA guidlines - its a bullying tactic i'm not happy with.

Edited September 24, 2008 by jo5ephedward5

[ODC]

you could add this to the letter

 

Dear Cretins,

 

STATUTORY NOTICE UNDER S10 DATA PROTECTION ACT 1998

 

At NO time have I given my written permission for you or your company to process my data

 

Therefore Take Notice that I require that you cease from processing within 7 days of the receipt by you of this notice or else that you do not begin to process any personal data of which I am the subject insofar as that processing involves the communication or passing of personal data of which I am the subject to any third party and insofar as the said data relates wholly or in part to the implementation by you of charges which have been applied to my account in respect of defaults or contractual breaches and where the said charges which have been levied at a rate which is in excess of the administrative costs incurred by you as a consequence of the said defaults or breaches contrary to The Common Law.

 

This Notice is given on the grounds that the processing or continued processing by you of the said data will be likely to affect my credit rating and my reputation and cause substantial damage and/or substantial distress to me and my family members in addition to that which may already have been caused and that as the processing of the said data in the way referred to in this notice would violate the fourth, first and sixth principles of The Data Protection Act 1998 to do so would be unwarranted.

 

 

Failure to remove ALL my data from your databases will result in a formal complaint to the Information Commissioners’ Office.

[jo5ephedward5]

thanks - that ought to do it!

 

they arn't currently processing my data - there is nothing on my credit file - i'm just not happy that they can look at it to see if i've got a house or not...i mean a creditor cant do this can they, they ask permission to do a search, this gives them an overview to allow/decline an account - suppose it goes through they are allowed process my payments each month but they surly can't just pop in and have a look to see what debt i'm in?

 

would i add this on a seperate sheet or in the main body of the one letter?

 

and sorry if i'm acting thick - i used to be all savvy with this stuff but i've been out of the game for a year so to speak

[ODC]

Lowells would need to produce a valid signed Credit Agreement proving you have given EXPLICIT permission for them to process your DATA otherwise IMHO they are breaching the DPA.

[fatbumum]

I have just had a dealing with Lowells, they sent me a letter saying they had brought a debt from 3 phones (£60), an account i had back in 2003/2004. I paid it straight away (like a fool), as I couldn't remember if I did owe 3 anymoney and i had never had any dealings before with a DCA etc, ANYWAY, they performed 2 searches on my credit file and issued a default on the day after taking over the alleged debt. I had received no default notice or corresponsdance asking permission to check my file!!! So, it seems as i gather with the little knowledge that I have, that they are able to do whatever they please..............

[PGH7447]

If you have paid this debt then get the pondlife to remove the default or at least ask for proof that the debt actually existsed

[Bazza66]

Hi All,

 

I sent a "Prove It" Letter to Lowell-Life and 2 months later they wrote back.

 

In a nutshell they included 18 pages of copies of bank statements which showed a final balance of Zero - last transaction was a credit of £813 to make it zero. Lowell say in the covering letter that this was to prepare the account for sale to them and that I now owe them the money and I need to ring them now to sort it - yeah right I'm going to phone them!

 

The bank statements show something that resembles my name but they do not show any address. Is this proof? My thinking is it isnt.

 

Anyone any ideas how to reply to this?

 

Thanks in advance.