Notice to Experian and their reply, help please

[abz_y2k]

Hi

 

I wrote this letter below to experian regarding my credit file they hold.

 

My credit file shows that you are holding personal data about me which is inaccurate and which is in dispute.The entries have been lodged by Natwest bank and 3G Hutchinson.

I am putting you on notice that I intend to complain to the Information Commissioner’s office that you are holding inaccurate data about me. The negative entries on my credit file are damaging to me and the Data Protection Act allows me to seek compensation from both you and the organisation which communicated the data to you through the County Courts and this is also an option which I am considering. I am sure that you are also aware that inaccurate entries about me are defamatory and that it is a new act of defamation each time you publish those entries to any enquirer. I would further suggest that even if an inaccurate data entry carries a dispute marker, it does not prevent the inaccurate data from having a damaging effect and it does not protect you from liability.

I notice that the Defaults Guidance notes issued to Credit Reference Agencies by the Information Commissioner in August 2007 make all of this very clear to you so that there is no doubt that you are aware of your responsibilities.

I expect also that you are aware that being an "innocent disseminator" is no defence either to claims under the Data Protection Act or in defamation.

I understand your procedures well enough to know that you will not immediately remove negative entries from my data file. Nevertheless I require you to do so and your failure to respond to this reasoned and polite warning will be brought to the notice of the Information Commissioner and the courts in due course.

I understand that you may make some enquiries from my bank before taking action but in the meantime I fully expect that you will place an entry on my file that the entry is disputed.

I would be very grateful if you will let me have your full response

Yours faithfully

 

they have replied back with this

Dear Mr Miah

Thank you for your email, which we received on 19 November 2008.

I note your comments and I would advise that we are well aware of our responsibilities and obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

I would like to take this opportunity to explain to you in full the processes we have in place when an individual queries the accuracy of an entry recorded on their credit report.

Under Section 159 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, you have the right to query information on your credit report that you believe to be inaccurate, once you have received a copy of your report.

You may wish to refer to the relevant legislation below that outlines the process we adhere to when dealing with disputed information.

CONSUMER CREDIT ACT 1974

159 Correction of wrong information

(1) Any individual (the ?objector?) given-

(a) information under section 7 of the Data Protection Act 1998 by a credit reference agency, or

(b) information under section 158,

who considers that an entry in his file is incorrect, and that if it is not corrected he is likely to be prejudiced, may give notice to the agency requiring it either to remove the entry from the file or amend it.

(2) Within 28 days after receiving a notice under subsection (1), the agency shall by notice inform the objector that it has-

(a) removed the entry from the file, or

(b) amended the entry, or

© taken no action,

and if the notice states that the agency has amended the entry it shall include a copy of the file so far as it comprises the amended entry.

I also draw your attention to the fourth Data Protection Principle, which states that:

Personal data shall be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date.

Within Schedule 1, Part II (Interpretation of the Data Protection Principles) of the Data Protection Act 1998 it is explained that, as a credit reference agency, we are not considered to have breached the Act by querying the disputed information and adding a Notice of Dispute statement.

7. The fourth principle is not to be regarded as being contravened by reason of any inaccuracy in personal data which accurately record information obtained by the data controller from the data subject or a third party in a case where-

(a) having regard to the purpose or purposes for which the data were obtained and further processed, the data controller has taken reasonable steps to ensure the accuracy of the data, and

(b) if the data subject has notified the data controller of the data subject's view that the data are inaccurate, the data indicate that fact.

Our regulator considers our action to query disputed information with the data provider as taking additional steps to verify the accuracy of the entry and by adding a statement to this effect to your report we are recording your viewpoint that the entry is inaccurate.

In view of this, I am of the opinion that we have acted correctly throughout this matter and in accordance with the relevant legislation. I remind you that under the terms of the Data Protection Act 1998, each lender that supplies us with information is obligated to ensure that the data is accurate and kept up to date.

I hope this explains why we cannot act unilaterally to remove data from your report, especially when the company concerned has confirmed it to be accurate or has not authorised us to make any amendments, as in your case.

Furthermore, as we also have a responsibility to enable lenders to make informed lending decisions, I am sure that you can appreciate why we cannot amend information simply because the individual concerned claims that the data is incorrect.

If we operated in this way, any individual could claim that all the adverse information on their report was inaccurate purely as a means of improving their credit report. This would put our clients at risk by enabling people to potentially obtain finance that otherwise would not be offered to them.

Because of this, if a consumer disputes information on their report we query this with the data provider. The only instances where we would remove information without direct authorisation from the data provider is if a Court Order is provided that specifically states that an entry should be deleted or a ruling is made from a recognised regulatory body.

If you are unhappy with the outcome of the queries that we raised on your behalf, then I suggest that you take up this matter with the Information Commissioner's Office.

Kind regards

Can anyone please what i should do next or reply

many thanks

[42man]

Hi Abz...i'll move this to the credit reference agencies section, where you should get some more comment / advice