Statute Barred letter & credit file inaccuracies

[twinkle1977]

Hi everyone

 

I have written the below statute barred letter for Tesco Finance. I had a loan with them in 2001 and there's been no payment or letters from them since 2003 - until recently.

 

However, my credit files show the debt as being payments missed - see attached:

 

Based on the credit files being inaccurate (i.e. Tesco never actually defaulting the account), could you read my statute barred letter (below) and let me know if it's ok? I added a bit at the bottom that's 'out of the ordinary'

 

Thanks

Twinks

 

The Letter

 

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

 

I would point out that under the Limitation Act 1980 Section 5 “an action founded on simple contract shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued.”

 

I would also point out that the OFT say under their Debt Collection Guidance on statute barred debt that “it is unfair to pursue the debt if the debtor has heard nothing from the creditor during the relevant limitation period”.

 

The last payment of this alleged debt was made over six years ago and no further acknowledgement or payment has been made since that time. Unless you can provide evidence of payment or written contact from us in the relevant period under Section 5 of the Limitation Act, I suggest that you are no longer able to take any court action against myself to recover the alleged amount claimed.

 

The OFT Debt Collection Guidance states further that “continuing to press for payment after a debtor has stated that they will not be paying a debt because it is statute barred could amount to harassment contrary to section 40 (1) of the Administration of Justice Act 1970”.

 

I await your written confirmation that this matter is now closed and that the false information I have noted against my credit files have been removed. Should this not happen then I will be taking the matter further with the Credit reference Agencies about them processing incorrect data and complaining directly the Information Commissioner`s Office re: the incorrect processing of data.

After this, I expect no further contact to be made concerning the above account.

 

I look forward to your reply.

 

Yours faithfully

TESCO PERSONAL FINANCE - CREDIT FILE RECORD.doc

[twinkle1977]

Anyone?

[debt4get]

yep letter seems ok send it off and see what they come back with

[ozzywizard]

Looks good to me too but your asdking for written confirmation for an action to be done, do you not want to give a timescale on this either 28 days or 14 days ?

[Bazooka Boo]

You also need to file a complaint with the CRA's and tell them this information is incorrect, that they have allowed an organisation to search and add date to your Credit file without your knowledge or express permission, and that they must remove it immediately failure to do so, WILL result in legal action and a calim for damages made against them and the company putting incorrect info on your CRF.

 

However if you threaten them with legal action, you MUST carry this out, as if you don't it will only hinder others who do intend to carry out seeking damages.

 

And as a little sweetener, damages for incorrect info on your CRF currently stand at £1000 per incorrect entry.

 

Boo;)

[twinkle1977]

Thanks everyone. So you all agree that it is an incorrect entry in the credit file - those 6 payments late continually for years, instead of a default and no word from the creditor.

 

The last correspondence was sent by me back in December 2003, offering payment but they never responded until now, when I get these statements through from tesco and my experian credit file has lots of pretty red 6's in it...

[twinkle1977]

Boo - do you have any wording I can use in a letter - i'm happy to send it but I always feel a bit unsure if i'm writing the right stuff!

 

Funnily enough, about crf's - I have an entry on my account at present, that was due to drop off last February. Then all of a sudden, last January - the default date changed to a year later and subsequently, the file was left open for another year (due to drop off now end of the month).

 

I complained to Experian and they stated:

 

"Further to our recent correspondence, we have been contacted by Citi and Egg (C6) who have advised us that they are unable to amend/delete the entry in question at the current time.

 

Citi and Egg has requested that you contact them directly on 08451 233 233 regarding this matter. You may wish to include with your correspondence any documentation to support your comments.

 

The following 'Notice of Dispute' will remain on your report for 28 days. It will then be removed, unless we receive further notification from you:

 

"THE CONSUMER HAS DISPUTED THE ACCURACY OF THIS ENTRY AND WE HAVE THEREFORE ASKED THE PROVIDER TO INVESTIGATE IT. GIVEN THAT THIS DATA IS DISPUTED, PLEASE TAKE CARE IF MAKING AN ASSESSMENT OF ANY KIND THAT MAY INCLUDE THIS DATA."

 

Experian is unable to amend this information without the authorisation of the company in question."

 

I had printed out copies of my report where the dates had quite obviously changed.

 

Should I do something more about this also? If so, what should I do?

[twinkle1977]

Bumpity bump for Boo or anyone else that can comment on the CRF part?

[247orbital]

I have similar problems with incorrect default dates and double listings for the same debt on some of my credit files. It seems that writing to the CRA's is useless as all they do is take the word of the DCA/OC.

I have written to the OC in my case but will not be engaging in any contact with any DCA until as such time I know the debt has been assigned to them correctly by which time it will be statue barred. I also will be keeping all records from the CRA's so they can not do the default date swap on me.

From this year if they do I will ask the CRA's to remove the data in 28 days if they don't I will send them a letter before action giving them another 7 days. Then its off to court we go!

Edited February 14, 2010 by 247orbital

[Bazooka Boo]

Pretty much, all you can do is to warn the CRA's that you WILL be seeking damages against them for providing incorrect data on your CRF unless they remove it immediately.

 

But you MUST follow through on your threats of seeking damages against them, or you shouldn't use the threat.

 

Inform the ICO of the CRA's actions and that they are allowing organisations to put incorrect adverse data on your credit file, there is not standard letter template yo use, just put it in your own words, the problem, what you want them to do to rectify it, and what you will do if they don't.

[twinkle1977]

Thanks so much for your help. Yes, I will draft a letter and may need to post it up here for people to check.

 

Appreciate all your comments x