DCA Checking Credit File

[felixfly]

Hi

 

I have an old Vodafone bill that I dispute and which will not go away. It has been passed from DCA to DCA over the years. I received a letter last week from some legal company which i think is part of RED collections. In this letter they said they are going to obtain a copy of my credit file and see how I could afford to repay the sum owed. i thought this was another bluff but today I received another letter saying they have my file now and are looking into ways in which I may be able to clear the balance.

 

What right do they have to do this? The bill is owed from a contract that was renewed over the phone so I will not have signed anything on renewal. I may have signed initially when I took out the first contract but definately not when I renewed. I dispute it as it was mis sold. Can an alleged debt be passed from DCA to DCA and still give them the power to get my credit file? What kind of proof would Experian etc. ask for from them before releasing it?

[2Grumpy]

They will be relying on any authorisation that you gave vodaphone.

 

I suspect that vodaphone will be relying on either the contract being renewed or a contract agreed to over the phone.

 

Experian will not have asked for any proof before they got the info - they probably have some kind of online access. They won't necessarily have looked at your credit file, they might just be bluffing - wait to see what they say next.

 

In any event, you say that the account is in dispute anyway, so vodaphone shouldn't have passed the account to a debt collector ...

[sillygirl1]

If you change the title to Vodaphone debt being passed around you will get help from the Vodaphone rep we have on this site, or search Lee Vodaphone Rep and you will find him. He is very good at getting issues resolved.

[felixfly]

I already have a thread running and Lee has has looked into this. He was very helpful and even said the price plan they sold me over the phone worked out that I would be paying more when they guy that rang me told me it would save me money. Vodafone however will not wipe off the balance owed and as it has already been sold to a DCA they said there was nothing they could do.

 

My issue here is about them accessing my file. Does the original agreement that would have been a years contract, allow them to still check my file when i renewed over the phone? I dont understand how some DCA can have an automatic link to the CRA's and just be able to view anybodys file without requesting it and sending proof of ownership. Surely this could be abused.

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Hi felixfly,

 

I do recall dealing with your case some time ago and speaking with you about it.

 

Generally speaking when dealing with a customer dispute whereby their charges are brought in question we would usually only offer to adjust the disputed proportion of the owed amount rather than the balance in it's entirety.

 

In regard to the DCA's access to your credit file I'll need to make some enquiries about this and come back to you once I have more information.

 

Kind regards,

 

Lee

 

Web Relations Team

 

Vodafone UK

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