Barclays wont remove default by fraud, even after FOS ruled in my favour

[bigjayce]

in November of 2013 I had friend contacted and asked if I would purchase a computer for them as I am in the trade

and get a better deal,

they transferred the money to my Barclays account,

I checked it was there and logged on to my supplier portal to purchase the PC.

 

After selecting the model my friend wanted I entered my debit card details and was surprised when it was declined!

 

 

I logged back onto the bank app and my account was empty,

I phoned Barclays and asked what had happened and

they said that there was a number of debit card transactions on my account taking all of the money,

I complained and the money was returned to my account and I purchased the PC.

 

A week later I received a letter from Barclays with a form to fill in on whether or not this was fraud,

apparently the money was taken by a Payday loan company I have never dealt with for a loan I never had,

I filled the form in and sent it back.

 

 

A week later the money was again taken from my account.

I contacted Barclays again and they said the Payday company had contacted them

and said that their records were correct and therefore they were entitled to the money

- so Barclays gave them it.

 

I raised a complaint with Barclays and received a case number,

I was told this would be handled and I would receive a reply within 28 days,

 

 

28 days later I received a letter saying it would be another 28 days

and 28 days later another letter saying another 28 days.

 

Eventually Barclays wrote to me and informed me that they had examined the complaint and ruled against me,

 

 

I then contacted the FOS who took the case on,

they contacted the payday loan company and Barclays and found that the loan was taken out

but the address, DOB, full name and various other details were incorrect,

 

 

the Payday loan company had passed these details to Barclays who checked them

and found the details to be incorrect but STILL found in the Payday loan companies favor!

 

At this point I had already changed banks to RBS (no better)

and Barclays had put a default on my credit file as I was overdrawn by the £536 stolen from me.

 

The FOS found in my favor yet Barclays asked for it to be escalated to an Ombudsman who found in my favor

and ordered Barclays to put it right within 30 days,

30 days later Barclays returned the £536 to my account and that was that.

 

This has left me very annoyed that they have gotten away so easily

when I have had to fight for 13 months to get a result,

 

 

is there anything else I can now do?

 

 

Barclays are refusing to remove the credit file information

and don't have to reimburse me for anything.

 

 

They continued to say they were right all this time even when,

by their own admission they knew the details were wrong!

 

Can Anyone advise?

 

Jayce

[BankFodder]

Yes. This is an ideal case for BCOBS and also the Data Protection Act.

 

Have you got a complete paper trail which support your version of events?

 

What did the Ombudsman say about the credit file entry?

Could you reproduce the Ombudsman decision here please.

 

Other than this credit file entry, was your credit record in good health?

[bigjayce]

Hi BankFodder,

 

Yes I have all the letters between Barclays and Myself and Also the FOS and myself, I asked about the credit file after the decision and they are looking into it now but haven't come back to me yet, I was planning on chasing it up tomorrow.

 

My credit file wasn't great but wasn't that bad either, I will scan the decision letter after lunch and post it on here

[Conniff]

You are also entitled to 8% statutory interest for the time they held you money.

[BankFodder]

Did you raise the matter of the credit file entry in your initial complaint to the FOS?

 

How long did the bank have your money?

 

How long has the entry been on your credit file?

 

How has this credit file entry affected you?

[bigjayce]

I didn't raise it on the initial complaint as, at that point I hadn't checked the file for ages,

I used to use experian and equifax but hated paying for them,

then I found out about Noddle and signed up for that, that's when I saw the entry.

 

The money was taken from me in November 2013 and returned in January 2015

 

The entry has been on file since December 2013

 

No matter what I apply for I am turned down so I would say it has had an adverse affect

[BankFodder]

Thank you.

The FOS made no award of interest?

 

Also, you say that your credit record was not in great shape anyway. Might it be said that you would have been turned down for credit anyway? or can you show that this entry has been the element which has made all the difference?

Have you kept records of how many times you have been refused credit and what effect has this had on you?

 

I think that you have a very strong case if you wanted to pursue a small claim.

Their failure to obey your instructions as per cancelling a payment authority - by preferring the instruction of a third party over that of their own client. BCOBS - £100??

Their failure to pay you interest for the period they had your money. This needs to be calculated. Where you in overdraft at that time and if so you need all of the interest back at the overdraft rate on the overdraft figure of £536 - + 8%

Their breach of the DPA by incorrectly recording an entry when it was unwarranted - and also when the matter was in dispute. £100 or much more depending on its effect on you - you need to answer the questions above.

[bigjayce]

I knew I should never have gotten rid of that scanner

 

 

How's that ?

[BankFodder]

Thank you. You can get a good scanner from PCWorld for about £60.

 

It is a shame that the complaint was so limited. You should also complained about their refusal to accept your instruction as a client. It is not the bank's job to act as arbiter in a dispute between a client and another company. the bank is overreaching itself and the FOS should have dealt with this as well.

The FOS should have ordered 8% interest as well and it goes to show how limp wristed and shallow the Office is.

 

You haven't answered my questions as to how it affected yoy and whether it was directly the cause of you being refused credit

[bigjayce]

The problem is I didn't really know what to do next which is why I contacted the FOS in the first place,

I spoke to someone on the phone and then filled out their complaint form outlining the problem

but I suppose I just stuck to the facts I knew and that was that,

hence the reason I am not really happy with the way things turned out even though I got the decision.

 

I am a self employed IT Consultant,

I had a couple of accounts with my suppliers and both of them were withdrawn due to adverse information on my credit file,

 

 

I was actually told this was the case in person from my account manager

- the only thing that had changed was the Barclays information,

this makes taking new work on difficult as I need to pay upfront

which on a £1300 job is more than I would ever have laying around.

 

 

RBS won't give me an overdraft because of adverse information etc yet before the Barclays shambles I didn't have a lot of problems.

[BankFodder]

Well if you are able to substantiate that, I can imagine that you could be looking at £1000 for the credit file.

 

You've been here since 2006 - why didn't you come to us?

[bigjayce]

I asked myself that exact same question today, I actually joined for a different matter and was going through my bookmarks today when I noticed the site and dropped in.

[BankFodder]

A foulweather friend, then.

 

What would you like to do?

If you wanted to start a small claim on the basis that I have suggested above, your chances of success are probably netter than 95%

[slick132]

Hi BigJayce,

 

Have you checked with CIFAS, to see if they are carrying adverse data originating from this matter.

[BankFodder]

Hi BigJayce,

 

Have you checked with CIFAS, to see if they are carrying adverse data originating from this matter.

Good point. You never know

[bigjayce]

Nothing listed on my credit files under CIFAS ??

[BankFodder]

OK - so back to my question at post 13 then

[bigjayce]

I tried to send you a PM but it said your mailbox was full

[BankFodder]

Yes - it usually is - but it is always better to do things on the forum

[bigjayce]

yeah, I just wanted to say things but didn't really want to put them on a public forum where people from Barclays might have read them, nothing really nasty or anything just wanted to say where I was coming from if you catch my drift

[citizenB]

You say that Barclayshark refunded the £536.00. However the Ombudsman said it must refund any associated charges as well - did they remove those from your account leaving it clear ?

[BankFodder]

I wouldn't worry about Barclays seeing anything. If you have a good straightforward straightdealing case then you will win. Simple as that.

[bigjayce]

Yeah all charges were removed, again though it was only them that benefitted from that!

 

Basically I am just annoyed that I had to fight for 13 months to get justice, by their own admission they knew the details were wrong but still ruled against me, reported incorrect details to my credit file which had/and still has an affect on me in both my personal and business life and after 13 months what do I have to show for it - default still registered and an empty account. Please don't get me wrong I am not a greedy person but I just feel that they should have been made to do more than just pay themselves back - if that makes sense?

 

So in answer to your question - I want to make them pay for the hassle they put me though, £500 odd pounds might not be a lot to everyone but it was to me

[BankFodder]

At the beginning of this thread you said that Barclays are insisting that they are in the right. Could you tell us more - and maybe post up what they have written.

[bigjayce]

They said that the loan company told them that I had taken the loan out and never made any payments on it, therefore they had every right to take the money from my account to cover their original loan and interest/charges, Barclays agreed with them and released the money (which wasn't even mine) even though I had sent the form back saying it wasn't authorised by myself, I had no idea who these people were and as far as I was concerned this was fraud.

 

The thing is as well that if I made 4 payments online with my debit card it was stopped until Barclays phoned me and verified the transactions - yet in one go they allowed one company to take £526 in 21 online transactions 20 of £25 and one of £26 and never once thought it odd - or am I missing a point there?