Experian Letter Received Back, Advice Needed

[phil_charman]

Hi there people, I of course are on the same mission as everyone else, i have been trying to get old defaults and settled accounts removed removed.

 

I wrote to Experian:

 

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Experian Limited

Consumer Help Service

PO Box 9000

Nottingham

NG80 7WP

6 November 2006

 

reference no: #########

Dear Sirs,

 

I wish you to remove the following entries from my credit file as they relate to contracts that have either ended or expired. With the ending of each of these contracts, so does my permission for my data to be processed. There was no section within the Terms & Conditions of the civil contract I entered into that contained any right or perceived right that the supplier would continue to process my data following the ending of our contract.

 

Quote from Experian Consumer Compliance Executive on 6th September 2006

 

“I can also confirm that as far as we are aware there is no specific piece of documentation or legislation that provides us with the right to retain your information for six years from the date an account is settled.

 

It was agreed throughout the credit industry that six years is considered a reasonable amount of time for account data to be retained from the point that an account is settled in accordance with the 5th Data Protection Principle.

 

This information would only be retained with your consent as per the terms and conditions of the particular account you held.”

 

Therefore please remove from my credit file all entries listed below for the reasons identified above:

 

C1: Lloyds TSB Bank Plc: Satisfied – please remove this entry as my contract with Lloyds TSB bank Plc has ended and so has my permission for them to share my data with you. There is no public information associated with this account such as CCJs, Bankruptcy orders etc.

 

C2: Lloyds TSB Bank Plc: Settled 06/05/06 - please remove this entry as my contract with Lloyds TSB bank Plc has ended and so has my permission for them to share my data with you. There is no public information associated with this account such as CCJs, Bankruptcy orders etc.

 

C5: Citifinancial : Settled 18/10/06 - please remove this entry as my contract with Citifinancial has ended and so has my permission for them to share my data with you. There is no public information associated with this account such as CCJs, Bankruptcy orders etc.

 

C6: Citifinancial: Settled 18/10/06 - please remove this entry as my contract with Citifinancial has ended and so has my permission for them to share my data with you. There is no public information associated with this account such as CCJs, Bankruptcy orders etc.

 

C7: Citifinancial: Settled 30/01/06: please remove this entry as my contract with Citifinancial has ended and so has my permission for them to share my data with you. There is no public information associated with this account such as CCJs, Bankruptcy orders etc.

 

C8: Citifinancial: Settled 08/08/06: please remove this entry as my contract with Citifinancial has ended and so has my permission for them to share my data with you. There is no public information associated with this account such as CCJs, Bankruptcy orders etc.

 

C10: Barclays Bank Plc – Satisfied: please remove this entry as my contract with Barclays Bank Plc has ended and so has my permission for them to share my data with you. There is no public information associated with this account such as CCJs, Bankruptcy orders etc.

C13: C L Finance Limited – Satisfied: please remove this entry as my contract with C L Finance Limited has ended and so has my permission for them to share my data with you. There is no public information associated with this account such as CCJs, Bankruptcy orders etc..

 

C14: Barclaycard – Please see attached letter indicating I have paid in full: please remove this entry as my contract with Barclaycard has ended and so has my permission for them to share my data with you. There is no public information associated with this account such as CCJs, Bankruptcy orders etc.

C15: Natwest Credit Cards – Satisfied: please remove this entry as my contract with Natwest Credit Cards has ended and so has my permission for them to share my data with you. There is no public information associated with this account such as CCJs, Bankruptcy orders etc.

C16: Legal Direct Recs – Satisfied: please remove this entry as my contract with Legal Direct Recs has ended and so has my permission for them to share my data with you. There is no public information associated with this account such as CCJs, Bankruptcy orders etc.

C18: HSBC Branch Banking – Satisfied: please remove this entry as my contract with HSBC Branch Banking has ended and so has my permission for them to share my data with you. There is no public information associated with this account such as CCJs, Bankruptcy orders etc.

C19 & C20: Vodafone – Satisfied: please remove this entry as my contract with Vodafone has ended and so has my permission for them to share my data with you. There is no public information associated with this account such as CCJs, Bankruptcy orders etc.

C22: National Westminster Bank – Satisfied: please remove this entry as my contract with National Westminster Bank has ended and so has my permission for them to share my data with you. There is no public information associated with this account such as CCJs, Bankruptcy orders etc.

 

Regards,

Me

I today received this:

Dear Mr Me,

Thabk you for your letter dated 6 November 2006, which has been brought to my attention in the Directors' Office.

In view of your comments about the Barclaycard account, entry C14, i am writing to them for you. This is beause I cannot amend your report without their consent. i will let you know what they say as soon as they reply.

[Does this sound familiar?]

While I investigate your comments, i am adding the following statements to the entry you have queried.

"THE ACCURACY OF THIS DATA HAS BEEN DISPUTED BY THE INDIVIDUAL CONCERNED AND WE HAVE NOW CONTACTED THE SUBSCRIBER. CARE SHOULD BE THEREFORE TAKEN WHEN USING THIS ITEM OF DATA TO ASSES THE CREDITWORTHINESS OF THE INDIVIDUAL CONCERNED."

I am telling all the companies that have searched your credit report in the last six months of the change to your information.

With regards to the issue of your consent, we have recently been in contact with the Information Commissioner in connection with defaulted accounts being retained for six years from the date of default.

The Information Commissioner has recently informed us that we do not require your consent to process account information about you.

As you may be aware the first data principle states that:

personal data shall be processed fairly and lawfully and, in paerticular, shall not be processed unless:

• at least one of the conditions in schedule " is met; and
  
• in the case sensitive personal date, at least one of the conditions in schedule 3 is also met
  

One of the conditions for processing in shedule 2 is that the individual has given consent to the processing. It is the view of the Information Commissioner that consent is not easy to achieve and that organisations should consider other conditions for processing before looking at consent.

In the context of applying for credit, consent to share information with the credit reference agencies cannot be freely given. This is because if you do not agree to your data being shared then your application will simply be rejected. in other words you have no choice if you want the credit on offer.

The Information Commissioner has notified us that the condition for processing below covers the sharing of account data with the credit reference agencies for the duration of a contract and six years beyond

"the processign is necessary for the purpose of legitimate intersts by the data controller or by third party or parties to whom the data are disclosed, except where the processing is unwarranted in any particular case because of prejudice to the rights and freedoms or legitimate interests of the data subject"

We have been informed that the Information commissioner takes a wide view of the legitimate interess and considers that it is in the intersts of other creditors to make formal lending decisions.

The fifth data protection priciple states that:

personal data processed for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer then is necessary for that purpose or those purposes.

Account information is held by credit reference agencies for a period of six years after the account was last active. in addition to current credit commitments, the preceeding six years of an individuals credit history is taken into account by credit grantors when applications for credit facilities are assessed. As a consequence, this historical information is relevent tot he purpose of credit referencing and by holding this data the Information Commissioner has confirmed that the credit reference agengies do not appear to eb in breach of the fifth principle.

If you have any further query etc blah blah

What should I do now, i feel very very lost..........

[kateandpete]

This is hogwash.

They will fold if you get them to test this rubbish in a court of law.

Have a look through the sticky threads. There is enough ammunition there to rebuff this.