Bcw

[crh]

Hi All,

I paid off a debt with BCW i took the settlement figure they offered me and the guy told me over the phone that the default notice would be changed to settled. They have sent me a letter saying its settled and the matter is closed. But i checked my credit file the other day and they have done a credit search on me a month after they told me it was settled and the reason was for a outstanding debt!!!!

 

Any advice on what to do

 

ps they havent marked the default as settled either yet

[dannyboy660]

Hi All,

I paid off a debt with BCW i took the settlement figure they offered me and the guy told me over the phone that the default notice would be changed to settled. They have sent me a letter saying its settled and the matter is closed. But i checked my credit file the other day and they have done a credit search on me a month after they told me it was settled and the reason was for a outstanding debt!!!!

 

Any advice on what to do

 

ps they havent marked the default as settled either yet

 

Paying off a debt in full with BCW gives the impression you are in cash. They will actively trace any other outstanding debts or defaults you have and take them on, knowing there's a good chance you'll pay on their terms.

 

Looks like they're checking you out as a potential moneyspinner.

[crh]

is there any way i can stop them doing this?

 

surely i'd have to agree for them to credit search me they cant just do it at random can they? how does that work

 

they really are the **** of the earth

[dannyboy660]

I'm not too sure on this one.

 

I think because you had been paying them and considered to have an 'account' with them, they can check your files to make any changes they feel necessary, and at the same time they will probably do a bit of fishing.

 

Very unfair, but I'm not sure if you can do anything about it. I'm sure someone will know.

 

All the best.

[crh]

i would of though that as they wrote to me telling me the matter was closed and the account has been passed back to the original creditor the matter should end there.

 

i think this will involve a trip to the cab

 

unless someone else more in the know can advise me?

[dannyboy660]

I understand exactly what you are saying, but honesty and money do not go together, especially when you are dealing with a DCA/Purchaser. They do not follow the rules because unless they actually get caught in the act, there is not much you can do. If you complain about them interfering with or searching your files,.... which you should,..... you can be sure they'll come up with a plausible sounding explanation, when in fact they are just fishing for business.

[buster642]

I'm not too sure on this one.

 

I think because you had been paying them and considered to have an 'account' with them, they can check your files to make any changes they feel necessary, and at the same time they will probably do a bit of fishing.

 

Very unfair, but I'm not sure if you can do anything about it. I'm sure someone will know.

 

All the best.

 

It all depends on the exact terms and conditions you signed. Most agreements give them permission to search CRA's for initial application and "ongoing checks" for credit worthiness (or words to that effect).

 

It's that second clause that gets you. Now two things:-

 

a) Did you CCA them for the first debt. If they don't have a copy of the signed agreement, then they can't prove that they have permission to search your credit file in the first place.

 

b) Check out the exact wording of the CRA-checking clause. If you have paid up and settled with them, then effectively you are no longer a customer and I would say that they do not have any right to issue further searches AFTER that point.

 

Although as the person above stated, they might try and argue that they were "checking to see if they had updated the file correctly". That might sound plausible, but not legal if you didn't specifically sign up to it.

 

If they fall foul of either, they will have breached the Data Protection Act.

[crh]

ok i'll send them a CCA request thanks for the advice just a couple of things

 

if they cant supply me with a copy of the agreement afterthe 12 days even though i have paid are they still in breach?

 

if there in breach can i get the default removed against me?

[crh]

emailed BCW and got a reply saying that there is no records on there system who requested the search or what the reason was and there removing the search from my credit file within 24 hours.

 

i guess they where trying it on then

[dannyboy660]

Looks like you caught them out. A result.....of sorts.

 

This sort of thing happens all the time and something people need to be aware of.

 

All the best.

[buster642]

Yes, a partial victory for you. I guess the only sour point is that someone has still seen information that they were not legally entitled to view.

[crh]

hi

 

this is the response i got from them

 

Dear xxx,

I have been passed your email in relation to a footprint left on your

Equifax file.

I can confirm that the account referred to in your email was never sent

for a Trace so I have been investigating the Footprint left on 26 March

2006.

I have been unable to find another account for you at this site so have

spoken to our head office who have searched their files. They have

numerous accounts in the name of xxxxx but are unable to find

one that matches your details, so it would be for other people of the

same name. It is possible that another address was provided which is why

the connection cannot be made. I am only able to speculate about the

files held by our Head Office as they use a different system that I

can't access.

At this stage I am unable to provide you with further information

however I can confirm that I have requested the footprint be removed.

This normally takes 24 hours so it should have been removed by Wednesday

18 April.

 

 

any advice on this surely under the DPA they must have a record of who actioned the search?

 

i'm going to email them tomorrow

[dannyboy660]

Looks like my original suspicions may have been correct - they might be trying to match you up with other debts :mad:

 

They failed, and got caught out too. This could be an opportunity too good to miss, but you will need advice from someone who is more clued up on DPA than I am.

 

Go get 'em.

[crh]

bump

 

can anyone up to date on the DPA advise

[buster642]

hi

 

I can confirm that the account referred to in your email was never sent

for a Trace so I have been investigating the Footprint left on 26 March

2006.

 

So they've now admitted that it had nothing to do with the original claim that you paid. So they no longer have the partial get-out that we talked about earlier.

 

Seems like a clear cut breach of the DPA/CCA. The question is, what can you realistically do about it... or want to do about it for that matter.

 

It seems a relatively friendly letter (for a DRA), but I sense an underlying message of "well, we can't find any debt this search relates to... but do you really want us to look that hard, because we might find one... You've caught us out... now go away before we unearth something...."

 

At the very least I would report them because if TS / OFT receive a sufficient number of complaints and threaten action, only then will they stop these illegal practices.

[make them aktiv runners]

report to Information Commissioner as it is a data protection issue. May get investigated further.

[crh]

i just cant belive that they dont have a system in place which records who requested a trace and the reason. I bet they do have a system and they know for a fact who requested the trace. I'm sure its to try and get more cash out of me.

 

i'm going to report them to TS/OFT in the morning

 

is there some sort of sticky we can get posted warning other user's about this DCA tactic?

[crh]

aaaaarrrrrrrggggggghhhhhhhhhh

 

just checked my credit file and they've searched me twice at my previous address is there anything i can send them to stop them doing this

[buster642]

aaaaarrrrrrrggggggghhhhhhhhhh

 

just checked my credit file and they've searched me twice at my previous address is there anything i can send them to stop them doing this

 

Was this before or after the settlement. If it was before, then they have a very tenuous excuse for doing so (the CCA you initially signed for).

 

As we discussed earlier, once you've settled and the account has been closed, they have no further legitimate reason for performing a search and are breaking the law.

 

Apart from lodging further complaints with the OFT / TS / IC, you can send them an even snottier letter indicating that they are clearing breaking the DPA and that these additional searches are extra evidence proving it was not just a "slip of the finger"... Any further searches without permission would only increase the weight of evidence against them.

 

If you wanted, you could always launch a private prosecution against the firm, but that is utterly impractical.

 

However, they are unlikely to keep searching now. They've already seen the information they wanted to see...

[crh]

this was after the settlement

 

the second search was done after they had investigated the first search and told me there was no reason for it to be there and they where going to remove it

[buster642]

this was after the settlement

 

the second search was done after they had investigated the first search and told me there was no reason for it to be there and they where going to remove it

 

Unbelivable. These companies certainly believe in a-la-carte laws. All too happy to use them to their own benefit and make us pay, but willfully ignoring those that they don't like.

 

 

 

I would write them another letter pointing out this fact and state that you feel they have broken the law (DPA/CCA) by performing further searches without your permission - after they themselves admitted that they had no good reason to do so.

 

Tell them that you will be reporting them to the appropriate authorities, citing their own statements and the various searches.

 

Also include a point which says words to the effect "Let me be clear. I do not give you permission to perform any credit file searches on me. Any further searches made against me without you being in first-hand possession of clear, written permission will be taken as further breaches of the law and reported accordingly"

[dannyboy660]

i just cant belive that they dont have a system in place which records who requested a trace and the reason. I bet they do have a system and they know for a fact who requested the trace. I'm sure its to try and get more cash out of me.

 

i'm going to report them to TS/OFT in the morning

 

is there some sort of sticky we can get posted warning other user's about this DCA tactic?

 

There probably is something of a safeguard.

 

I used to have access to the DCI (Departmental Central Index) of the DWP which contains the benefit records of virtually everyone in the UK with a National Insurance Number. From there you know where they live, D.O.B, what they get, ....a whole host of things.

 

However, unless I had that person talking to me on the telephone at the particular moment of access, or else an application form or request of some kind with their signature, access was strictly prohibited. At random moments I'd get something called a computerised DCI check where I would have to justify in writing why I was accessing somebodies records which is why you needed their permission in writing, or over the telephone. It's one of the few things I could have got into a world of Pooh over, had I been as unscrupulous as a private company/DCA employee. (I say that with confidence, because they are.)

 

I moved on from that a while ago and I don't know how DPA works at that level, but DCA's must have some kind of safeguard and I would be very surprised if they can't identify who accessed your records. In fact, I don't believe them. That's total b#llsh*t if they say they don't know, they have to know!!!!!!

[crh]

i'm filling out the complaint to the infomation commisaire tonight. a long boring form and i probably wont be hear back before the end of the decade but i'm working on the assumption that if no one reports them then they'll keep doing!

 

i didnt have the stomach to phone the OFT or TS today had a nightmare day at week. Coupled with the fact my new company pay me by cheque (who does that in the 21st century!)and suprise suprise they give the cheques out late enough so they can cream a little bit of extra interest off because the money is sitting in there account after the end of the month when my money should of cleared

[dannyboy660]

Go get 'em.

 

I wish I could be more helpful with advice etc, but it looks like you've got it pretty much sussed out anyway. It's too good an opportunity to miss and yes, it may be necessary to put a reminder in your will for future generations to follow it up for you , but you have to complain about these things.

 

Paid by a dodgy cheque in this day and age?? I didn't know you were one of the Lowell employees trying to infiltrate the forum!!! :p

 

( Just to make it absolutely clear, I was joking on that last bit!!!))

[crh]

not a lowell employee i'm afraid!

 

but the finance lady at work certainly seems to be from the DCA school of accounting. I had a lovely conversation with her today about the joys of the BACS system and how modern companies save paper and from giving directors RSI from signing cheques by paying people electronically!

 

i'll keep you posted on how the complaint is going

 

i smell blood with this, I've already claimed a 1st credit default removal scalp so its time for more