[fermi]

LETTER TO FORMER LENDERS POST BANKRUPTCY.

Here's the working letter:

MUST be sent RECORDED DELIVERY.

Do not forget to include the extract from the Information Commissioners Guidance that is shown after the main text of the letter.

Your Address
Goes Here

Data Control Officer
This Creditor
Data Controller Address


Dear Sirs

Re: Account Number xxxxxxxxxxx

After consultation with both the Information Commissioner and the Credit Reference Agencies, I am writing directly to you to request that you formally update my credit files in accordance with the Data Protection Act.

I was declared bankrupt on <Date of your bankruptcy>and subsequently discharged on <Date of Discharge>, and <name of creditor> was included within the Bankruptcy. For your convenience I have attached both my bankruptcy Order and Discharge Notification.

Currently the information that you have recorded against my name with the Credit Reference Agencies is factually incorrect, and despite several written requests to your customer services , as yet your company has failed to correct the entries as required.

• It is requested that if you intend to default the account, the default entry must be <Date if your bankruptcy>, in accordance with the Data Protection Act.

• It is requested that you mark the account in some way as to indicate that it is settled or satisfied, in accordance with the Data Protection Act.

The Information Commissioner has indicated that I should allow you 28 calendar days from the date you receive this letter to comply, during this time you are requested either to update the Credit Reference Files correctly (of all three Credit Reference Agencies) or notify me in writing the reasons that you refuse to.

After the 28 days have elapsed the Information Commissioner has requested that I inform them if your company fails to update the records so that they may take any necessary enforcement action against your company.

I have copied the relevant information provided by the Information Commissioner as an attachment to this request.

Yours faithfully



Fred Bloggs

Enc:

Bankruptcy Order
Discharge Notification




Relevant Extracts from Bankruptcy - frequently asked questions – 18/06/07 issued by the ICO

Frequently Asked Questions - Bankruptcy

I’ve noticed that an account that was included in my bankruptcy is marked in default later than my bankruptcy. Can I do anything to change it?

Sometimes a lender will not know the exact date you were made bankrupt. This may mean that when the lender registers a default with the credit reference agencies, the date on the default is later than the date on your Bankruptcy Order.

If a particular debt is included in the Statement of Affairs at the time of the bankruptcy, you can ask the lender to change the date of the default to the date on your Bankruptcy Order. To do this, you should write to the lender and ask them to change the default date to the date of the Bankruptcy Order.

Remember to send the lender a copy of your Bankruptcy Order or other documentation which confirms the date you were declared bankrupt.

If the lender refuses to change the date of the default then you can contact us using the enquiry form on our website (www.ico.gov.uk). You will need to send us:

a copy of the Bankruptcy Order or document that confirms the date you were made bankrupt;
proof that the debt in question was included in your bankruptcy;
and a copy of the lender’s letter which says it won’t change the date of the default.

What happens to the defaulted accounts on my credit reference file?

After you have been discharged from your bankruptcy you can send proof of your discharge to all the lenders included on your Statement of Affairs.

The lenders whose debts were included in your bankruptcy should then mark the entry on your credit reference file to show that you no longer owe money on that account (perhaps by marking the entry as 'partially satisfied’ or ‘partially settled’ or in some other way).

Once the lender has changed the information on the entry, if you make any new credit applications the prospective lender will be able to see that you do not owe any more money on that account.

Finally, if you wish, you can ask the credit reference agency to add a statement called a ‘Notice of Correction’ to the default entry. In your statement, you can explain that the entry was included in your bankruptcy which is now discharged.

If the lender refuses to change the date of the default or mark it as ‘satisfied’ or ‘settled’ or to indicate in another way that you have fulfilled your obligations to that lender then you can write to us at: Information Commissioner, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

To find the correct address to send it to, which MUST be the Data controller not customer services, enter the company details at the ICO site for Data Controllers

http://www.ico.gov.uk/ESDWebPages/search.asp

Or the phone the creditors customer services and ask for the details.

Or consult post 4 of this thread.

PLEASE NOTE

That the date that the CRF's should show as being settled or satisfied, should show any date between your bankruptcy date and your discharge date, but NO LATER than your discharge date. This is the new guidance that the ICO applies following several precedent determinations between them and the creditors.

New guidance has been issued by the ICO and I have incorporated this into the above information. The main changes are that they now publicly state that an account can be marked as 'partially settled or satisfied'. When writing to former lenders you MUST now quote the new guidance.

On the 18th June 2007, the Information Commissioners Office released a new FAQ on Bankruptcy and Credit Files.

This new publication has brought together all the minor (!!!!) changes since the 2005 guidance into one document.

I have incorporated the relevant wording changes into the template letter

The full PDF document can be found here:

http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documen...faqs_v2003.pdf