Default Notice from Abbey - What next?

wwwtom

Hi All,

I'm new to the forums, but i just wanted so say I'm so greatful for any advice anyone can give.

I've recently started trying to remove a default notice placed on my credit file by Abbey for a personal loan.

According to my credit file, the account was marked as default on 05/01/2007.

To cut a long story short, I went through a bit of a bad patch with my money, without the help of my family i would still be in that situation.

Now my finances are in order, and have been since the begining of 2007 (when this all started).

I ordered my credit file from Experian (which i now check regularly) and Abbey had placed the default notice and also "Satisfied" on the entry for the loan.

I must state at this point, I have never recieved any default notice or letter from Abbey to that point.

I then started to follow the LearnMoney site (How to Possibly Remove a Default Notice) and here is what has happend so far:

30/01/2009
Letter 1 sent to Abbey asking for them to send me, £1 PO included
1) The original credit agreement
2) The original default notice
3) The original deeds if the debt had been sold on

20/01/2009
Abbey reply with a letter, the letter also included a copy of the credit agreement and a photocopy of my bank statement. They did not send a copy of the default notice

20/01/2009
Letter 2 sent to Abbey stating that they had not answered all the questions from Letter 1, asked for them to answer all questions, £1 PO included again

06/03/2009
Abbey reply with a letter, exactly the same as the previous reply, containing exactly the same credit agreement and bank statement.

08/05/2009
Letter 3 sent to Abbey, giving them 7 days to send the requested information, failing which would result in me escalating the issue to the relavent authorities.

18/05/2009
As of today, I have not recieved any reply and the default notice still remains (I've just got a copy of my latest Credit file) which brings me here.

What would be the best way of pursuing this issue and escalating it to the right places?

As I have said, I'm so greatful for any help or advice anyone can offer,

Thank you,

Tom

wwwtom

I've still not had anything back from Abbey so I don't quite know where to go or what to do next?

If anyone can suggest anything, or just point me in the right direction?

RAS

Hi

Lost a post.

A CCA request does not cover the default notice. You need to do a Subject Access Request which costs £10. See the reclaim forum.

wwwtom

Thanks Ras,

I'll take a peak, however i'm not trying to reclaim anything, i just want the default removed as i did not receive the default notice letter and i did not default on the loan (only missing two payments before the loan was payed off completely)

Thanks for your help

Tom

jon_boy75

wwwtom

I'm in a similar situation. You need to issue a SAR and wait for them to respond (40 days). If (when) they fail to respond, chase them again and then refer them to the Information Commisioner by raising a complaint with them.
I spoke to the Info Commisioner's office today, and the nice lady agreed with me that the system is skewed in favour of the banks, in that they can post info about you without substantiating it by providing proof. So, youre guilty until proven innocent. You can read my post here if you want.
The only alternative is to take them to court and let a judge decide, but its worth at least waiting to see if they respond to the SAR first. If it goes to court he/she will be none too pleased if they then produce the documents you've asked for several times.
Good luck, you (and I) will need it.

wwwtom

jon_boy75 wrote: »

wwwtom

I'm in a similar situation. You need to issue a SAR and wait for them to respond (40 days). If (when) they fail to respond, chase them again and then refer them to the Information Commisioner by raising a complaint with them.
I spoke to the Info Commisioner's office today, and the nice lady agreed with me that the system is skewed in favour of the banks, in that they can post info about you without substantiating it by providing proof. So, youre guilty until proven innocent. You can read my post here if you want.
The only alternative is to take them to court and let a judge decide, but its worth at least waiting to see if they respond to the SAR first. If it goes to court he/she will be none too pleased if they then produce the documents you've asked for several times.
Good luck, you (and I) will need it.

Hi jon,

Thanks for your advice, its good to know i'm not the only one out there having great difficulties, although anyone reading these forums would come to that conclusion anyway!

What is the process of issuing a SAR? And by doing so, do I need to forget what I have done so far?

I have not heard back from Abbey at all since my last letter so I am willing to try anything to get this annoying mark off my credit file.

Let's hope it gets cleared before I apply for my first mortgage!

Good luck to you, and thank you again for your help and advice

Tom

jon_boy75

wwwtom wrote: »

Hi jon,

Thanks for your advice, its good to know i'm not the only one out there having great difficulties, although anyone reading these forums would come to that conclusion anyway!

What is the process of issuing a SAR? And by doing so, do I need to forget what I have done so far?

I have not heard back from Abbey at all since my last letter so I am willing to try anything to get this annoying mark off my credit file.

Let's hope it gets cleared before I apply for my first mortgage!

Good luck to you, and thank you again for your help and advice

Tom

you've already made a good start by writing to them a number of times, as long as you keep these letters and their responses..especially if sent recorded.

Ok, you need to follow this process here >>

It's all about the paper trail now. If you claim they didnt send you a default notice the only way you can prove this is if they send you ALL documents relating to your account, which would include default notices or warnings. If they fail to provide this info, they're in breach of the Data Protection Act. At this point you can either escalate the complaint to the Information Commisioner, or just take it straight to court.

I've been using this info to pursue the case. I need to wait another 2 weeks to see if Abbey comply with my request, and if they dont I will inform the Information Commissioner, but will also start a County Court Claim against them. In my case, any overdraft was based entirely on bank charges, so I can challenge them on 2 fronts a) the default notice was never issued b) if it was, it's a result of bank charges.

Good luck

jon_boy75

annoyingly, I cant get the full picture until they respond to my SAR...so am going round in circles slightly

wwwtom

Jon you're a super star,

I've got all the letters and responses including photocopies of royal mail receipts and PO's so in that respect i'm keeping organised.

I'll get my SAR sent off tomorrow and then I guess the next part of this annoying journey begins.

Thanks again for all your help, I hope you hear the news that you want to hear

I'll keep you posted

PotatoEyes

Hi Tom,

I'm about to give this process a go myself, but i'm unsure what address at Abbey i need to start sending letters to, would you mind posting the address you used?

My own situation is that after playing with a straight bat for the last two years, living like a monk, and paying back all the money outstanding on the account in installments (a large chunk of which were entirely due to snowballing bank charges!) I now find myself cursed for taking the responsible route by having this default showing on my records for the next 6 years...removing the default is my only hope of buying a house with my fiancee.

hope it works out for you,

Pot

wwwtom

PotatoEyes wrote: »

Hi Tom

I'm about to give this process a go myself, but i'm unsure what address at Abbey i need to start sending letters to, would you mind posting the address you used?

My own situation is that after playing with a straight bat for the last two years, living like a monk, and paying back all the money outstanding on the account in installments (a large chunk of which were entirely due to snowballing bank charges!) I now find myself cursed for taking the responsible route by having this default showing on my records for the next 6 years...removing the default is my only hope of buying a house with my fiancee.

hope it works out for you,

Pot

Hi Pot,

The address i'm using is the one which i found on the Experien Website,

ABBEY NATIONAL PLC
CREDIT DATA QUALITY,
AAM129,
ABBEY HOUSE,
201 GRAFTON GATE EAST,
MILTON KEYNES,
MK9 1AN

Although the letters I have had back from Abbey are from a different address, however i am continuing to use the same address as above.

I hope that is of some help, good luck with your battle.

Tom