Victim of Identity Theft and bad credit rating

slackerboy

Hi not sure if any one else has been in this position when trying to arrange a mortgage.
Last year I was the victim of identity theft and fraud. I had a number of mobile phone accounts setup. In this day and age with computers I would have thought to set up 3 accounts with 1 company on 1 week would attract some attention.
I thought everything was cleared up, spoke with the companies concerned and all where amicable and said to chat with there fraud departments who cleared everything up after I signed a disclaimer and provided details of a crime reference number and other accounts that I had created.
I joined experian and my credit file looked fine( start of the year), until I decide to apply for a mortgage and find out one of the companies who I am really not able to divuldge...3G Wrecked my credit score and credit history.

They have decided to default 2 accounts that where setup in my name which had now affected my credit rating. To resolve this will take another 28 days. I am now in the position where the mortgage lender may refuse my application.

Do I have any recourse against this company for mishandling the situation and possibly ruining my credit rating?
Do I have a leg to stand on?

MortgageMamma

I;m not really sure if you have recourse but I would suggest speaking to a solicitor. The most important thing is to get hold of your equifax and experian credit files and post a notice of correction (this can be done online if you want it to happen quicker) the credit reference agency will then put a note on the defaults on your file saying "such and such a body disputes this information and the situation is currently being investigated, please bear this in mind when assessing the individuals credit status". This gives a potential lender some assurances until you have the whole messy matter cleared up. As you reported the crime to the police there should be some way of addressing this, you are a victim here and should not be penalised for the criminal actions of others.

The good news is this should not stop you from getting a mortgage. I would urge you not to apply for one online though or through a bank, as if you keep getting declined and building up credit searches this will trash your credit rating even further.

I think you should take advice from a whole of market mortgage advisor, as your case needs special treatment and it would be beneficial for you to instruct an expert who can pick up the phone and talk to someone with a bit of clout lender wise. Do take along your credit report as this will help the advisor enormously.

Hope this helps reassure you a bit, If you have any questions please just ask.

Epiphone

If you still have the crime number and letters etc from the phone company it might be worth making copies for any mortgage lender. They might not take it into consideration but you've nothing to lose by 'proving' you're not a risk!

slackerboy

Thanks guys for the advice. I have done exactly as both off you have suggested. I am waiting for experian to put the notice of the correction on my account they said it will take 5 - 10 days for this to happen.

I can only sit back and see what the bank decides about the application.