Has anyone ever threatened an ex creditor with Libel?

Emby_2

With my ongoing (2 Years) credit file clean up, literally hundreds of letters and various ICO complaints my credit file remains unchanged.

I sent the last threatening letters last week with thanks to Fermi for the recommended format. I hope it works but doubt it will and the ICO dont seem to be in a rush to sort things out.

Am I correct in saying that the creditors refusing to change the information is infact Libel. Does anyone know of anyone who has had a solicitor threaten the offending lenders with court proceedings for libel?

I imagine if someone were to (Something I will consider in a couple of months if things are still not rectified) things would be corrcted quickly.

Has anyone done it? Even gone so far as a court case?

Emby

NeverAgain_2

Whatever not amending your credit file is, it certainly is not libel.

Libel is a complex area of the law, but in short it amounts to a falsehood maliciously told to a third party which would lower their estimation of you.

Note the word 'falsehood', your credit record is an accurate representation of what happened.

It will be forever true that on XXX date you defaulted on a loan for £XXX

debtinfo

Plus you generally have to have published the information,and I don't think that credit file would class as publication, not my strong suit though

fermi

Would be exceptionally difficult, even if the debt wasn't actually yours,

See the later points regarding action for 'defamation' here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/moneybox/8098674.stm

The mostly likely action that you could take is if/when the ICO tells a creditor to change the file and they fail to do so. You would then have a good case for seeking a court order instructing the creditor to make the change.

Emby_2

your credit record is an accurate representation of what happened.

It will be forever true that on XXX date you defaulted on a loan for £XXX

The information on my credit record is massively incorrect. The creditors are still saying I owe the money, just with thousands of late payments. It is not at all an accurate representation.

Ok, then, that clears that up then. Is there anything in law that can be done about this?

Voyager2002

Emby wrote: »

The information on my credit record is massively incorrect. The creditors are still saying I owe the money, just with thousands of late payments. It is not at all an accurate representation.

Ok, then, that clears that up then. Is there anything in law that can be done about this?

The Data Protection Acts would be a good place to start: anyone who holds information about you is obliged to ensure that it is accurate and up to date. If you have good reason to believe that they are failing in this duty, then the Office of the Information Commissioner might be interested in hearing from you.

A faster possible route: telephone the financial organisations in question and ask how to contact a Compliance Officer. These are the people who have to make sure that the organisation operates within the law, and so might be helpful in chasing up a problem of this nature.

Emby_2

A faster possible route: telephone the financial organisations in question and ask how to contact a Compliance Officer. These are the people who have to make sure that the organisation operates within the law, and so might be helpful in chasing up a problem of this nature.

Thankyou for that I will give it a try.

My ICO complaint has been with the ICO for some time and with their numbers greatly cut I cant see anything being done for some time, the whole while my credit file is in a bigger mess than it should be.

Thanks Fermi, interesting article.

I find the wording interesting as defamation is meant to be spoken and libel is the same but written.

The law gets muddled. Another one is in law, assault is the threat of an immediate attack, the physical part is battery. These days people are arrested for assault where in fact they are being arrested for assault and battery if the actually physically harmed someone, I digress.

NeverAgain_2

Emby wrote: »

The information on my credit record is massively incorrect. The creditors are still saying I owe the money, just with thousands of late payments. It is not at all an accurate representation.

Ok, then, that clears that up then. Is there anything in law that can be done about this?

Emby,

I don't want to labour the point, but you will forever owe the money until you pay it back.

Bankruptcy blocks all legal avenues of recovery for the creditor.

This means the debt to all intents and purposes ceases to exist, but it is still there.

That's why any libel action is a complete non-starter.

Were there an improvement in your financial circumstances, and you felt morally obliged or inclined to do so, you could pay it back.

This might be relevant if there was a debt to a family member, which you might settle years down the line.

Emby_2

Sorry NeverAgain, I misunderstood your post, thankyou for clarifying.

I will await replies from my latest strongly worded letters.