Arrow Global / Mail Order - Experian

littlehe1per

So a new year and no further forward. My sister is yet to receive anything from Experian of Arrow Global Limited.

As a result a Subject Access Request is going in today via Special Delivery. Am also looking to the Guardian Consumer Team involved to highlight the inaction by both Arrow and Experian and the detrimental impact this is having on my Sisters credit worthiness.

Data Controller
Arrow Global
Belvedere
12 Booth Street
Manchester
M2 4AW

Subject Access Request

Dear Sirs,

Name: xxx xxxx xxxxxx
Address: xx, xxxxx xxxx, xxxxxx xxxxxx, xx xxxxxx, xxx xxx
DOB: xx/xx/xxxx
Default balance: £161
Default date: xx/xx/xxxx
Account type: Mail order

Following on from my unanswered letter (copy enclosed) dated 2nd August I request you supply me with a copy of all information your company hold on me including a list of accounts and details of payments.

As noted in my previous correspondence I have no knowledge of any liability to Arrow Global and the entry on my credit file contains a completely different salutation and Date Of Birth to that of my own. I was informed that Experian had raised this with you directly and that you would be writing to me with an explanation but this has (unsurprisingly) not happened (see thread - forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4342885)

Under the Data Protection Act 1984 and 1998, and including the right of subject access under these acts, I hereby request that you supply me with any and all historical data in your possession which relates to me and am entitled to under section 7(1) of the Act. This should include a copy of my Consumer Credit Agreement, pursuant to s.77/78 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

If you store any of the older records on microfiche, please be aware that the Information Commissioner deems this to be a relevant filing system under the Act. As such, any microfiche data must be sent to me in fully legible and comprehensible form.

Additionally, where there has been any event in my account history over this period which has required manual intervention by any member of your staff, or any other person, I require disclosure of any indication or notes which have either caused or resulted in that manual intervention, or other evidence of that manual intervention in relation to my business with you.

If you are unable to supply this data because there has been no such manual intervention, then please be so kind as to confirm this in your response.

I enclose the statutory maximum fee of £10. You have 40 days in which to comply. Furthermore, if I discover that you have levied disproportionate penalties against me or collected monies to which you were not entitled, then I shall be reclaiming them and also the enclosed £10 Data Protection Act subject access request fee.

Yours faithfully



xxxx

fermi

Also as mentioned, perhaps BBC Watchdog.

Wrongful Defaults on Credit Reports - BBC WatchDog

littlehe1per

Thanks Fermi will add that to the list

fermi

Also start any complaint with the FOS and/or ICO as soon as you are able.

The one with the FOS will cost the fools £500 for the pleasure, so if it costs them they might get off their backsides and sort something. :cool:

littlehe1per

Both Watchdog and Guardian Consumer Champions have been contacted.

I have also raised an ICO complaint just now against Experian on the basis they are are continuing to display inaccurate data.

Thanks for the advice so far

littlehe1per

Finally a response from Arrow Global. I will give my thought once I've digested again and will upload a scan tomorrow.

James Jones (Experian)
1 - Can you respond to this?
2 - I am unable to upload docs here so have emailed Victor at Experian with a copy of the response if you want to see it.

Dear Ms XXXXXX

RE: Your Complaint

We write further to your correspondence dated 02/01/2013. We are sorry to learn of your ongoing concerns. Please find attached a copy of our complaints procedure which explains how we have dealt with your complaint.

Having reviewed your comments, we understand you are unhappy with a default which has been applied to your credit file. You state that your date of birth is recorded incorrectly and you do not recognize this debt. You have requested documentation pursuant to the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (CCA) and the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA). Please let us know if we have misunderstood.

At this stage we believe it is useful to explain the Arrow Global Guernsey Limited (AGGL) acquired this account from Phoenix Recoveries (UK) on 13/05/2011. The original creditor is Littlewoods, Shop Direct

When the account was assigned to Arrow Global, we were provided with the contractual name and address details by Phoenix Recoveries (UK). This data was reported to the Credit Reference Agencies alongside our account holder’s date of birth. From the data we received in return from the Credit Reference Agencies, your current address was identified as correct and linked to our account holder.

In order to investigate your complaint, it was necessary to contact the original creditor, Shop Direct. Shop Direct have confirmed they did not provide Phoenix Recoveries (UK) with your correspondence address and they do not hold your date of birth on their systems. Phoenix Recoveries (UK) may have provided us with a linked or traced address. The link between you and our account holder has not been created by AGGL, although we regret any inconvenience caused by incorrect contact.

To prevent further contact from organisations wishing to contact our account holder, you may wish to consider notifying the Credit Reference Agencies that you have been incorrectly linked to another person. We have enclosed a guidance note and consumer factsheet to assist in this regard. We can confirm that we have updated our records and you will not be contacted by AGGL or any of our external collection agents in relation to this account. However, we cannot guarantee that you will not be contacted in relation to other incorrectly linked accounts or by other creditors unless you correct your address history with the CRAs.

Further to your request for documentation relating to the account we hope you understand, given the information above, that we are unable to provide you with documentation relating to our account holder. We have therefore returned your payment of £10.00.

We hope we have answered your complaint satisfactorily. If you feel we have misunderstood your complaint or you have any further details you believe we should consider, please do not hesitate to contact us.

If you remain dissatisfied you can refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. We have enclosed a leaflet ‘Your Complaint and the Ombudsman’ which explains their service. Should you wish to refer your complaint to the Ombudsman, you must do so within six months from the date of this letter.

Yours sincerely

Arrow Global

littlehe1per

So having read this a few times now I'm still trying to establish just exactly what Arrow are actually saying in their response?

They appear to accept the name and address have been linked to an account holders DOB that doesn't match my sisters.

However, there is no indication in their letter that they're going to stop reporting the data to the CRA's. This is despite turning down my sisters Subject Access Request on the grounds that the information being requested isn't hers:

Further to your request for documentation relating to the account we hope you understand, given the information above, that we are unable to provide you with documentation relating to our account holder. We have therefore returned your payment of £10.00.

Am I misinterpreting this?

rizla_king

It means that Arrow should not be reporting against the incorrect address. Don't whether they will sort that out, but it is not the main problem.

If Experian had never ****ed up matching that record against her report when the shouldn't have, then she would never have seen this info on her report. So Arrow are at fault on one level, but Experian are at fault on a more fundamental one. Experian need to admit the error and sort it from their end.

The fact that their representative here has tried to shift blame and avoid fixing a problem that is clearly Experian's fault is quite shameful and weaselly.

Experian_company_representative

Thanks for sharing the additional information from Arrow. We are reviewing it right now and will be in touch with you very shortly to confirm the action we are taking.

James Jones

littlehe1per

Response from Experian.

Looks like the finish line is in sight..

If so I need to move onto Equifax which I hope will be a lot easier given the amount of paperwork that's built up to support the below decision.

Dear Ms xxxxx

I have received an e-mail from your brother which included a letter to you from Arrow Global.

The comments in their letter suggest that the original debt was not recorded at your address but they have chosen to record the account at your address based on information they have received from the Credit Reference Agencies. Further comments in their letter suggest that they, or possibly Phoenix Recoveries used a “tracing” service to obtain your address.

Companies using this type of service from Credit Reference Agencies are made aware that they should not switch an account to a new address until they have verified that this is definitely the correct address for their debtor.

I have contacted Arrow Global again to ask them if they will re-record the account with the original address as their letter suggests they believe the account does not belong to you.

Please be assured that I have now removed the account from your credit report. Your report will change in the next seven days. You may wish to log in to your CreditExpert membership to view the change once it has taken place.

I can confirm that your credit history has not been linked to anyone else’s. You can verify this from your credit report as you will see that you have not been linked to any other addresses. We only hold details of your credit history at your current address.

I hope you are satisfied that the Arrow Global account has now been removed from your report. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused but I hope that this e-mail and my previous e-mails have helped you to understand why the account appeared on your credit report and why it was not removed when we first contacted Arrow Global for you.

Kind regards