Agreement Number Required for Claim

grego3

Hi, I attempted to claim for PPI from Black Horse Finance that I believe I paid on car finance back in 2001.


I provided my name, address at the time, date of birth and approx. dates of the finance starting and ending but I do not have the loan agreement number.


I have received a reply stating that all old loans are archived under loan agreement number only so there is nothing they can do to find whether I paid PPI.


Due to the age of the loan I have no bank statements or paperwork. I've contacted my bank who said they can't produce statements past 6 years, I've contacted the car dealer who couldn't find me and even took out a credit report for a month to see if it may be on there but they said they can't go back more than 6 years.


Has anyone else been stuck like this or can advise what possibly to do next, surely Black Horse can't get away with only filing by agreement number - can I complain to the Ombudsman about this?


Thanks for reading

dunstonh

I've contacted the car dealer who couldn't find me

Why you have you complained to Black Horse and not the car dealer?

The seller has the liability for the sale. Not the lender. Only if the seller was an agent of the lender then they carry liability. Although most car dealers were not regulated prior to Jan 2005.

surely Black Horse can't get away with only filing by agreement number - can I complain to the Ombudsman about this?

Firms only have to hold data for as long as required. Then they have to begin destroying it over time. That can mean data is initially held in a relevant filing system but as it gets older, it is moved into a different system with less information retained apart from basic details.

If you do not believe Black Horse, then you can spend £10 and do a data subject access request. If it comes back with nothing then the fact they hold no identifiable records and you dont more or less ends your complaint (assuming it is not already over as it was sold by a car dealer pre regulation).

magpiecottage

grego3 wrote: »

surely Black Horse can't get away with only filing by agreement number

Absolutely they can.

The rule is that they must provide you with personal data relating to you in a relevant filing system. That, in essence, means they must provide any data that could be retrieved by a reasonably competent temp with access to, but no specialist knowledge of, their filing systems.

It does not mean you can expect them to trawl through every single record on the off chance.

can I complain to the Ombudsman about this?

You could, but will be told it is matter of legitmate commercial judgement by the firm and in any case there is no evidence that you have suffered a loss.

grego3

Thanks for all your input.


I thought Black Horse because that's who the agreement was with and just assumed the car salesman was selling the finance on their behalf.


I never thought I'd accepted PPI in any form until a friend suggested it could've been hidden in certain finance deals - if asked I always said no I don't need it.


I did manage to claim some back for my mum a few years ago - approx. £10k and that was a doddle as Nat West provided all the loan numbers without hesitation so at least I've got something back for her

dunstonh

I thought Black Horse because that's who the agreement was with and just assumed the car salesman was selling the finance on their behalf.

There is nothing wrong with having PPI. It is the sales process that is often flawed. Hence why the seller has the liability and not the provider. Black Horse would only have liability if the seller was an agent of theirs.

I never thought I'd accepted PPI in any form until a friend suggested it could've been hidden in certain finance deals - if asked I always said no I don't need it.

It cannot be hidden. However, whether you read the breakdown or not is a different matter. So many people do not and that is how they miss it. They just sign without reading.

I did manage to claim some back for my mum a few years ago - approx. £10k and that was a doddle as Nat West provided all the loan numbers without hesitation so at least I've got something back for her

It is easier with banks where you still hold an account with them as they will have more complete records and will usually store open and closed account numbers against the current record.