False CCJ on file from insurance company

gillyd88

Last year I received notification from my car insurance provider Hastings Direct that another person had claimed I was involved in an accident with them on 31st December 2013. This accident was a false claim and was untrue. I informed Hastings of this and they agreed that they would have to investigate the claim further. Hastings failed to do this and this has now resulted in a CCJ against me that I have descovered this year. please help!

This is the background to my circumstances:

I had previously lived at an address in Grimsby for approximately 7 months before moving to my new current address in Lincolnshire early April 2014. All my insurance providers and council etc were updated on my change of address prior to my move.

At the time of living in Grimsby I owned a Seat Ibiza which i then sold to a lady who lived in Grimsby on 2nd march. All the detail of this sale were updated with the DVLA and I received my confirmation 12th March 2014. I still have the original receipt of this sale.

I then moved to my new address on 2nd April 2014. This remains my current address:

All my insurance providers were informed in advance of my move including Hastings Direct as well as informing the DVLA, both North East Lincolnshire Council and West Lindsey District Council. I also left a correspondence address with my previous Landlord.


I then received a call from Hastings Direct around May / June time informing me that another person had claimed I had been involved in an accident on 31st December 2013. I do not have to hand the exact date of this telephone call because Hastings will not provide them to me . If I am correct the representative from Hastings told me that this accident allegedly took place near London. I was told no other details. I informed the representative from Hastings Direct that this was a false claim and that I had not been involved in any accident. I provided Hastings Direct with all the relevant details and to whom I had sold the car to and was told the matter would be dealt with and I would be updated at a later date. I received no written or verbal correspondence from that date.


I then heard nothing from Hastings Direct until later in the year. This was approx. 1 to 2 months after the first call in about May / June. The representative told me that they had received a possible CCJ against me and that I would have to pay this fine and I would lose my no claims bonus. I then instructed her to look at the notes on my account and after doing this she agreed that Hastings Direct had been notified of the accident claim and taken no action whatsoever in the time since the first phone call. She then put me on hold for some considerable time while she spoke to a senior colleague. She then came back and informed me that Hastings Direct were at fault and had taken no action since the first call and this is why the claim had reached this stage. She said there had been failings on the company’s behalf and that they would now accept full liability. I asked what this meant and in particular whether my no claims bonus would be affected and also my credit rating. She then told me categorically that I would be entitled to keep my full no claims bonus entitlement, the accident would be removed from their systems and subsequent national databases and there would be no affect to my credit rating whatsoever. I was obviously satisfied with this result and requested confirmation of this in writing.


On a letter from Hastings Direct dated 28th August 2014 I was informed:
“Please not we have now closed this file and allowed your no claims discount; we are also in the process of deleting this claim from the system that stores these details”


From this point I obviously assumed that the matter had been dealt with and I had no further action to take and nothing to be concerned about.



February 2015
I have recently been interested in purchasing a new car and tried to obtain a quote for finance for the car. The dealership informed me that they would not be able to offer me finance for a vehicle through their preliminary checks before applying for finance. I thought nothing of this for the first few days thinking this to be down to the fact I have no credit cards or because of the dealership etc. I was also interested in putting an offer in for a house but when I tried to see whether I was likely to be accepted for a mortgage this was also turned down.


On Monday 9th February 2015 I then checked my credit report on the advice of my partner and was horrified to see that I have a very poor score. I am in no financial difficulty, have had not one late payment on my credit file in my entire history, all my accounts are satisfied, I am on the electoral role and I have a small loan of less than £1000 which was taken out in 2014 for the purchase of a new sofa which to date has been paid each month on time. I then realised that there was a CCJ recorded against me with the following information:

County Court Judgement – Satisfied
Judgement Date: 18/07/2014
Amount: £2,027
Court Name: County Court Money Claims Centre
Date Satisfied: 01/09/2014

The time between the judgement date and the date satisfied is 45 days.


Since this event I have been in contact with Hastings and Hastings has contacted a solicitor. They have said it is unlikely that I will be able to get the CCJ cancelled or removed and that it will remain on my credit file.
Because of Hastings’ complete incompetence in dealing with the original claim in the first instance when I have been fully cooperative; I now have a CCJ on my credit report. This will remain on my report for 6 years and will severely affect my ability to obtain credit for loans, credit cards etc. It will also severely affect my ability to obtain a mortgage as was my plan to purchase my own home this year. I also intended to replace my car this year. These plans will now have to be put on hold while I attempt to rebuild my credit rating at my own expense and time and hassle.



I have now sent a request to Hastings for copies of all the information and notes relating to this claim so that I can seek independent legal advice as I am not satisfied so far with how Hastings Direct has dealt with this matter. I am struggling to find a solicitor who has experience of dealing with a case such as this.



So far this is what Hastings have offered:


A verbal apology.
Contacted their solicitor who said the CCJ cannot be canceled or removed.
Offered £1000 compensation which is non-negotiable

Offered to write to the 3 main credit agencies asking them to write a note on my credit file that the CCJ is the fault of Hastings and not myself.
Informed me that every time I attempt to apply for credit I will be refused and i will then have to write to the underwriter (if this is permitted) and ask them to contact Hastings to confirm the CCJ is the fault of Hastings.


After taking further financial advice I have also been told that simple things like taking out a new mobile phone contract or changing insurance providers will be difficult because they will base their quotes on an electronic credit search that will instantly show on my file. This will also affect my ability to apply for certain job application and the list goes on!




I was wondering if anyone else has been in a similar situation and could offer advice on what they did? Or does anyone have any advice on what i should do and actions I can take to try and rectify this?


I am thinking of writing to the fsa about this to make a complaint against Hastings.


Many thanks in advance



Any advice would be appreciated.

Candyapple

http://www.aboutsmallclaims.co.uk/judgment-taken-off-ccj-register.html

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/non-financial-loss-compensation.html#a8

http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/showthread.php?39608-Wrongful-default-placed-on-credit-file-by-Barclaycard