Massive HSBC error

Kosenurm

Hi there,
I took out a loan with HSBC for £15k in July 2013. I have only just checked my credit report out of curiosity. It appears that HSBC have been incorrectly double-reporting my loan on my credit report since I took it out in July 2013. Therefore, although I only owe around £11k, they are reporting that I have two HSBC loans for identical amounts totalling £24k. This is wholly inaccurate and has affected me very much.

I wanted to consolidate further debts last year but was declined by Barclaycard when I wanted to do a balance transfer. They said that I had a high level of external debt, when this is completely wrong, and I feel it is due to the HSBC error.

I have written them a complaint letter asking them to correct this immediately. How much could I ask for compensation? I had to move back to my mum's from my rented flat in November 2014 as I no longer passed their credit check. Experian have also advised that, has this loan not been reported twice, my score would have increased dramatically and I would have likely passed their credit check (i.e. for a letting agent search, not a credit application). Therefore, they have ruined everything.

I'm really upset at this.

:mad:

Thanks,
K.

YorkshireBoy

You will ask for financial restitution, ie a sum to put you back in the situation you would have been in had the incident not occurred. So how much have you lost/spent as a direct result of the issue? You may cost your time at £10/hour (higher in certain circumstances).

You will also ask for a payment for 'distress and inconvenience'. Could you put a value on this?

Add the two together and there's your answer. What is it?

jonesMUFCforever

Surely if you were paying the rent on time there would have been no need for a further credit check?
How much other debt is there? Add this to the loan - what % is this of your salary??

bengal-stripe

Kosenurm wrote: »

Hi there,
I took out a loan with HSBC for £15k in July 2013.....

I wanted to consolidate further debts last year but was declined by Barclaycard when I wanted to do a balance transfer. They said that I had a high level of external debt, when this is completely wrong, error.

You do seem to have a pretty high level of debt. Don't forget, although you might want to consolidate, the bank cannot be certain that you will transfer or that you run up new debt on the old card(s), in addition to the debt on the new card.

Although the double reporting is unfortunate, it does not mean, that without that error you definitely would have been given the balance transfer card you requested.

TheEffect

Kosenurm wrote: »

Hi there,
I took out a loan with HSBC for £15k in July 2013. I have only just checked my credit report out of curiosity. It appears that HSBC have been incorrectly double-reporting my loan on my credit report since I took it out in July 2013. Therefore, although I only owe around £11k, they are reporting that I have two HSBC loans for identical amounts totalling £24k. This is wholly inaccurate and has affected me very much.

I wanted to consolidate further debts last year but was declined by Barclaycard when I wanted to do a balance transfer. They said that I had a high level of external debt, when this is completely wrong, and I feel it is due to the HSBC error.

I have written them a complaint letter asking them to correct this immediately. How much could I ask for compensation? I had to move back to my mum's from my rented flat in November 2014 as I no longer passed their credit check. Experian have also advised that, has this loan not been reported twice, my score would have increased dramatically and I would have likely passed their credit check (i.e. for a letting agent search, not a credit application). Therefore, they have ruined everything.

I'm really upset at this.

:mad:

Thanks,
K.

BarclayCard would not have stated 'high level of external debt' as the reason for declining you, they would simply state 'declined due to credit scoring'. Banks do not give detailed reasons for refusal.

Also, landlords/letting agencies cannot see what credit you have available, or how much debt you have. They can only see information such as CCJs.

The credit score given by Experian is useless, as Experian do not lend money. The score is only seen by them, and is what they deem as accurate, however actual financial institutes do not use it, and have their own lending criteria. You do not have a credit score.

Your compensation would be minimal. Write HSBC a letter asking them to rectify the problem, and they'll likely do so and send you a bottle of wine as a gesture of goodwill.

YorkshireBoy

TheEffect wrote: »

BarclayCard would not have stated 'high level of external debt' as the reason for declining you, they would simply state 'declined due to credit scoring'. Banks do not give detailed reasons for refusal.

I've previously (although not recently) been told, in writing, that a credit card decline was due to my "existing credit card indebtedness" as reported to the CRAs.

Your compensation would be minimal. Write HSBC a letter asking them to rectify the problem, and they'll likely do so and send you a bottle of wine as a gesture of goodwill.

I think they'll go a lot further than that, several £100s further in fact...with the numbers involved.

Hopefully the OP will post back when they have a proposed resolution from HSBC. I'd certainly be willing to take it to the FOS if necessary.

meer53

Maybe the OP had external debt large enough to cause the decline without the erroneous 15K on their credit file ? It would be interesting to have the OP post their figures.

TheEffect

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

I've previously (although not recently) been told, in writing, that a credit card decline was due to my "existing credit card indebtedness" as reported to the CRAs.

It is rare a lender would give this information (maybe a small minority do), however Barclaycard do not. They simply state 'declined due to credit scoring'.

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

I think they'll go a lot further than that, several £100s further in fact...with the numbers involved.

£100s in compensation for what exactly? A declined credit card application where this error might not even be the reason it was declined?

The failed letting agent check would not be the result of this debt.

tomtontom

meer53 wrote: »

Maybe the OP had external debt large enough to cause the decline without the erroneous 15K on their credit file ? It would be interesting to have the OP post their figures.

This ^^

£11K + further debts sufficient to require consolidation = a high level of external debt! The additional amount reported seems irrelevant given these figures.

YorkshireBoy

TheEffect wrote: »

£100s in compensation for what exactly?

Serious question?

Take a look at the case studies on the FOS website.

Banks pay £25-50 for the most trivial matters...and this isn't a trivial matter! By way of example, Lloyds gave me a goodwill payment of £100 when they placed a guaranteed offer in my online area, which then wasn't available when I applied for it. To be fair, I wasn't all that concerned...but I was when they implied I was lying about it, and it was this that prompted my formal complaint.

I've also been awarded £150 from one bank for a data protection breach (they told someone I had a joint account with that I also had a sole account there). This is equally as serious, if not more, in that the OP could reasonably state that they've been financially disadvantaged. I couldn't. And don't forget we don't know the OP's salary...only (some of) their debt situation. If their income would support more credit were it not for the loan being reported twice then they most certainly would have been disadvantaged.

If nothing else, a complaint to both the lender and the CRA, followed up by escalation to the FOS (and if necessary the ICO), would mean they'd have to demonstrate they'd tightened up their procedures...both for the reporting by the lender, and also for the checking of the data integrity by the CRA. And it's this that will drive the figure awarded.

moshoodo1

TheEffect wrote: »

It is rare a lender would give this information (maybe a small minority do), however Barclaycard do not. They simply state 'declined due to credit scoring'.



£100s in compensation for what exactly? A declined credit card application where this error might not even be the reason it was declined?

The failed letting agent check would not be the result of this debt.

Barclaycard said samething to my gf when she applied January. They said her application was declined due to high level of external credit commitment which was true.