Certificate of Discharge

LeicesterTiger

Greetings;


I was discharged from BR in 2010 (2009BR) and my six years expired in April of this year. I signed up to Experian to see the state of things and noted that I had an awful lot of duff data on there from creditors who hadn't entered the default dates correctly (as i understand it, it's not always their fault) I emailed Experian and they (a) Contacted the creditors to ask them to amend the information and (b) Added notices of dispute to my account.


I've since been contacted by Experian to tell me that 3 of 7 creditors had agreed to the information changes and that those entries will now be removed altogether as they're over 6yrs old - this morning though, I've received another email advising me that 2 creditors are refusing to amend the information until they receive proof, Experian tell me that I have to deal directly with them, is this usual?


I'll be calling the Court this morning to start the process of obtaining a Certificate of Discharge, I've already spoken to them and they tell me it'll take a few days, I also know that the fee is an extraordinary rip-off!


My questions;


1. Is it usual to have to deal direct with former creditors? I figured Experian would do that.
2. What information is contained on the CoD? Will it show that the debts concerned were included?
3. Does the CoD carry a watermark or Hologram? I'm advised that copies are £10ea and I'm going to need loads (probably) - If I can scan and copy at home, that's great, obviously i can't do that if they carry security features such as those outlined.


Many thanks in advance. This place is a massive help!

fermi

May be worth trying this first, as it is free.

From 24 June 2013 the Insolvency Enquiry Line (IEL) team will issue letters confirming the date of discharge on behalf of all official receivers’ and LTADT offices.

The IEL team will deal with all requests for a letter confirming the date of discharge and enquiries from the Courts requesting confirmation of the date of discharge. In all cases ISCIS or Legacy Corporate Reports will be used to ascertain the date of discharge. If the information cannot be found using these tools the request will be referred back to the owning office to investigate. Cases where it is discovered a suspension of discharge is in place will be referred back to the owning office to deal with.

When an office receives a written request for a letter confirming the date of discharge via an email, fax or scanned letter it should be forwarded to the IEL’s discharge inbox at [EMAIL="discharge.queries@insolvency.gsi.gov.uk"]discharge.queries@insolvency.gsi.gov.uk[/EMAIL] . The IEL team will monitor this inbox on a daily basis.

When an office receives a request via the telephone the enquirer should be asked to email their request to [EMAIL="discharge.queries@insolvency.gsi.gov.uk"]discharge.queries@insolvency.gsi.gov.uk[/EMAIL] . Please ask the enquirer to provide details of their full name, date of birth, current and previous address, national insurance number and court reference number. If the enquirer does not have access to email they should be advised to call the IEL on 0845 6029848 (callers should select option 3 followed by option 5).

Responses will be sent electronically where possible, with the discharge letter attached. If no email address is provided the letter will be posted 2nd class. The discharge letter emailed out is a Pdf copy, as this format prevents electronic amendments being made. A copy of the letter will be filed in the case file in Wisdom.
If the standard letter is insufficient for the former bankrupt’s requirements they may apply to the court for the issue of a certificate of discharge, which will indicate the date from which the discharge is effective.

To answer original questions....

1. Yes, in a lot of cases you have to go direct.

See --> Credit Reference File Clean Up Post Bankruptcy

2. No. It just says that the BR was discharged on dd/mm/yyyy. No more than that.

3. Just a court stamp that photocopies OK.

LeicesterTiger

Brilliant info, thank you!

LeicesterTiger

A quick update.


Following receipt of the Information from Fermi, I wrote a quick email to the Insolvency Service using the email address above. I received an auto-response within a minute advising me that it can take up to 15 days to receive the letter - I then received a personal response, asking me to confirm my I.D within half-an-hour and, 20 minutes later, there was the letter I needed sitting in my Inbox.


The letter shows the date of my discharge but it also includes a rather large statement that tells me that the letter alone may not be proof enough and that a CoD may still be required. I've now written a covering letter and have sent a copy of the Insolvency Service letter along with it, to two of my former creditors, asking that they update the file information. If they do this, both entries will vanish from my file, if not, all it's cost me is a stamp and I'll have to go down the CoD route.


It's a good start though.

fermi

Most tend to accept the letter in my experience. If you are unlucky and they don't, then either:-

- Complain again saying that the letter is more than enough proof, and that the creditor is being unreasonable in requiring a certificate that will show no more information than the letter does. Then get the ICO/FOS involved if they still refuse.

or

- pay for the certificate.

LeicesterTiger

Thanks for that, again. I'm double-awesome at complaining. If I were a Top Trumps card I'd score a 10 for complaining. I'll try that route first if they refuse to accept the letter.