Fraudulent Default on credit report

Callendor

Hi,

I'm self employed and rely on contracts for work. I recently had a contract offer pulled because of a default on my credit report.

I checked the details and a company called Idem issued the default...

I contacted Experian and disputed the default as this has nothing to do with me and they said they would investigate with Idem.... after a week I decided to contact Idem directly....

I slammed them straight away with a CCA Credit agreement request and a default notice request.. they didn't respond to this so I phoned up... the default was apparently from a loan from HSBC (HSBC did not issue a default notice) but they have said for about a week now that "HSBC are not answering the phone" so they can't provide me with a Credit Agreement or a default notice...

I have escalated this by reporting it to the police as fraud and notifying both Experian and Idem of the police investigation and the crime reference number. Both Idem and Experian are refusing to remove the default notice until Idem have completed their own investigation... Idem have asked me for a ton of personal private information before they are willing to investigate and they said that they want it by post.... They will also now not give me any details of the loan or default as I have said it is not mine so I am not authorized under the DPA to view it.... (they say it's not mine but they continue to report it against my name)

I replied to Idem by saying that they are part of the police investigation and it is because of them that this unrepresentative information is on my credit report so I will not be providing them with all the information they have asked for, frankly I really do not trust them.

I have now issued them with an "Objection to Processing" order citing that my company has lost near £70,000 in contracts so far because of this and it is under investigation for fraud by the police.... Their response now is that they have refused to provide me with a time for how long it will take for their investigation and they are still refusing to remove the default, even during their investigation....

I have advised them that I will be reporting them to the usual array of governing bodies and professional associations they are members of but they are not budging....

I will be issuing a letter of intent to take them to court in 21 days if they do not comply with the "Objection to Processing" notice but in the meantime they continue to report to Experian data about me which is fraudulent and under police investigation....

If I don't get this removed very soon I will have to shut down my company and try to find a place to live... I have even offered to pay the balance if they remove it but they said they will not remove it...I haven't managed to find anyone at Idem who can look at this pragmatically... can anyone think of anything that might help me?

meer53

I think you will get a faster result if you stop demanding and threatening them. Try a different tack, be nice and ask them to help you, i know this is important to you but they have to be allowed to look into whats happened, unfortunately, they are in the driving seat, if you don't provide them with the information they asked for, you are delaying the process.

tomtontom

I'm not surprised they're dragging their feet - calm it down!

It is not clear from you post if you possibly do owe money to HSBC?

Callendor

I know what you mean about the approach, I tried to let Experian deal with it, then gave them a week to do something but they did absolutely nothing and gave no indication of how long it would take.... My rush is because if I don't get a contract very soon I will need to close my company.... I have lots of opportunities for contracts but with this on my file I won't be able to sign a contract with any of my clients. I have passed them near all the information they requested except my driving license, I really want to limit the information they have to play with as they have already used my personal information to register a default against an address I stayed at.

I don't owe any money to anyone, no credit cards, mortgage or anything like that.

chanz4

the police will do zero

CKhalvashi

chanz4 wrote: »

the police will do zero

On the condition that HSBC don't continue to request payment after the matter has been resolved (and they have 8 weeks to reasonably do this), then this will probably be the case.

OP, why does this stop you going for contracts? Unless you work in the financial sector (at which point, this may be the chance to cast your net further afield) or need access to finance to be able to actually do the contract, there should be no reason for it.

Callendor

Hi CKhalvashi, you're right, I contract in the Financial sector so the checks are very tight... Idem bought the loan from HSBC after it was defaulted, all Idem did was then slap a default over my credit report. I tried to get the loan details from Idem so I could approach HSBC and see what they say but Idem will not give me any information about the loan as I have reported it as Fraud they say they are not allowed to 'because of DPA' The default was issued in 2011 but it was only reported on my file more recently by Idem

meer53

So, was the loan that defaulted yours ? If it was then there is no fraud.

AndyBSG

Surely this is just a standard 'prove it' case.

If they have applied a default because you have breached a credit agreement then they are legally required to provide proof of the credit agreement as signed by yourself.

If they can't provide that proof within a certain timeframe(not sure if it's 21, 28 or 30 days so maybe someone else can confirm this) then they have to remove the default.

Some info on prove it letters here.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2607247

Brooker_Dave

Sue Experian for libel?

If you publish untruths about someone its the risk you take.

£70k in damages for your loss of contracts.

tomtontom

meer53 wrote: »

So, was the loan that defaulted yours ? If it was then there is no fraud.

This is what I don't get, he's saying he doesn't know anything, but then talking about the loan as if it could be his. More to this than we're being told?