incorrectly issued Default and Identity fraud

dompew

Need some advice, this is a long complicated story but will try to give the short version

I opened a Lloyd's account and a few months later I moved and changed my address in branch and moved to address 2, about 6 months later I noticed I had not been receiving any post from Lloyd's and contacted them. It turns out that they had updated my home address but left my correspondence address as address 1, the old address, they apologised and made a payment of £200 as a good will gesture.

I moved home again about 6 months later to address 3 and after a few months at the new address I noted that once again I was not getting any post, I contacted Lloyd's and they admitted that they had made the same mistake again and post was being sent to address 2, apologies were made along with another good will payment.

A few months later I was moving again due to my relationship falling apart, I went into the branch to change my address to address 4 where I was advised it could not be done in branch due to a block, I filled out a form and left it with the staff member to send to their offices. I actually stooped using the account and opened a new account a few weeks later as I was annoyed at all the issues I was having with the address.

A few years later I was checking my credit file as i had been refused mortgage and noted 6 defaults on my credit file, one from Lloyds and the rest from lenders. Through investigation it was found that someone had stolen my identity using my banking details and my old address. They gained access to the Lloyds account and also had taken out a number of loans. I have had all the loans written off and the defaults removed however Lloyds are refusing.

They sold it to Lowell who investigated and agreed that it was not me and wrote off the debt and removed their credit markers but Lloyds still refuse. They also informed me that despite lloyds sending the second letter of apology the address was never changed and is still set as address 2 and had not been edited since 2012.

I’ve written to the ombudsman who have said that there is a note on the Lloyds systems to say the default was issued and this was good enough for them that it was issued correctly and do not think lloys were responsible for the ID fraud and therefore cannot make Lloyds remove defult or compensate me however they did say I have a strong legal case if I took it to court. i rejected their decision.

Lloyd's have never sent me a copy of the notice despite numours requests nor did it provide a copy to the ombudsman I have gone all the way to the executive office and now they are blanking my emails and not responding to my letters.

I want to have the default removed as it is affecting my credit file, I don’t believe it was issued but if it was it would have been sent to address 2 and I have proof of this, dated screen shots of Lloyds systems and their letter admitting to the previous mistake. I do also want Lloyds to take responsibility for their misuse of my information and provide a proper apology along with payments to cover

1. The costs of obtaining the 3 different credit reports to track down lenders to have defaults fought.
2. Compensation for their misuse of my information which directly resulted in my identity being stolen
3. Compensation for the default on my credit file for the past 4 years as it was never issued to me at my address

I don’t have the money for fancy lawyers and am going to try and do this myself, but could really do with some advice and some pointers to legislation or legal presidents

fatbelly

Lloyds and FOS - both useless as usual.

Here's my suggestion - one last attempt to get sense from them before starting a court claim.

Go to your local CAB and ask the adviser to make a complaint to Lloyds using the escalation team contacts under 'creditor contacts' on CABLINK.

It's possible the advisor may not know they are there but they are.

There's a daytime team and an evening team, then one named individual as the final 'Liaison Manager'

But if all that fails you will need to start a court claim. It's not a difficult process and you seem able to express yourself clearly in writing.

I linked to a case in this post that, although not identical, shows how to set out particulars of claim, and how the court dealt with it.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3318114

National_Debtline

Hi Dompew and welcome to MSE,

dompew wrote: »

I want to have the default removed as it is affecting my credit file, I don’t believe it was issued but if it was it would have been sent to address 2 and I have proof of this, dated screen shots of Lloyds systems and their letter admitting to the previous mistake. I do also want Lloyds to take responsibility for their misuse of my information and provide a proper apology along with payments to cover

1. The costs of obtaining the 3 different credit reports to track down lenders to have defaults fought.
2. Compensation for their misuse of my information which directly resulted in my identity being stolen
3. Compensation for the default on my credit file for the past 4 years as it was never issued to me at my address

I don’t have the money for fancy lawyers and am going to try and do this myself, but could really do with some advice and some pointers to legislation or legal presidents

I think a key point to make you aware of is that there is difference between a default being sent to you (so they can enforce the debt in the county court) and the default being registered on your credit file. The default on your credit file is normally registered when they feel the 'relationship has broken down' and they are not required to send you paperwork about this one.


Only incorrect data can be removed from your credit file and you have done the right thing by complaining and escalating the situation. As you have already taken the matter to the Financial Ombudsman, I am afraid there is not much more you can do, other than consider legal advice. The only other place that might be able to help you is the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) who regulate the credit files.


Legal action here could be quite risky and pricey, so be careful. The default will only show for 6 years from the date of default so will come off in 2 years anyway. Good luck,


Laura
@natdebtline

dompew

Fatbelly Thank you for the information, I have had a quick glance over it and can deffently pull some of the points from the particulars. Will have a good read through later.

fatbelly

You may get some useful info from this ICO document

http://www.scoronline.co.uk/sites/default/files/high_level_prinicples_document_final.pdf

The lender must have notified you of their intention to register a default against you at least 28 days before doing so, in order to give you time to make an acceptable payment or reach an agreement with them on an arrangement.

The default amount filed should normally be the balance amount as quoted on the default notice.