Incorrect defaults on my file

abzilla

Hi all,

I'm after a bit of advice from you superstars.

I'm 23 and from the age of 18 I've had my challenges with payday loans as I have never been accepted by a high street lender. I've learnt to live with a "very poor" credit rating as I thought it was down to the number of loans I've had. Bearing in mind I haven't really had missed payments, defaults or ccjs. The only ones to mention are:

A credit card in 2013/14 that did default
A default on a phone contract in 2015 that was settled and I managed to get that wiped of my file a few weeks ago


Recently I was rejected by a lender that I've used a number of times over the last year or so with no missed payments and I checked my credit score and it went down even after getting the phone contract default removed.

Over the years I've mainly used Noddle to check my credit file (as it's free) and it always gave me a rating of 1 out of 5 and over the last 6+months a paid report from Equifax which also gave me a very poor rating.
The only issue on these were the phone contract which obviously has since been removed. The credit card wasn't even showing on Equifax.

I couldn't make sense of this so I checked my Experian credit file and to my horror I've had credit cards under:

Lloyds with a time frame of 17 years
Barclays with 16 years
MBNA with 15 years

Barclays is shown as a closed account but with previous defaults. Lloyds and MBNA are and have been in default in the last 1-12 months, in the last 12-24 months and 25+ months. At this point I'd like to highlight again.. I'm 23 so how can I have accounts that old?! And I haven't had any of the above accounts.

I contacted Experian this morning and they asked if I have anyone in the family that it could relate to, they gave me a date of birth and it matched to my dad's. Now fair enough my dad went through a tough patch in setting up his business but let's put that to the side.

My point is I've lived in financial distress and hardship were I thought I had been completely removed from acceptance from high street lenders and having to pay extortionate interest rates because of the error Experian made. It all makes sense now.

My question would be, where do I stand with this now? Obviously they will remove the defaults but my life has been impacted heavily by this. I feel compensation is definitely warranted in this situation and maybe even a near perfect credit rating if I was to push for any other negative impacts on my file to be removed due to the error and my idea would be to pursue this with Experian directly but also Noddle for not providing me with correct information and Equifax for this also.

Like I say I just want your views on this situation and what you would do or would expect as an outcome of this situation.

Thanks

Arleen

abzilla wrote: »

My question would be, where do I stand with this now? Obviously they will remove the defaults but my life has been impacted heavily by this. I feel compensation is definitely warranted in this situation and maybe even a near perfect credit rating if I was to push for any other negative impacts on my file to be removed due to the error and my idea would be to pursue this with Experian directly but also Noddle for not providing me with correct information and Equifax for this also.

This is not going to happen, I'm sorry. And your score, even with the wrong defaults, is far from perfect as history of recurring payday loans alone is going to make most high street vendors run for their life.

What really worries me in your post though is that you seem to be depending now on loans, namely payday loans. And while you say this is because you cannot get a high street lender to take you, that is incorrect. You shouldn't need to rely on credit at all, it should only be used to bridge financial gaps on large purchases, and otherwise you should live within your own financial means.

I strongly suggest that you will head over to debt free wannabe boards: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=76 and post a SOA: http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php to have a close look at your finances. Folks there can really help you in non-judgemental way, and easily free a lot of ghost money you may have.

glosoli

Your priority really has to be to get out of the pay day loan cycle, it sounds as though over time they have became part of your every day financial situation, and at such a young age this is not good...

abzilla

Arleen, thanks for replying and I completely take on board what you've said. Fortunately I'm pretty much at the debt free life now it's just taken me some time to get there. From the heights of having loans worth just over a £1000 a month a year or 2 ago to having only borrowed £150 the other month. I know I've been stupid but I'm getting myself out of that rut. Believe it or not I also work in the financial sector so I have a general understanding of the severity of issues and what might go through the ombudsman but I'm not familiar with credit refrencing mistakes. The fact that I've also been made aware of my dad's financial accounts also signal severe breaches of data protection.

I know I probably sound like I'm "milking" the situation and I probably am but really in this day and age you've got to go for anything that impacts you. I genuinely didn't think I'd be able to get a mortgage for another 6 years however my partner works in a mortgage company that even accept defaults and ccjs.. whereas I've tried getting a £2000 loan from a high street lender and they just give me a big fat no. It just beggars belief that where I've been borrowing constantly and generally paying back on time I'm a higher risk than someone that has missed payments more than me!

abzilla

Glosoli.. tell me about it but fortunately I'm out of the payday loan trap and for a 23 year old I'm on really good money.. I just feel like I've been victimised because of this error.

I've been refused bank accounts, refused any overdrafts I've literally been crippled credit wise.

If we were to look at this in the eyes of the law, I've been marked down as guilty for the last 4-5 years for something that I haven't done.

Surely I have some grounds on this?

abzilla

*Tell me about it.. they should teach this stuff in schools.

ashp_2

You won't get any compensation so you may as well not waste your time trying.

Arleen

The reality is that their duty is to fix whenever an error is brought to their attention - they did so, as the accounts will be removed from your file. And (almost) every time you were denied a loan, the rejection letter included details which CRA they used and for you to go and check with them what is on your file - something you didn't do for years. Hard to blame it on them, as you could've checked your credit file at any point in time.

It's worth remembering that credit is a privilege, not right, and whoever is lending money decides the criteria. May I ask why do you want to borrow the 2k? If you have finances under control now, can't you just save for few months and/or buy cheaper version of the item?

GingerBob_3

Arleen wrote: »

The reality is that their duty is to fix whenever an error is brought to their attention - they did so, as the accounts will be removed from your file. And (almost) every time you were denied a loan, the rejection letter included details which CRA they used and for you to go and check with them what is on your file - something you didn't do for years. Hard to blame it on them, as you could've checked your credit file at any point in time.

It's worth remembering that credit is a privilege, not right, and whoever is lending money decides the criteria. May I ask why do you want to borrow the 2k? If you have finances under control now, can't you just save for few months and/or buy cheaper version of the item?

No. It's neither a privilege nor a right. It's a business transaction, pure and simple. If there's any 'privilege' at all, then it's the other way: the provider is privileged that we choose to do business with them.


As for the point of this thread - maybe someone who works at Experian, or another CRA could come clean and explain how these types of mistakes occur. I genuinely cannot comprehend how such diabolical data processing takes place. Anyone got any thoughts on this?

abzilla

I'd have to agree with Gingerbob. I can see where your coming from but to me the facts are:

- My credit file has been tarnished as a near bankrupt individual with no means of repayment when this was not the case.

- I've had to live with high interest rates on a large number of loans.

- I've seen my dad's personal information which is a breach of data protection.

- Over the last two years my partner has had to take out finance for our car as when I applied for credit I was offered it at £6000 for the car and pay back £12000. She's actually been thinking I've been lying about how bad my situation was and I've told her everything.

- I've had callcredit reports since about 2013 and Equifax reports since mid 2016 paying £9.95 - neither have shown these credit cards yet show pretty much the same credit score as Experian.

- When I was 17 I was challenged by an employer over CCJs that were incurred in 2005. I would have been 11-12 years old to get this at that time.

- When I was running a limited business with a limited business bank account that was turning over 400k a year I had to push for a 1k over draft which I initially was declined along with no ability to get any loans.

- I was generally afraid doing the pre-employment checks when I got my job in a finance company 3 years ago. A few months ago I got headhunted and was heading over to another finance company which I was once again terrified I'd get refused the job due to my credit file.

In a nutshell this has really screwed me. And the fact that my dad's name is on the defaulted payments on my credit file and his date of birth is on there even though it clearly states my date of birth on the credit file itself. It even says I'm associated with my mum when I'm not at all.

The 2k was to consolidate the debts I had at the time which if any other person applied for in a similar situation I feel would have been accepted as I had all the means to pay and prove this.

ashp_2

Nobody is doubting they have screwed you over. I also agree with GingerBob that its quite wrong. This doesn't change the fact that you won't get anywhere in regards to compensation. There are many, many people that have this same issue as you.