Old settled loan popped back up on Credit File

ndf9876

Hi all,

I'm in a bit of a fix as to how to best go about tacking this problem from here, and I could use some advice as to where I stand. The problem being this :

I check my Experian credit file monthly through MSE and have done for a while now. I checked in May, when it updated, and was a bit confused to see that an old payday loan I had in 2015 had resurfaced as open - more accurately, status 'U'.

Now by chance, I had statements about these loans from the lender directly, and was able to match up the date of the loan with the statement showing I had paid it in full 10 days after taking it.

I raised a dispute about the entry as well as contacting the lender directly. Both have been giving me the run-around for the past 8 weeks or so, and I'm a bit frustrated as I don't want this showing as an open account (I want to apply for credit soon and don't want this to count against me).

I raised the dispute with Experian through MSE, and they've stuck a Notice of Dispute against the entry but seemingly little else. The lender, despite me providing them a screenshot of the credit file, and their own statement identifying the loan, keep asking me for thing like "Base Loan ID" which I just do not have - I can't see it online and I don't have the email they sent me when I applied for it (I tend not to keep emails for that length of time!).

What I kind of want to do now is complain to the FOS, ask for compensation for the hassle and stress of trying to sort this out, but most importantly get this record reflected accurately as closed in 2015.

Thanks in advance for any help or input

National_Debtline

Hi there,


There are 3 credit files, and they all hold slightly different information. I would suggest checking Equifax (www.clearscore.com) and Call Credit (www.noddle.co.uk) to see if this debt is showing correctly. As it is only from 2015, this debt should still be showing as settled on one of the reports. Hopefully, you can use that as evidence to get this corrected quicker.


I would suggest the complaint goes against both the original lender (for selling a debt on that was actually settled) as poor service and against the new creditor for adding incorrect data to your credit file. Incorrect data can be removed, so hopefully you can get this sorted. They will have to have 8 weeks to attempt to resolve the matter (which it sounds like they have had) so you can now escalate the matter to Financial Ombudsman Service, the Information Commissioner and the payday loan companies trade association (which is hopefully on their website). You can request compensation as part of your complaint, but whether that is awarded is discretionary. Good luck,


Laura
@natdebtline