Wrong Information on my Experian Credit File!

dwmatthews2000

Hi All

I have had incorrect information put on my file by experian. The reason being my father has the same name and they do not check and have put on my file, I have raised this issue asking for it to be removed yet they want letters from my father, court letters etc and as we do not speak anymore this is going to be impossible. They have advised they will look into it and respond within the next 28 days but in the meantime because of it being CCJ's it has taken my score from 973 down to 678 and I am about to apply for a mortgage which i will now obviously be refused for if i proceed.

Any suggestions on how to get this rectified without waiting for them to go through their errors ?

[Deleted User]

Are they still asking for documents from your father?

Or are they now saying they will respond within 28 days regardless?

Obviously if you need to apply for the mortgage within that time frame, you would explain the issue to your broker/lender.

National_Debtline

Hi dwmatthews2000

Unfortunately this kind of thing can sometimes happen when you have the same name as someone in debt, particularly when you have lived, or are living, at the same address. Information recorded on your credit file must be accurate and factually correct. If the credit reference agency fails to resolve the matter you can make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) www.ico.org.uk.


It might be worth considering anything that would set your credit file apart from your father's, such as different addresses. Was the CCJ registered to an address that you have both lived at?


As zx81 says, you could continue with your mortgage application explaining to the lender what has happened. Or you might want to put things on hold until the matter has been resolved. It's worth trying to speak to a mortgage broker who may have had experience of this kind of problem. I hope you can get the matter resolved soon.

Susie
@natdebtline

tenchy

This is similar to other posts I've seen here, and it just doesn't add up. People are identified at the credit agencies by name, address and date of birth, so assuming your father's date of birth is not the same as yours there should be no conflict. I would report the matter to the regulator. The credit agency is acting illegally if the are processing knowingly incorrect information. And that appears to be precisely what they are doing, unless some lender submitted information about your father but with your date of birth. That is the only way I can see this happening.

steve1500

Don't forget that the Data Protection Act requires information to be accurate & up to date.


You are well within you rights to seek compo under the Act for damage and or distress

TheSageMan

I found out today I'm in the same boat as you.

I thought the drop was due to a recent vehicle purchase, however, digging deeper (given the extent of the drop in number) I found that TWO CCJs belonging to my father, who lives at a different address to me (which I was last registered at 4 years ago), who I only share my middle name with, has massively impacted my scoring with Experian and is affecting my ability to obtain credit. Oh and the kicker...I had a financial disassociation raised against my parents around 13 years ago. No idea how long that lasts but clearly isn't working.

I spent over an hour on the phone to Experian today; only to be told I have to sit in line and go through the process (raise query, 28 days, may be removed etc)...for an error they've admitted is a matching issue and is likely due to some system changes that occurred in June of this year!!

I have raised two queries on the CCJs, an official complaint (verbally) has been raised by me, I've drafted a letter for my father to send via post and email for a formal complaint on his behalf and have advised I will be seeking advice from the FCA, FO and ICO in regard to the matter.

I wish you luck with your query...and would certainly like to hear from anyone else experiencing this in the last 3 months...I'm tempted to speak to a lawyer about Experians mishandling of personal data.

Thanks

dwmatthews2000

Thanks to all for your responses and input, zx81 you are correct with their formal response of 28 days and the if you are unhappy you can go through the Ombudsman who I have already been in contact with.

I will keep you all updated on the outcome, fingers crossed they can see their error without having to fight this too much.

sheff6107

dwmatthews2000 wrote: »

Hi All

I have had incorrect information put on my file by experian. The reason being my father has the same name and they do not check and have put on my file, I have raised this issue asking for it to be removed yet they want letters from my father, court letters etc and as we do not speak anymore this is going to be impossible.

What do the other two credit agencies show?

Experian's requests are unreasonable. If I am a victim of identity theft how I am going to obtain letters from the fraudster to prove there are two of us??

hatzbarts

Hi just joined the forum as I have had the same issue and therefore wanted some advice.

I have checked my credit report today via experian. It states a CCJ, under my dads name but we share the same middle name and same address. I have no financial associations on my credit report. I called experian who said they can't sort it out and I have to contact the MSE Credit Club whom I have emailed. I have also emailed the experian complaints team. This CCJ has appeared for the first time on this report and has not been on any previous reports through the MSE credit club.

I am close to securing a property and applying for a mortgage but worried this will now prevent me from being approved for one which is quite stressful.

What else should I do? For those going through this above, was it sorted out?

TheSageMan

The team at Experian you spoke to will only show interest if you have a membership to their Credit Expert product.

The official route for complaint (for queries relating to statutory credit report) is via email (which in my opinion is wholly unacceptable); however when raising via email I would also raise a query MSE CreditClub which you do when logged in. In addition to all this I would also recommend raising a complaint direct to Experian (details on procedure can be found here http://www.experian.co.uk/assets/consumer/contact-us/complaint-handling-procedure.pdf)

In my case, the records haven't been straightened out and I've a complaint ongoing yet to receive final response. I will once the issue is entirely satisfied report back with my findings as I'll also be asking for a route of communication that can be advised publically in dealing with such matter as it would appear this 'mis-match' issue is of Experians doing.

I hope this helps in the mean time

dwmatthews2000

Evening All

Sorry for late response, been a little hectic this end.

Just to let you know this is now all settled after taking 9 weeks from start to finish, all info was removed from my file and they compensated me £225 for any distress caused!

Although it was a stressful preiod of time I knew it would eventually get solved as I had nothing to hide and the additional £225 was a bonus.

Thanks all for you input, much appreciated. Hope everyone else int he same boat gets everything sorted.

Thanks
Dave