TalkTalk and Identity Theft ruining Credit Rating

petemay

Dear Martin Lewis and anyone reading, 
My girlfriend was the victim of Identity Theft in 2016 which was reported to the police.  She is a Senior Registrar doctor in Oncology which excellent professional and personal character references and she has never defaulted on any debt.  The fraud was not discovered until 2017 when bailiff notices started arriving for car penalty charges, car insurance, (my girlfriend did not have a car) and a few utility company bills.  Everything was reported to the police.  The suspected perpetrator of the fraud was identified as the charges related to their address and car and when challenged, he admitted the fraud in whats app messages.  This evidence was offered to the police.  He also stole money from my girlfriend (and was later suspected of stealing her jewellery).  He even threatened her to dissuade her from telling the police and she also reported this to the police, leading to a visit from police officers to check she was ok.  Everything was reported to the police and Action Fraud numbers were obtained.   All the car and utility companies ceased to pursue my girlfriend except TalkTalk. 
My girlfriend told Talk Talk she was not the account holder and asked questions about the account to help prove her innocence.  Talk Talk said that due to data protection they could not discuss any account details with her as she could not prove she was the account holder. 
Talk Talk were given the Action Fraud crime reference numbers as evidence of the Identity Theft and they said it was insufficient to pass the matter to their own fraud department. 
The same unhelpful responses were given by the CEOs office when complaints were sent to Talk Talk's CEO.  Talk Talk sold the debt (circa £240) to an US company who employed bailiffs to lodge a Court claim.  Only when the Claim was acknowledged and they were informed the Claim would be defended in Court did they withdraw the claim, on account of the evidence of fraud and they said they had closed their file.   However they said they could not help clear the poor credit history entry that was still ruining my girlfriend's credit history on Equifax, despite all genuine Equifax linked accounts being paid on time.  Equifax confirmed only Talk Talk could help. 
Talk Talk gave the same responses that they could not investigate despite no longer owning the alleged debt, unless my girlfriend could give specific proof of address from January and February 2016, (Tenancy agreement, Mortgage agreement, Deeds, Bank statement or Utility Bill) from 4 year's earlier, which was not available.  They were shown evidence of her flight to UK from Germany when she moved country at the end of January 2016.  They were informed she stayed with various friends and acquaintances in February 2016 and they were shown Airbnb receipts for March 2016.  She lived with me from April 2016.  I run a surveying practice in London and witnessed everything unfold.  I offered to meet with Talk Talk's CEO or representatives.  I even offered to pay the alleged debt after growing tired of seeing the torment it was causing my girlfriend over the 4 year period and given how much of my time it was wasting writing letters, appealing to Talk Talk, defending the Claim on her behalf etc.  Despite not owning the debt anymore, they refused my offer to pay it, if they withdrew the Equifax entry.   They said I could complain to an Ombudsmen, but the company they referred me, CISAS, said they could not deal with cases involving fraud.  CISAS referred me to another company who might help with fraud cases, however when I contacted them, they said they did not deal with cases involving utility companies!  They also said it was too historic to be able to help. 
My girlfriend is currently finishing her specialization training working in a hospital in Germany.  She was planning to move back to UK but said the TalkTalk entry on Equifax is ruining her credit rating and she is worried it will affect her ability to get a mortgage.  She is therefore questioning whether she wants to return to UK. 
I would be grateful for any advice on how to clear the incorrect bad credit entry, as I really have run out of options and I don't know how I can help her resolve this matter. I also note Talk Talk recently told Equifax that she was a customer, which is not true and that she had been in touch with their fraud department, which is not true as they refused to let her speak to their fraud department.  They also said evidence and a crime reference number was required before the entry can be removed, implying this had not been given, which is not true.  The crime reference number was provided as well as all the available evidence.  

Thanks and kind regards

Pete

TripleH

To summarise : girlfriend was victim ofbidentity theft, has negative marker on credit file. 
Talk talk refuse to remove it despite her having supporting documentation. (If I read correct)
Petemay, she needs to raise a formal complaint (in writing with copies of any supporting documentation proving she was the victim and give them a fixed period to rectify the issue.

You might check on the credit file section as they would have a better idea of the process and how to escalate this further. 

petemay

Talk Talk wont discuss what the account is for, citing data protection and saying she can't prove she's the customer... which she is not and yes, they won't remove the negative marker on her credit file. The company they sold the debt too have withdrawn the Claim due to the evidence of fraud.  Talk Talk won't accept a Crime reference Action Fraud number as evidence of fraud and are insisting on a specific proof of address document from 4 years ago which she does not have. I already complained to the Chief Executive's Office hoping to get some sense and got nowhere. I will try and find the credit file section, thanks!

knightstyle

Have you emailed?   tristia.harrison@talktalkplc.com

CoolHotCold

Sorry but Equifax are wrong.

They have a obligation to verify the details that they hold on you are correct under GDPR.

Get the owner to go back to the agency and fill out a notice of dispute.

https://www.econsumer.equifax.co.uk/consumer/uk/uib/images/EFX_UK/en_GB/Notice_of_Dispute.pdf

mikb

I don't think it's reasonable, or legal, for Talk Talk to take the position that she is liable for the debt, send bailiffs and trash her credit rating, while at the same time refusing to discuss the matter with her "because it's not her business".

eddddy

You can complain to the Information Commissioner...

What should I do if my credit file is inaccurate?

If your credit file is inaccurate, you can raise your concerns with the relevant CRA you obtained your file from. However, the problem may lie with the original lender or organisation that supplied the CRA with the information so you will need to contact them instead.

If you have contacted the CRA and the original lender and there is an obvious inaccuracy which they are unwilling to correct then you may wish to make a complaint to the ICO.

link: https://ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/credit/

unholyangel

I've helped someone with a similar sort of issue before. Bank (halifax) were telling them they had to pay for a transaction they couldn't have made but weren't going to give them specific details to help them challenge it - because according to them, the fraudster had data protection rights despite the fact the "personal" data was that of the account holder, not of the fraudster. 

They wouldn't listen to sense so we ended up having to go via the ombudsman. Who agreed that the banks position on the matter was backwards and contrary to the rights of the account holder. Either they believe the account holder authorised the payment and is liable - so they would have a right for any information held on them, or they don't believe the account holder authorised the payment in which case they shouldn't be asking for payment for it. 

Did she go through talktalks complaint procedure? As part of that procedure, they should have told her where she could escalate her complaint. Or has she been burying her head, hoping it would go away with time?

Manxman_in_exile

I'd do everything suggested above plus, if your girlfriend is a junior doctor, I'd be asking the CEO if Talk Talk really wants all the adverse publicity at the moment of unfairly and unjustly harrassing a front-line NHS worker.  When you do so, make sure you've martialled all the facts demonstrating that Talk Talk are behaving like ****s.   Show that you are prepared to contact the red tops and money help pages in Sunday Times, Telegraph etc

(I am of course assuming that your GF, as an intelligent junior doctor, has gone through all the correct complaint channels with Talk Talk as mentioned above?   Nothing makes a threat of going public with really bad publicity backfire so badly as discovering you haven't been complaining properly in the first place...)

petemay

Thanks for all your comments above.  Unfortunately I have complained to Tristia Harrison and her complaints response team did not help.  They gave no info due to data protection, would not pass to their own fraud department despite the Action Fraud reference because they would do nothing without a proof of address from Jan/Feb 2016.  End of discussion as far as they were concerned. A Notice of Correction was put against the Equifax entry but they wont remove entry without permission from Talk Talk. The Ombudsmen they referred me to would not deal with disputes involving fraud.  The fraud victim is now working in a German hospital.