Fraudulent Loan on Credit File

MarcMCFC1986

In 2017 somebody took out 4 Pay Day Loans in my name, along with a bank account with an overdraft - with which they just withdrew all the cash from the overdraft. I discovered these accounts in February 2018 when the debt collection companies contacted me at my new address. Since then I have reported all the loans as fraudulent to the relevant companies, and had responses from them all to say that they have investigated, agree that they are fraudulent and will be removed from my Credit File. 

Since then I have got credit from other places, but never been straightforward, always been referred to underwriters, etc. and quite often declined, resulting in me having to go elsewhere with a higher interest rate. I always assumed that it was just taking a while for my credit file to adjust. However, a couple of weeks ago I got a letter from Lantern Debt Recovery Services to say they are collecting a loan of around £98 for 247Moneybox - one of the companies who emailed me in February 2018 and told me to 'rest assured' that they would close the account and it would be removed from my credit file.

I've since had a look at my credit file, and there it is - still there 4 years later, which explains my struggle for getting credit elsewhere.

Anybody know where I can go from here? What my rights/expectations should be in terms of compensation?

Brie

Rotten service on their part obviously.  Have you seen if their website mentions anything about their complaints procedure? 

Frankly I doubt you will get much given that it's a small loan.  They might send you a £5 M&S voucher or something and an apology. 

More important would be to get them to put something on the file to explain and then check it every month until you see it's happened.  I know it's easy to say you should have checked sooner - I know I'm dreadful about keeping an eye on these things myself but given that you have continued to have problems.  

MarcMCFC1986

Thanks Brie.

I think the size of the loan is irrelevant - I didn't even take out the loan. The point is that it has cost me much more than £98 over the years having had to resort to getting credit from companies charging higher interest rates, due to this default sitting on my account for over 4 years. That's before I get into the fact we missed out on a house we wanted to buy last year because we got rejected for the mortgage, the vendor got nervous, and pulled out of the sale and sold to somebody else. That wouldn't have happened if this had been removed from my file, as promised.

Brie

I quite get that Marc - so annoying when something some random individual does affects you so very much.  I do think that most companies would take the size of the loan into consideration if they are deciding compensation even if it's not your loan.  There would be a "how much could £98 influence other lenders?"   Obviously you feel it has effected you a lot.

A quick google suggests that 247Money is no longer a viable company which will be another roadblock and may in fact account in part for why the record is still showing.  I think (may be wrong) you will need to take this all up with the administrators.  

If you can find anything on the various websites that link 247Money or their administrators to an ombudsman of some sort that may get you some leverage.  You might advise them that if they don't help you resolve this you will refer the issue to the Financial Conduct Authority.  Should you actually do this it may cost them an initial £500 just to have the complaint registered and it's at that stage (before actually going to the FCA) that you might get some compensation because it would be quicker and cheaper for them.  Or they might say that as 247Money is no longer operating they are outside of the FCA complaint process.  

The other part of the problem is that you are assuming this is why you've had credit issues.  I doubt you'd get any lender to confirm this.  And there may have been other lingering issues on your file a year back or two years.  It's hard to know at this point. 

Sorry - none of that is what you want to hear I think.  But sometimes there are things that we need to just walk away from rather than brooding over them and spending a lot of time for very little return.  I do wish you luck and can only hope that the fraudsters get their comeuppance from someone even if you don't get the satisfaction of knowing about it.

fyi - have a look here - https://harrisons.uk.com/regulated-businesses/

FeaturelessVoid

MarcMCFC1986 said:

Thanks Brie.

I think the size of the loan is irrelevant - I didn't even take out the loan. The point is that it has cost me much more than £98 over the years having had to resort to getting credit from companies charging higher interest rates, due to this default sitting on my account for over 4 years. That's before I get into the fact we missed out on a house we wanted to buy last year because we got rejected for the mortgage, the vendor got nervous, and pulled out of the sale and sold to somebody else. That wouldn't have happened if this had been removed from my file, as promised.

It's your inaction that has caused you to, possibly, pay over the odds in obtaining credit.  If you think blaming an error on their part is going to lead you to riches, think again.

Write to Lantern and inform them as you did the previous creditor, and then move on.  But keep an eye on your file this time for Christ's sake.

MarcMCFC1986

I have kept an eye on my file - I was signed up with Clearscore and Experian. Turns out this was on a credit report with Transunion, who I have never even heard of and so didn’t know existed. How was I supposed to keep an eye on something that I didn’t know existed?

[Deleted User]

Check your file on Credit Karma (the front end of the TransUnion) just in case anything else is untoward

MarcMCFC1986

I've signed up to CheckMyFile which covers all of them, apparently - but I still think it is ridiculous. These companies hold potentially life changing data about me, and I don't even know they exist in order to ensure said data is accurate.

[Deleted User]

MarcMCFC1986 said:

I've signed up to CheckMyFile which covers all of them, apparently - but I still think it is ridiculous. These companies hold potentially life changing data about me, and I don't even know they exist in order to ensure said data is accurate.

Better to check them individually.

[Deleted User]

MarcMCFC1986 said:

I've signed up to CheckMyFile which covers all of them, apparently - but I still think it is ridiculous. These companies hold potentially life changing data about me, and I don't even know they exist in order to ensure said data is accurate.

That is why they are doing lots of adverts on TV at the moment - make people aware of them and their fake "service" alongside their fake "score" and try and get some revenue. I appreciate it might be easier but I prefer to check the 3 individually rather than through a third party site

penners324

Checkmyfile costs money.

Credit karma, clearscore and experian/mse credit club are all free