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Bank data error - lowered credit rating..

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Hello fellow savers.

I’m after some advice as what to do next.

I am fortunate enough to have a buy to let rental property with a 75% LTV mortgage on it. This is with RBS. 

I also have a residential mortgage for my home.

Whilst in the process of moving house, at the point of exchange ( 2 days before completion ), my residential lender (Halifax) withdrew my mortgage offer at the last moment. Panic ensued.

it turned out that on that month in particular, RBS somehow released false data to TransUnion ( and possibly other third parties ) showing that I had TWO buy to let mortgages, which was not the case. This was a duplicate.

This led to my credit scores lowering, as it seemed I have twice as much debt as I actually had. Not surprisingly, Halifax we’re concerned and withdrew my mortgage.

I went into RBS (Natwest) branch and the team were very apologetic and helpful and insisted I escalate the matter to hesd office as a serious data breach. 

Thankfully later that week Halifax accepted this was an error and issued the mortgage, but my credit rating remains down. 

This happened two weeks ago, and thankfully we moved house. And this months report shows just one mortgage.

However it wasn’t until today that rbs head office got back to me. Stating that on rbs systems I only have one mortgage. And they have now checked the credit agencies and I have one now and therefore nothing more for them to do.

what I was hoping to be addressed was how this happened, was it user error, a technical flaw? And if so let’s ensure it doesn’t happen again.

I have responded to this affect but conceneee by the tone or the response that it will be brushed under the carpet. Is there any scope to escalate if they don’t investigate? 



Comments

  • powerful_Rogue
    powerful_Rogue Posts: 8,332 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    TeaBee72 said:
    Hello fellow savers.

    I’m after some advice as what to do next.

    I am fortunate enough to have a buy to let rental property with a 75% LTV mortgage on it. This is with RBS. 

    I also have a residential mortgage for my home.

    Whilst in the process of moving house, at the point of exchange ( 2 days before completion ), my residential lender (Halifax) withdrew my mortgage offer at the last moment. Panic ensued.

    it turned out that on that month in particular, RBS somehow released false data to TransUnion ( and possibly other third parties ) showing that I had TWO buy to let mortgages, which was not the case. This was a duplicate.

    This led to my credit scores lowering, as it seemed I have twice as much debt as I actually had. Not surprisingly, Halifax we’re concerned and withdrew my mortgage.

    I went into RBS (Natwest) branch and the team were very apologetic and helpful and insisted I escalate the matter to hesd office as a serious data breach. 

    Thankfully later that week Halifax accepted this was an error and issued the mortgage, but my credit rating remains down. 

    This happened two weeks ago, and thankfully we moved house. And this months report shows just one mortgage.

    However it wasn’t until today that rbs head office got back to me. Stating that on rbs systems I only have one mortgage. And they have now checked the credit agencies and I have one now and therefore nothing more for them to do.

    what I was hoping to be addressed was how this happened, was it user error, a technical flaw? And if so let’s ensure it doesn’t happen again.

    I have responded to this affect but conceneee by the tone or the response that it will be brushed under the carpet. Is there any scope to escalate if they don’t investigate? 




    Halifax would never have seen your credit rating. Only you and the credit reference agency see that. The bank would have looked at your credit history.
    As it all seems to be resolved now, along with you getting the original deal, I can't see what else you want.
  • TeaBee72
    TeaBee72 Posts: 17 Forumite
    Second Anniversary 10 Posts
    TeaBee72 said:
    Hello fellow savers.

    I’m after some advice as what to do next.

    I am fortunate enough to have a buy to let rental property with a 75% LTV mortgage on it. This is with RBS. 

    I also have a residential mortgage for my home.

    Whilst in the process of moving house, at the point of exchange ( 2 days before completion ), my residential lender (Halifax) withdrew my mortgage offer at the last moment. Panic ensued.

    it turned out that on that month in particular, RBS somehow released false data to TransUnion ( and possibly other third parties ) showing that I had TWO buy to let mortgages, which was not the case. This was a duplicate.

    This led to my credit scores lowering, as it seemed I have twice as much debt as I actually had. Not surprisingly, Halifax we’re concerned and withdrew my mortgage.

    I went into RBS (Natwest) branch and the team were very apologetic and helpful and insisted I escalate the matter to hesd office as a serious data breach. 

    Thankfully later that week Halifax accepted this was an error and issued the mortgage, but my credit rating remains down. 

    This happened two weeks ago, and thankfully we moved house. And this months report shows just one mortgage.

    However it wasn’t until today that rbs head office got back to me. Stating that on rbs systems I only have one mortgage. And they have now checked the credit agencies and I have one now and therefore nothing more for them to do.

    what I was hoping to be addressed was how this happened, was it user error, a technical flaw? And if so let’s ensure it doesn’t happen again.

    I have responded to this affect but conceneee by the tone or the response that it will be brushed under the carpet. Is there any scope to escalate if they don’t investigate? 




    Halifax would never have seen your credit rating. Only you and the credit reference agency see that. The bank would have looked at your credit history.
    As it all seems to be resolved now, along with you getting the original deal, I can't see what else you want.
    Thanks for your reply. Halifax would have seen it, as they both use TransUnion and it was in fact on the Halifax app that I saw it.

    Sadly, I think your view on the matter is the same as RBS’ - ‘it’s sorted now, don’t worry about it.’ Ultimately, I was lucky, but what if someone else isn’t. What if someone loses their home, their future as a result or what could be a wider problem. Surely it’s in everyone’s interest to figure out how it happened? Or am I naive? 
  • MorningcoffeeIV
    MorningcoffeeIV Posts: 1,945 Forumite
    1,000 Posts First Anniversary Name Dropper
    edited 2 June 2023 at 7:29AM
    TeaBee72 said:
    TeaBee72 said:
    Hello fellow savers.

    I’m after some advice as what to do next.

    I am fortunate enough to have a buy to let rental property with a 75% LTV mortgage on it. This is with RBS. 

    I also have a residential mortgage for my home.

    Whilst in the process of moving house, at the point of exchange ( 2 days before completion ), my residential lender (Halifax) withdrew my mortgage offer at the last moment. Panic ensued.

    it turned out that on that month in particular, RBS somehow released false data to TransUnion ( and possibly other third parties ) showing that I had TWO buy to let mortgages, which was not the case. This was a duplicate.

    This led to my credit scores lowering, as it seemed I have twice as much debt as I actually had. Not surprisingly, Halifax we’re concerned and withdrew my mortgage.

    I went into RBS (Natwest) branch and the team were very apologetic and helpful and insisted I escalate the matter to hesd office as a serious data breach. 

    Thankfully later that week Halifax accepted this was an error and issued the mortgage, but my credit rating remains down. 

    This happened two weeks ago, and thankfully we moved house. And this months report shows just one mortgage.

    However it wasn’t until today that rbs head office got back to me. Stating that on rbs systems I only have one mortgage. And they have now checked the credit agencies and I have one now and therefore nothing more for them to do.

    what I was hoping to be addressed was how this happened, was it user error, a technical flaw? And if so let’s ensure it doesn’t happen again.

    I have responded to this affect but conceneee by the tone or the response that it will be brushed under the carpet. Is there any scope to escalate if they don’t investigate? 




    Halifax would never have seen your credit rating. Only you and the credit reference agency see that. The bank would have looked at your credit history.
    As it all seems to be resolved now, along with you getting the original deal, I can't see what else you want.
    Thanks for your reply. Halifax would have seen it, as they both use TransUnion and it was in fact on the Halifax app that I saw it.


    Incorrect.  Only you see the score as it's not a factor in UK lending.

    The error has been corrected and there's nothing more you need to do now.

  • CliveOfIndia
    CliveOfIndia Posts: 2,495 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    Just to reiterate the previous posts, you must understand that the score you see on your CRA report is seen only by you and the CRA.  Any lender searching your report sees only the raw data - and they use that to generate their own internal score, which bears no resemblance to the score you see.
    The incorrect data has been corrected, job done.  Yes, your fictitious CRA score may take a bit of time to creep back up, but that matters not one jot - after all, the CRAs aren't the ones lending you money :)
  • MrFrugalFever
    MrFrugalFever Posts: 1,301 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Fourth Anniversary Photogenic Name Dropper
    You could pursue RBS (NatWest) with a request to provide further information as to how this happened, perhaps a DSAR would shed some light on the matter but ultimately, you're back in the situation that you were prior to the error happening and therefore are left at the whim of the goodwill of NatWest to provide further clarification. I would imagine that no external regulator (such as FOS) will entertain anything as you've technically been put back in to a favourable position.

    Try an email asking for further clarification and possible DSAR relating to data processed during this period to CRA's?
    If you believe you can, you will. If you believe you can't, you won't.

    Secured/Unsecured loans x 1 
    Credit Cards x 8 (total limit £55,050)
    Creation FS Retail Account x 1
    Creation Credit Sale 0% x 1 = £112.50pm x 20 mths
    0% Overdraft x 1 (£0 / £250)
    Mortgage Outstanding - £137,707.00 (Payment 13/360)
    Total Debt = £7,400 (0%APR) @ £100pm - Stoozing

  • TeaBee72
    TeaBee72 Posts: 17 Forumite
    Second Anniversary 10 Posts
    You could pursue RBS (NatWest) with a request to provide further information as to how this happened, perhaps a DSAR would shed some light on the matter but ultimately, you're back in the situation that you were prior to the error happening and therefore are left at the whim of the goodwill of NatWest to provide further clarification. I would imagine that no external regulator (such as FOS) will entertain anything as you've technically been put back in to a favourable position.

    Try an email asking for further clarification and possible DSAR relating to data processed during this period to CRA's?
    Thank you ( and everyone ) for your responses. RBS have now upon request recognised this was an error on their behalf. They stated these errors do happen from time to time due to account mergers ( likely to be as I set up a currnt account at the start of the year ). This meant that my mortgage got duplicated. This was picked up internally and resolved but as it was a monthly report internally, the data had already been shared. Based on this false data being breached, they have agreed to pay out compensation ( I wasn’t even looking for any! ) and have to say the complaints department on second occasion were very helpful. 
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