Can I sue a credit reporting agency

Just_An_Opinion

I had an issue where Transunion incorrectly put 6 missed payments on my credit report. After 5 months of investigation they finally admitted it was entirely their error and removed these inaccuracies. Before the fault I had a 990 credit rating, it dropped to 600 with the fault, I was rejected for a mortgage had credit card limits reduced and paid high interest on items that were to be paid off with the rejected mortgage. 4 weeks after the correction my credit report was back to perfect at 990+ and my mortgage was approved. This cost be around £1000 in extra interest, lost mortgage application deposit and around 40hours of calls and emails over months.

The ombudsman has found in my favour and offered £250 compensation, do you think I should accept or claim more through small claims?

Transunion are saying because I cant offer definitive proof (I.e. a rejection letter stating I was denied credit because of the specific missed payments) and my proof only states I failed the credit check then they are not responsible....  I have never missed a payment and my credit before and after their error was excellent so I believe everything points at it being there fault. Can I and should I sue? They have been difficult at every point, always moving the goalposts and not exactly lying to the ombudsman but only giving details that back up their story until called out.

Any opinion would be great.

etienneg

In any case where you go to court, it is not a matter of what YOU think ("so I believe everything points at it being there fault") but what YOU can PROVE to a judge by objective means.

Stuff like "They have been difficult at every point, always moving the goalposts and not exactly lying to the ombudsman but only giving details that back up their story until called out" is completely irrelevant. And (as is often said on here) credit SCORES are meaningless.

It's very difficult for many people to be objective about things in which they are involved. It's all too easy to be blinkered on just the things that seem to support your position and subconsciously gloss over things to the contrary.

Nobody will deny that your mortgage application was rejected, but (as they say) how can you PROVE this was due to the credit report? Don't just imagine you can stand before a judge any say, "Well, it's obvious!"

"This cost be around £1000 in extra interest, lost mortgage application deposit and around 40hours of calls and emails over months." How would you PROVE this? (Again - not just that you think it's likely.) You cannot "charge" for your time spent.

And there are costs (such as court fees) that could be lost or reduce any award if you did win.

Generally, advice is that unless you have a VERY strong case, keep away from court!

eskbanker

Just_An_Opinion said:

This cost be around £1000 in extra interest, lost mortgage application deposit and around 40hours of calls and emails over months.

The ombudsman has found in my favour and offered £250 compensation, do you think I should accept or claim more through small claims?

Did FOS award £250 in 'distress and inconvenience' compensation over and above those costs, or £250 in total?

Either way, why would a court come down more firmly on your side than the ombudsman?

MyRealNameToo

The FOS has a legal duty to find fair outcomes; the courts, in most circumstances, have to blindly follow the letter (hence the statue of justice is often depicted wearing a blindfold). As such the FOS is normally considered much more customer leaning than the courts. Not claiming it hasn't happened but Ive not seen a single case where a customer has gotten a better result after subsequently going to court (excl default judgements)

FS companies can request a judicial review of FOS decisions, and some of those have said the FOS was wrong but they dont change the outcome for the customer.

You would need the lender to categorically state the reason for the decline was the erroneous missed payments. 

MEM62

Just_An_Opinion said:

Any opinion would be great.

Any litigation is both risky and expensive.  For the amounts involved, even if you could prove you case, it's just not worth it.  whilst the emotional need for some satisfaction is understandable, the pragmatic thing would be do draw a line under it and move on.