Bank Error ruined my credit file!!! HELP

saintkiller

Hi,

My credit file has been ruined by a massive bank error through no fault of my own. I applied for a Barclay Card in the mid of 2007 with the intension of transferring a balance onto it. When I received the card it came with a very low credit limit so I decided to cancel it straight away. So I called the number printed at the back of the card and cancelled it which was done straight away. A couple of months after that I moved houses. Suddenly I started getting declined for any application which needed a credit search. I had to deposit £50 for a sky contract and was declined a telephone contract. I could not understand what had gone wrong.

In Feb 08 I had to pay an instalment on a property I booked abroad for which I had paid about £3000 advance to book it. I had planned to apply for a loan to pay the instalment when I booked the property. When I applied for a loan with my bank, I was declined and advised that I had several missed payments on my credit file and hence my app was declined. When I ordered a copy of my credit file it turned out that Barclay was claiming that I had missed payments on their card and then eventually paid it off. Now, I have been chasing this issue with Barclays from Feb till date but have not succeeded. I had to go to the financial ombudsman just so that they listen to my complain which they did. It had been 3 months since then and again nothing has been done about getting the mistake off my credit file. I have been fined £1500 by the agent I booked the property with as I could not make the payment and they refunded the rest. When I called Barclays yesterday the advisor told me that my case has not yet been picked up and is in a queue. I am due to contact the Financial ombudsman again to get their help. Can you please advise me of the best course of action and also suggest what amount I should sue them for in damages, if I am entitled to any at all.

Thanks

SK

YorkshireBoy

There's one crucial bit missing from your post...how did you come to have a balance on the card in the first place?

saintkiller

Thats the thing... i have no idea.. its an error on their side. i never used the card

YorkshireBoy

When you make a complaint to an financial institution, either directly or through the FOS, the organisation has 8 weeks to either rectify the situation or send you a letter of deadlock.

This letter of deadlock is then sent to the FOS, along with a completed questionnaire (which the FOS will have sent you when you first logged your complaint with them).

The FOS will then formally take up your case.

So, I'm struggling to understand why you're still having problems some 3 months after contacting the FOS.

I suggest your next port of call should be contact the FOS again.

saintkiller

That is what i am doing now. I contacted them today and they want me to fill out a form and send it through. However, they said it might take upto 6 months to resolve the issue. Now i am in finantial difficulty now and cannot apply for any credit as i would be declined. It is rediculous that they expect me to wait another 6 months before this gets resolved.

catwoman150

If you have never used the card. The card should have a 0.00 balance on it. Have you checked you credit file to see if anyone is using your details to obtain credit as you have moved house as well.

jimbo26

You need to take control of this situation and start doing some work yourself. This isn't a criticism but advice. The FOS and Barclaycard have no incentive to progress this quickly, you do.

Start by adding a notice of correction to your file.

Get copies of statements from Barcaycard to find out how/where the money was spent. What have Barclaycard said about this situation?

If the information they hold is factually incorrect they have a duty under the data protection act to correct it.

GeorgeUK

I'd also request a subject access request (SAR) from Barclaycard. This should show all the transaction that have been made on your account as well as any other information they hold on you. There is a £10 fee for this but may be worth it to see what has happened.

Data Protection Act 1998 Subject Access Request

Dear Sir/Madam

ACCOUNT NUMBER: xxxxxxxxx (or multiple numbers if more than one account)

Please supply me with a complete list of transactions and charges relating to my banking history with your organisation.

Additionally, where there has been any event in my account history over this period which has required manual intervention by any member of your staff, or any other person, I require disclosure of any indication or notes which have either caused or resulted in that manual intervention, or other evidence of that manual intervention in relation to my banking business with you.

If you are unable to supply this data because there has been no such manual intervention, then please be so kind as to confirm this in your response.

I enclose the statutory maximum fee of £10. You have 40 days in which to comply. Furthermore, if I discover that you have levied disproportionate penalties against me, then I shall be reclaiming them, and also reclaiming the enclosed £10 Data Protection Act subject access request fee.

If there is specific information which you require in order to satisfy yourself as to my identity, please let me know by return. However, please note that the above address is the one which you normally use to communicate my private business to me and which you have hitherto found to be acceptable.

I would be happy to collect the Data from my local branch.


Yours faithfully,

saintkiller

Wow, didnt know i can do all that. Thanks alot for your input guys. I will put through a Data access request and see what they send me. Hopefully that should include my statements as well. I am looking into the notice of correction bit, just reasearched it after jimbo mentioned it. Seems like a good idea.

GeorgeUK

Instead of a list of transactions, you could say

I require a copy of all information your company hold on me including account statements and details of payments

You may not receive actual statements, but the transaction details should be sent to you - probably just a different layout.

jamesd

Take a bit of care with wording just to be certain that you don't accidentally describe the transactions as yours.