Nationwide ignores fraud??

[BartyBoy]

Hello all

I just wonder if any of you can give me some advice please.

It's a long story but I will try to keep it short...

4 months ago, I discovered someone (a complete stranger) has used my home address to apply for a £20K personal loan with Nationwide 2 years ago. I contacted Nationwide to report the matter and raised my concern that it was a deliberate fraudulent act. I am the first owner of my property (new build), no one has lived at my address before me. Furthermore, my property was located in a new development site, so a new postcode was generated for all new builds here, my property was only completed 2 years ago but the personal loan was applied and accepted before I even received the keys from the developer.

Nationwide got back to me saying it was an administration error causing my home address linked to this stranger's name, as a result Nationwide offered £50.00 as a gesture of goodwill. I did not believe it was an administration error because I have also received some posts addressed to some other strangers and all these posts have the same return address which belongs to Nationwide.

As I have returned all other posts back to the return address, so I don't have those posts as evidences to support my finding. But I now keep my eyes on all posts coming though my door anyway.

Then, 2 weeks ago, I received a Makro mailer which was addressed to the same person who applied the Nationwide loan. So I forwarded the mailer to Nationwide's CEO to raise my concern again. After two weeks of waiting, I received a response from the Nationwide's Executive Team saying their decision remains the same. But they never explain to me about the administration error which they used to fob me off last time. All they say is if I am not happy with the decision, I can take them to FOS.

Based on how Nationwide behaves and responds to my complaint, I actually think of something more than just taking them to FOS – legal action.

My points are:
1. As far as I can see, Nationwide HAS NOT performed any types of check on this fraudster before providing him a £20K personal loan using my home address;
2. Nationwide lied about the investigation, they argued it was PURELY an administration error;
3. I have now provided a further evidence to show it was a genuine case of fraud, but Nationwide still refuses to accept my finding and claims their decision remains the same (still administration error??).

Based on what I have experienced here with Nationwide, please tell me if I can take any legal actions against Nationwide.

I simply think the principle of the whole incident is not right.

Many thanks in advance!

[R0b]

Re: Nationwide ignores fraud??

Hello,

So to clarify, it was only your home address that was used, including the new postcode that was used and no other personal information? I assume you discovered this through your credit file since you mention it being linked in some way, is this correct?

From Nationwide's perspective, there might be another address somewhere in the country that is the same as yours albeit a different postcode and someone at the bank may have selected the wrong address when setting up the account. That doesn't explain the Makro mailer which is an entirely separate issue and Nationwide can't be held responsible for.

Presumably they have rectified the issue and so your credit file is correct? If so, I think you might find it difficult to have any remedy by taking legal action - what is your loss? At best, you could probably say that there may have been some negligence on Nationwide's part but they have resolved it and offered you a reasonable sum of compensation. If you felt so strongly about it why didn't you follow the complaints procedure at the time you first discovered this rather than when you received the Makro mailer? At any point when the £20k was linked to you, did your interest rates on any credit cards increase or did the balance decreased?

Sometimes a court will acknowledge that there has been a breach of sorts but if you are unable to prove your loss on a balance of probabilities, then you will not be awarded any compensation or at best, the court will award a nominal amount, usually £1 to reflect that there has been a breach but the loss or damage is not proven.

You might have a better chance following up your claim with the FOS as a starting point and explaining to them what has happened and that Nationwide have failed to explain how or why this administration error has come about and so their explanation is vague at best. If you have a sum of compensation in mind e.g. £100 that you consider to be reasonable for any distress or inconvenience then you may want to say specify this too on your complaint form to the FOS.

This is just my own view, others may take a different stance.

[BartyBoy]

Re: Nationwide ignores fraud??

Hello Rob

Thank you for your comments and views.

I am not a banker and I don't work in the financial industry, so please do correct me if I am wrong.

From Nationwide's side, when a person applies for a personal loan, shouldn’t Nationwide need to check the applicants such as who they are, where they are from, whether or not they can afford to pay off the loan, etc.? Based on what I have seen so far, I do not think Nationwide has performed any checks on this specific applicant. To me, Nationwide has failed to provide duty of care and responsibility.

Going back to my home address, as I said, it is a brand new site, the developer had to apply for a new road name and a new postcode. I understand what you say about somewhere else in the UK might have the same first line of my address, but there was no way Nationwide could have picked up my postcode then. The postcode was not yet registered to any systems (such as Post Office and Royal Mail) 2 years ago, it took several months before I could see my full address appearing on the Royal Mail system. So if my postcode could not be found 2 years ago, how did Nationwide manage to find and pick it? And again, if Nationwide did not have a complete address, why would they go ahead and release £20K to someone who they have no record of?


In terms of physical loss, I have not suffered any yet, but the whole thing has give me a lot of worries and concerns, I was worried a debt collector could turn up one day to chase for payments. Yes, I can prove who I am to the debt collector, but why do I need to go through this? If Nationwide did their checks on the applicant properly, whatever I am experiencing now would not have happened.


FOS only deals on cases related to financial products, Nationwide has mis-used and mis-handled my address, it is not a financial product, therefore FOS will not look into my case.


Thank you for your time, much appreciated.

[wales01man]

Re: Nationwide ignores fraud??

With respect can I ask what you would expect from them moneywise? At any time a debt collector could call on your address for someone not you they would ask for them by name and you would no doubt say that's not me .You would have no claim on them or the creditor in that case either

[BartyBoy]

Re: Nationwide ignores fraud??

To be honest, it is not about money, but the principle.

1. Nationwide should not let any applicants use a fake address to apply for a financial product.
2. Nationwide failed to perform at least a basic credit / resident check on applicants.
3. When I brought the matter to Nationwide, Nationwide denied it was fraud but instead they lied it was an administration error.
4. When I provided further evidence to Nationwide, Nationwide still denied what they did was wrong.

Am I wrong to think it is not right to use someone's address to apply for a loan?

[R0b]

Re: Nationwide ignores fraud??

Just quickly dealing with the issue about the FOS, have they indicated to you that this doesn't fall within their jurisdiction or are you making that assumption? Yes the potential misuse of information is not a financial product but the application for the loan is and that would fall within the FOS' jurisdiction to look at, particularly if it has impacted you. But I can see both sides and the FOS may choose not to deal with it on the basis you mentioned.

Going back to my home address, as I said, it is a brand new site, the developer had to apply for a new road name and a new postcode. I understand what you say about somewhere else in the UK might have the same first line of my address, but there was no way Nationwide could have picked up my postcode then. The postcode was not yet registered to any systems (such as Post Office and Royal Mail) 2 years ago

I can't say for certainty but the first thing that springs to mind is maybe it was manually input if not found on the system? I moved into a converted office block and they had been allocated postcodes at the time people began moving in which weren't on the system but then changed when they ended up being on the RM postcode system. I'm only thinking out aloud here and trying to be rational but at the same time none of this might be applicable in your case. Nationwide will of course have their own lending criteria and if the address can't be picked, I don't think that is fatal to an applicant especially if they can be found on the electoral roll?

I understand it might have given you anxiety or distress as a result, but you've notified Nationwide of this and the extent of their involvement seems to be limited. I don't think you can hold Nationwide liable for this person's actions if they are using your address i.e. the Makro mailer you mentioned above. Have you considered reporting this to Action Fraud and seeing whether or not they will look into or at least make a record of it? Maybe it has been a mistake this person has not rectified or as you say, it could very well be fraudulent in some way or another.

Debt collectors aren't likely to turn up on your doorstep as they would have to have sent a sensible amount of correspondence beforehand though admittedly it may be possible. If that is the case and the debt collector or collecting company refuses to accept your position and continues to pursue you, then you will have a remedy against that company for harassment.

Yes, it is frustrating and annoying that something like this happens but the best thing to do is try to mitigate any issues as and when they come about, speaking to Action Fraud may be a good starting point.

[wales01man]

Re: Nationwide ignores fraud??

Am I wrong to think it is not right to use someone's address to apply for a loan?

Yes in a perfect world there would be no liars cheats conmen etctera It could always be an error as Rob says you will never know the whole story from this or any other bank