Consent order help

[debbie97531]

First, thank you for all the posts, they have really helped me understand where I am with this although none of them follow my full circumstances, hence the post...

I have been the victim of fraud and found several defaults and a CCJ on my credit file which I knew nothing about.
I have contacted all parties involved over the last few months but got nowhere fast with the exception of the CCJ.

CCJ - Debt company (the usual suspect) had a judgement by default - they didn't have my correct address (nor did the original creditor, Provident)*so I never received any of the paperwork.
So far I have sent off the N244 with a witness statement.
Sent the debt company evidence the debt is not mine and they then agreed to a Consent Order
Consent order states:
1, 13(2)(b) and 13.3(1)(b)(I)….Defendant may not have had a reasonable opportunity to respond.
2, Defendant to file defence within 14 days of Order.
3, Directions Questionnaire to be filed.
4, No Order as to costs.

I have signed this and sent it back, I have received the Consent Order from the courts so it has been registered. I'm now feeling overwhelmed with what I need to provide as the order is dated 18th December but I only received it on 27th December

My queries are:
1, Should I receive anything more than the Consent Order from the court?
2, How do I submit my defence? Am I writing a defence, in the third person or am I writing a witness statement in the first person as the defendant or do I have to do both? Do I refer to the evidence within the defence/witness statement as exhibit 1, exhibit 2, exhibit 3, etc.?
3, Where do I get a Directions Questionnaire from?
4, I went through a rigorous interview process and received a job offer. The job offer was revoked when they checked my Credit file (this is the only reason I know about the CCJ) should I be asking for compensation? Have I waived my right to this by signing the consent order? I'm obviously gutted about this and emotionally attached so want a non biased opinion on if I can claim anything for this as it's affected my entire family, pension, etc.

Other fraudulent defaults
One is with the ombudsman, the others are refusing to respond other than sending me generic correspondence as they can't verify me on the account. I'm literally at my whit's end with these.

[R0b]

First and foremost, you should be doing a number of things such as reporting the matter to Action Fraud. The Experian website has some useful information on what you should be doing if you are a victim of fraud - link here. There are also a number of other links at the bottom of that page, I suggest you take the time to have a read as they may be relevant.

The next thing to do is to take one thing at a time. You've obviously dealt with the CCJ which is probably the priority here but the Consent Order is very poorly worded however, not much you can do about that now.

To answer your questions:

1. No, the Consent Order is pretty clear as to what you need to do.

2. The defence should be written third person i.e. "The Defendant ..." Have a look at this link for an example on how to set out a defence - note that the example is for a defence based on something entirely different to your current situation so if you do a copy and paste job like many people on here do, then you will be committing yourself to losing the case almost instantly. A witness statement is not the same as a defence. It is not needed as yet, this is due 14 days before the hearing date. Do not submit any evidence at this stage, only a written defence is needed.

Your defence presumably will be based around the fact that the account was fraudulently set up. In order to defend this you will need to provide some kind of evidence as all cases are evidence based - don't expect to rock up and the judge to take you at your word as you will be sorely disappointed. It would probably assist you with your defence to say that you've reported the matter to Action Fraud as a starting point and reference any case number that might have been given to you.

If you have the details of the addresses used by the fraudster, you could bolster your defence by saying that the address supplied to the claimant in setting up the account was one which you have never lived at. You should be able to prove that through your credit report history, for example you were registered on the electoral roll at X address at the time the account was set up. Utility bills and other contracts set up at your current place of residence might also assist the court in believing you were a victim of fraud.

If you only received the order on 27th then I suggest you state that at the beginning of the defence in the first paragraph. For example, "This defence is made pursuant to an Order dated 18 December 2019, to be filed within 14 days. However, due to the Christmas period, the Defendant only received the Order on 27 December 2019."

Equally, you probably want to make a subject access request to the debt purchaser and the original creditor so you can see what paperwork they hold in your name. As this is a case of fraud you might want to mention that in your letter and enclose a copy of your driving licence/passport together with a utility bill as proof of identity.

3. You can get if from here.

4. Difficult to ask for compensation if the original creditor did not have reason to be suspicious about the account being set up. Unless they have failed any due diligence checks you might struggle and your redress may only be against the perpetrator whoever that may be. You might want to consider how you became a victim of fraud. For example, was this a scam or a case of identity theft? If it was the latter, could the fraudster have got your details by rummaging through your bins because you didn't securely destroy your mail?

As for the others refusing to respond, I suggest you try the subject access route and if they continue to refuse, threaten to take it to the ICO and make a complaint - they can then order the creditor to comply.

One final point, if you are worried about that this might happen again, you can apply to CIFAS for protective registration for 2 years at a cost of £25. I've provided a link below with more information about it.

https://www.cifas.org.uk/services/id...e-registration

P.s. You can get a free Experian account with a monthly credit report if you sign up to MoneySavingExpert's Credit Club. It would be wise perhaps to do that and monitor your credit activities.

[debbie97531]

Thank you Rob for your help and reassurance. I have reported it to Action Fraud and received a response from them that they cannot treat it as fraud as I am not part of the contracting parties. I still have a reference number though which I issued to everyone back in August 2019.

I have also contacted Experian who have put a note against all the entries. However none have been removed so I’m guessing I have to get to the ombudsman stage or go through court to have these removed. I’ll send the SAR but because they can’t verify my details (as they are wrong) I’m not holding much hope.

CCJ
Thanks for responding to each query. I’m struggling with the link to the defence example and would appreciate it being posted again.

I do believe the debt company should have done due diligence before chasing me for this as the original loan was taken out in 2012 when I was paying off another debt with them at my correct address. I was in contact with them for most of the year. If I send a SAR I assume it will cover all of this too.

I’ll write up my defence today, I do have a letter from the person who actually took out this loan saying it was them. This was issued to the debt company. It was a family member who did this so I’m in such a difficult place right now. I will obviously use the letter as evidence but should I be thinking of taking this family member to court to verify the letter? Is there anything more I should be doing with this?

thanks for the help so far

[R0b]

Here is the link for the defence example.

I do believe the debt company should have done due diligence before chasing me for this as the original loan was taken out in 2012 when I was paying off another debt with them at my correct address. I was in contact with them for most of the year. If I send a SAR I assume it will cover all of this too.

Having a belief is unlikely to be sufficient to hold them to account but you may be able to argue that if the creditor already had an account with you and registered at a particular address then queries should have been raised when a different address had been given. The problem is that a creditor's lending criteria and how it carries out due diligence is commercially sensitive for various reasons however that does not stop you from bringing it up. There are ways in which the court can keep the nature of their criteria confidential and could include a gagging order on you.

It was a family member who did this so I’m in such a difficult place right now. I will obviously use the letter as evidence but should I be thinking of taking this family member to court to verify the letter? Is there anything more I should be doing with this?

If you know who the person is, then it is up to you as to whether you want to bring a civil action against that person, especially if it was a family member as that can create rifts. The letter is a helpful starting point but ideally you want that person to sign a witness statement confirming that it was he/she who fraudulently set up accounts in your name. A witness statement will add more force than a typed up letter, so the sooner you can get that done the better, but if the family member refuses to give a witness statement then your next best thing is the letter.

[debbie97531]

Rob,

Thank you so much for the reply. The SAR has been sent using the template on here which refers to Data Protection 2018 and GDPR. If I should issue anything else on this I would be grateful if you could let me know.

I have attached my draft defence and would be grateful if you could let me know your thoughts. I appreciate I have removed some information so I've inserted (descriptors) which will be removed.

Many many thanks so far
*

[debbie97531]

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

[R0b]

Sorry Debbie, I have been away.

Did you send your defence off to the court?

[debbie97531]

Sorry Debbie, I have been away.

Did you send your defence off to the court?

Thank you, yes it was sent in just in time and I had a positive outcome. Default removed and letter from Lowell that they were not pursuing. Kept the letter as I don't believe them.

But...they are back in a different guise now for a different debt which again is the same period and again part of the fraud. This time EE debt for several mobile phones and various add ons.

[debbie97531]

Hi there, after quite a lengthy silence the EE debt has come up again. Lowell have been chasing and I have been asking for evidence of the account opening, including ID verification. They've now got fed up and Overdale Solicitors have issued a Letter of Claim.

To me this is really complex but I'll give it a go:
They claim the account with EE was opened on 10.08.2014
It was assigned to Lowell on 01.10.2019 and the period end is 01.10.2023. Same date as the letter of claim from Overdales.
They don't say what happened for the period 2014 to 2018. In fact, despite requesting information from both Lowell and EE I have received nothing from either, other than what looks like a copy of a statement from 2018 to an address I have never lived at.

I have requested multiple times from EE & Lowell the original agreement but EE refuse to give me any information at all as they can't verify me on the account. SAR was also issued to EE in 2020 with no response. Lowell have only provided the 2018 statement.

So, I'm returning the reply form ticking box D - dispute.
I'm referring back to my SAR request and in box I - I am requesting the verification process and all associated IDs used, the customer agreement, all correspondence up until assignment as I have nothing from EE at all. I have requested the copy of the notice of assignment.

I will be sending the form back towards the end of the 30 day period as I don't want to have to deal with it during the half term holiday.

I still have the Action Fraud reference and details from previous.

Can I get a steer on the statute barred date please? Just wondering if this is close to being statute barred and if I can get it over the line rather than going through court and defence, etc.

Also, am I into standard court process now or is there a likelihood that they will not do this until they have provided the information requested? What I don't want (but I can see coming) is the court papers being issued over Christmas again like last time.