identity theft and now a court claim

[dollibird]

Hi there, I'm new to this forum and am hoping that I can get some advice. My then 18 year old son was the victim of identity fraud back in November 2011. We only realised why his bank Santander contacted him to tell him his bank account had been compromised and they were putting everything on hold. We then received a letter from Capital One to saying they suspected a fraudulent application had been made and they put a marker on his credit file. Santander also wrote to us saying they had received a credit card application that they suspected was fraudulent and it had been refused. Vodaphone also contacted him to say a new contract had been added to his existing mobile phone. Everything was sorted out really quickly by the middle of December and we thought that was the end of it. In January 2012 he received a credit card statement from house of Fraser including a balance of £907 plus over limit fee and late payment fee...this was the first statement we received. We contacted santander who issue the credit for HoF and explained the identity fraud and investigations begun. So begun a year long battle with them to convince them it was fraud during which time they sold the debt to Viking who harrassed him constantly. Finally last year I spoke to the fraud dept as they wanted some further clarification on some points at which time he said yes it was fraud and we don't need to do anything further ...that was my last dealing with Santander. Viking then sold the debt to Westcott and we began again....Westcott then sold to Arrow who harrassed us to the point that we ignored them and they seemed to go away...then the debt was passed to Drydensfairfax and to be honest we have ignored them also but we have now received a claim form from the county court business centre for payment of £999. As my son didn't receive anything in writing to confirm that the case was deemed fraudulent and it was only verbally confirmed I am now worried that he will have to pay ....do creditors advise Debt Agencies that the debt is no longer payable? I have written to Santander today asking them to confirm in writing. Where do we start with this court claim? I know that we have to acknowledge it first of all and then put forward a defence ....Will he has to go to court and will we need a solicitor?

So sorry for the long message....

[Amethyst]

Re: identity theft and now a court claim

Hi Dollibird

Sorry to have missed your post yesterday.

Sounds like your son has been through a bit of a nightmare with this identity theft.

First job is to acknowledge the claim - you can do that online and put that you intend to defend in full.

Then, do you not have anything in writing from any of the companies involved with this ID theft ? Did you report it to the police/action fraud etc at the time and have anything from them confirming the situation ?

I think a CCA request would be in order as this should evidence the debt is a result of ID fraud.

It does sound like Dryden's have issued the court claim because they weren't informed by you (or previous owners of the debt) that it was an ID fraud, so I would write them a letter as well explaining the situation and inviting them to withdraw the claim before you put in your defence to save costs etc. If you want to draft something we'll check it over and make sure it doesn't have any detrimental effect on your defence etc. It's a case of heading it off at the pass really.

You shouldn't need a solicitor, and it shouldn't get as far as a court hearing, but we';ll have to play it by ear and see how Drydens behave in response to your CCa request and letter.

But get the claim acknowledged first.

Also, how's your son's credit file looking ?


Sharon

[dollibird]

Re: identity theft and now a court claim

Hi Sharon, thanks for your message .. much appreciated.

I will acknowledge the claim today on my son's behalf and get the process started. Luckily I have kept all the paperwork from when the fraud took place and all my correspondence with Santander. At the time I did ask them to send me the credit agreement but they only sent me the last page which was signed and was obviously not my son's signature. I asked them for the whole document as I wanted to see what other information was filled in on the form but I never received it. I also asked them to tell me what was purchased on the card and they wouldn't give me that information either .. I ended up going to the Ombudsman and put in a complaint which took months and we kept getting letters to say they were still investigating and hadn't come to a decision. I haven't checked his credit rating recently but he did try to get finance on a car and was rejected so I had to take it out in my name, so from that I suspect his rating isn't good. I have his credit report from 2011 and you can clearly see the activity at the time of the fraud and applications for credit cards and finance etc were all made on either 11/11 or 12/11. We also have the statement from his bank when his account was 'compromised' small amounts were initially paid in and then and then it was used a couple of times at a Tesco garage and then over £2k was paid in which alerted the bank. So we do have quite a bit of evidence. I did write to Santander yesterday recorded delivery asking them to confirm in writing that their investigations resulted in a case of identity theft as I was only told verbally.

I will draft up a letter to Drysdens and let you have a look.

Thanks again

[Amethyst]

Re: identity theft and now a court claim

That sounds like you have plenty of evidence.

Once we have this court claim cracked we need to look at getting your sons credit file fixed.

[dollibird]

Re: identity theft and now a court claim

Hi there, quick question ....do I write to the Claimant requesting the CCA or their solicitors?

[Amethyst]

Re: identity theft and now a court claim

The Claimant, you can cc it to the solicitors, but the £1 needs to go to the creditor' which is the claimant.

[bluebottle]

Re: identity theft and now a court claim

I am surprised that Santander's Security Department has acted in this way as they are usually pretty much on the ball. Find out if Santander notified the DCAs when they realised it was fraud, requesting a copy of the letter/email to the DCAs as evidence.

[dollibird]

Re: identity theft and now a court claim

Is the attached o.k?

[Amethyst]

Re: identity theft and now a court claim

Is the attached o.k?

Absolutely.

[dollibird]

Re: identity theft and now a court claim

Hi there, after writing to Arrow Global asking to the CCA and enclosing a postal order, they replied and returned the PO saying that they are not the originating creditor but will assist in obtaining the documents ...needless to say I haven't heard anything since then. Should I go ahead and file the Defence?

[nemesis45]

Re: identity theft and now a court claim

Hi there, after writing to Arrow Global asking to the CCA and enclosing a postal order, they replied and returned the PO saying that they are not the originating creditor but will assist in obtaining the documents ...needless to say I haven't heard anything since then. Should I go ahead and file the Defence?

Typical AG response I'm afraid.
When did you send the CCA request, regardless of any assistance in acquiring the agreement Arrow still have 12 + 2 Working days from the date of posting to comply.

[dollibird]

Re: identity theft and now a court claim

Typical AG response I'm afraid.
When did you send the CCA request, regardless of any assistance in acquiring the agreement Arrow still have 12 + 2 Working days from the date of posting to comply.

I sent it on the 24th October and arrow responded on 29th October and Drysdens replied on 27th October acknowledging my letter also. I acknowledged the court claim on 21st October ....should I have done the Defence by now?

[FlamingParrot]

Re: identity theft and now a court claim

I sent it on the 24th October and arrow responded on 29th October and Drysdens replied on 27th October acknowledging my letter also. I acknowledged the court claim on 21st October ....should I have done the Defence by now?

What was the date on the claim? You have to take that date and add a maximum of 33 days. This calculator is useful to get the date: http://www.timeanddate.com/date/date...&am=&aw=&ad=33

[nemesis45]

Re: identity theft and now a court claim

I sent it on the 24th October and arrow responded on 29th October and Drysdens replied on 27th October acknowledging my letter also. I acknowledged the court claim on 21st October ....should I have done the Defence by now?

All ways best to be prepared get a "skeleton" defence ready then it's only a question of editing/amending as needed.

[Amethyst]

Re: identity theft and now a court claim

Yes you need to get a defence in, could you ask your son to give the court a call and check the status on the case at the moment. I think we have missed the defence date so just check default judgment hasn't been entered and then we need to get the defence in.

Have you not heard anything back (other than returning your cheque) from the Claimants ?