VT PCP Northridge Finance

[4ndy]

Win! The FOS decided in my favour! Here's their decision in full. I have some concerns about their interpretation of excess mileage and reasonable care so I'll follow these up. Huge thanks to R0b for his continued support!

[R0b]

Well done for persevering, a good outcome.

Obviously the decision says you would be liable for failing to take reasonable care and excess mileage, it could be argued that if you accept the decision as is, then you might also indirectly accepting liability for excess mileage. Accepting the decision will be legally binding on you so bear that in mind.

Of course, rejecting the decision does not prevent you from suing Northridge via the courts and seeking compensation for marking your credit file - something that the FOS hasn't offered here. The fact that they have deliberately marked your file which was false and inaccurate, I reckon you could push for compensation around £1,000. It won't stop Northridge counterclaiming for excess mileage if they wanted.

Choice is yours.

[4ndy]

Thank you R0b for your feedback. I chased it up as you suggested and I now have a reply from the FOS. I have mixed feelings about it. Also as an interesting side note, the investigator said that all cases on milage charges are currently on hold while the FOS reviews how they approach it.

[R0b]

No surprise about the excess mileage point, they've been sitting on some complaints for over two years and done nothing about it which to be honest, I think is a disgrace.

So it looks like there's nothing in there around having to pay excess mileage, are you happy with this to tht extent? If so you can accept and the obligations would be binding on Northridge in as far as they haven't complied already.

[4ndy]

It's been a while since I've updated this thread so I though this might be useful to others going through a similar experience.. Since my last post the following has happened

1. The car was collected - YAY!

2. Northridge issued an invoice for £982 claiming excess mileage.

3. They still haven't updated the information held with the CRAs despite several follow-ups from the FOS. The FOS also refused to issue any compensation as I have taken action (i.e. haven't applied for credit) to prevent being affected by the incorrect record (?!??!?!?)

4. ICO finally reached a decision on my complaint and told Northridge to update information held by CRAs.

5. Despite the 2 decisions above, Northridge is still dragging its heels. They have corrected some aspects e.g. removed missed payments (with 1 CRA) but not others: marking the account as settled, making sure the information is accurate with ALL 3 credit agencies etc.

6. They are now using the mileage invoice as an excuse not to show the account as settled while also claiming they will take me to court as I haven't paid or replied to their invoice (I have).

7. The FOS asked me to open a separate case RE:mileage which I have done.

[4ndy]

R0b Sorry to bombard you with more questions, I really appreciate your help. I remember reading somewhere you pursued a bank for negligence and breach of data protection after incorrectly marking your credit file.

Did you get any compensation from them?

Do you have a copy of the letters you sent them?

How much could I claim for what is essentially the same situation?

Thanks!

[R0b]

Yes it was Santander some years ago, they agree to settle and pay me damages. The letter I sent them was pretty slap dash to be honest so I wouldn't recommend using what I've sent previously. I did prepare a more detailed LBA for negligence/DPA breach that I've posted on here before but that's also a couple of years old so probably warrants a review.

If you want a copy I can try to dig it out but each case depends on the circumstances and it's merits.

I'm interested in what the ICO have said to you and the fact they told them to update the CRA details - have they actually complied with that in full? Would you mind posting up a redacted version of the ICO's decision?

When you say Northridge have threatened legal action, have they actually done anything to date e.g. sent you an LBA?

[4ndy]

R0b Yes please , I would really appreciate it.

I just checked with Transunion and Equifax and there is still quite a bit of inaccurate information, most importantly of all, the account is still being shown as active and with a remaining balance of £983.

ICO decision and Northridge legal threats below.

Case Reference: X
Dear x
Thank you for the additional information provided regarding your complaint about the processing of your personal information.

The ICO’s role

Part of our role is to consider complaints from individuals who believe there has been an infringement of the data protection law.
We deal with complaints like this under section 165 of the Data Protection Act 2018 which requires us to take steps to respond to complaints including investigating to the extent that we feel is appropriate. It also requires us to inform the complainant of the outcome of their complaint.

We use complaints to build up a picture of an organisation’s information rights practices so that we can identify and target poor performing organisations. Details of the action we have taken is available on our website.

The outcome of your complaint

We have considered the issues that you have raised with us and our decision is that there is more work for the organisation to do.

We have therefore raised your issues with the Chief Executive, via the Data Protection Officer, explaining that we want them to work with you to resolve any outstanding matters.

One of the ICO’s strategic goals is to increase the public’s trust and confidence in how personal data is used and made available. Data Controllers are responsible for ensuring they adhere to the law, and the principles of the Data Protection Act, and that includes making sure that individuals understand how that applies to their circumstances, and the processing that they are carrying out.

In your case, we expect the organisation to fully address your complaint by telling you what they are going to do to put things right, or if they believe they have met their data protection obligations by explaining fully how they have done so.

We have allowed the organisation 28 days to consider the issues that you have raised with us, and to consider next steps in your case. Many organisations will contact individuals sooner than that, however, if you have allowed 28 days, and there is no contact at all then please let us know.

Your case with the ICO is now closed. We thank you for bringing this matter to our attention and have recorded the issues, and the organisation that you complained about so that we can better understand how data controllers are dealing with information rights issues that are raised with them.
Yours sincerely,
X
Case Officer

[4ndy]

R0b Sorry to pester...any luck with that letter?

[R0b]

Sorry I missed this, I will have a look later today and hunt it out.

[R0b]

I've managed to hunt out two examples (a short and long version) I created a few years ago but they are just draft format as I never got round to finalising them. Much of what is referenced is still applicable although the Data Protection Act 1998 is now superseded by the DPA 2018 and the GDPR.

If you want to use them, then you will definitely need to adapt them to suit your current situation. Feel free to post up a version for comment once you are happy with the contents.

[4ndy]

R0b , you Sir are a legend! Thank you!

As luck would have it, I just had another letter come through from Northridge trying to argue their case...

[R0b]

Well, standard response and pretty much the same response given by Mercedes in the Cahalane case. If you are still set on taking this to court, then you can address this in your LBC.

One that I'm confused about is they say that they have removed an arrears from your credit file but continue to report the excess mileage. Can you explain this?

[4ndy]

Well, standard response and pretty much the same response given by Mercedes in the Cahalane case. If you are still set on taking this to court, then you can address this in your LBC.

One that I'm confused about is they say that they have removed an arrears from your credit file but continue to report the excess mileage. Can you explain this?

I'm not sure what to do anymore, in a few weeks it will be 12 months since this whole ordeal started...I'm very much done with them.

To answer your question, I think it's very similar to what was mentioned in one of the letters you kindly shared. The agreement is marked as voluntarily terminated (with 1 CRA last time I checked) but the agreement is still otherwise showing as active and £983 is showing as outstanding (as per mileage invoice).

Two CRAs have suppressed this agreement as a a result of my complaints of incorrect data being shown. What I expect will happen, as before, is for Northridge to take their time (weeks) to get back to the CRAs saying all the data shown is correct at which point the agreement will be displayed again.

Despite claiming they've removed the arrears, last time I checked (before the information was suppressed), only TransUnion showed the arrears removed.

[R0b]

Ultimately you either have to live with it or you do something about it. Worst case, you pay them off and then it is resolved or you go to court with a decent chance of being successful and you win, or if you lose, you pay up anyway as I would expect Northridge to counterclaim for the excess mileage which means the matter gets resolved one way or another. If you claim compensation for breach of data protection, that could cancel out any amount that may be awarded to Northridge anyway, so it could be a win-win.

At the end of the day I don't have anything further to add other than going to court and get a final determination.