Voluntary termination - six years on

[Jacknory]

I VT'd my car with BMW and in line with the Consumer Credit Act Section 100, disputed the excess mileage that that they sought to claim. Being the kind of company they are, they ignored this and lodged an entry on my credit report with Experian and - six years later - are now saying that because the amount they are seeking is "a settlement shortfall", they do not have to remove it after six years and so it will continue to remain on my credit report indefinitely. As I understand it, the Consumer Credit Act seems to clearly rule that financial claims for excess mileage cannot be seen as representing a shortfall in the settlement. Experian say that they have contacted BMW who insist that their entry on my credit report is correct and so Experian will not make any alternations and will only continue to show the dispute placed on my report several years ago. This appears to continue to affect my credit report. Is there any way that the public can address what appears to be such breaches of the law on the part of lenders and secure changes to their credit report that at the moment are based entirely on what the lender claims to be the case?

[echat11]

Speak to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO).

https://ico.org.uk/

Lodge a formal complaint with BMW, follow the complaints procedure on their website.

Once you get a final response / Deadlock letter, if you still aren't happy, lodge a complaint with the ICO.

[Jacknory]

Many thanks - will do. I'll post an update about how things went.

[M3Cutter]

I VT'd my car with BMW and in line with the Consumer Credit Act Section 100, disputed the excess mileage that that they sought to claim. Being the kind of company they are, they ignored this and lodged an entry on my credit report with Experian and - six years later - are now saying that because the amount they are seeking is "a settlement shortfall", they do not have to remove it after six years and so it will continue to remain on my credit report indefinitely. As I understand it, the Consumer Credit Act seems to clearly rule that financial claims for excess mileage cannot be seen as representing a shortfall in the settlement. Experian say that they have contacted BMW who insist that their entry on my credit report is correct and so Experian will not make any alternations and will only continue to show the dispute placed on my report several years ago. This appears to continue to affect my credit report. Is there any way that the public can address what appears to be such breaches of the law on the part of lenders and secure changes to their credit report that at the moment are based entirely on what the lender claims to be the case?

Hi,

I posted a while ago but never got a response, but I'm pleased to be able to respond with something quite positive:

I had an almost identical situation with BMW Finance, which pursued me for excess mileage after I VT'd my car and logged "missed payment" markers on my credit report from 2016. Initially, I took it as something they were entitled to do, they continued to do this for 10 years, in fact, up until this month, way beyond any statute of limitations.

I started to dispute the entries about two years ago, and was met with the same experience you've had: Experian saying they can't do anything without the creditor's permission, and responding with a single-line response of "the entries are correct" (which they weren't).

I have always disputed the validity of the markers as an indication of me being a bad creditor for contractual charges that are not credit-related. I also stated that I felt it punitive that they have never defaulted on the account (if they were to dare defend the markers as credit markers, then they would have to defend not defaulting on the account). They were deliberately keeping the account open by creating an endless loop of a payment dropping off my file, only then to be replaced by a new missed payment marker forever. Appalling practice, bullying behaviour, and an abhorrent misuse of the credit reporting system.

I decided I wasn't going to back down and continued to dispute, reminding Experian that they are allowing misreporting to continue in this fashion without taking action. I then went through a service called "Resolver", which is free and will create a "case" and help you pursue your complaint. I found it massively helpful.

My journey took me to the matter being reported to the ICO and the Financial Conduct Authority. A notice of correction was applied to the credit file, and I waited....

Last week, I received a notification from Experian that an account had been closed on my file. Lo and behold, it was the BMW account, now showing as closed, and being taken off my file. My credit score skyrocketed as a result. Equifax and TransUnion followed. It seems that they had miraculously realised were breaching everything from data protection to deliberate misreporting....

However, although the account says "No missed payments" on TransUnion, "Account Closed" as of Feb 2026 on Equifax, and nothing on Experian other than the original VT acknowledgement, there remain some "missed payments" still affecting my credit score. They had misreported one last time by marking February with a "payment made" (which I never made), and "Settled" on Equifax, despite 10 years of "Unspecified" markers on their credit file. I've spoken to the FCA, and they are taking the case on.

So, my advice is to keep banging the drum. These people are bullies, but they are only as strong as the system they believe they are protected by. This system only protects them when their conduct is just/justifiable. This is an example of what happens when they try to hide behind a system with the intent of causing harm to the customer.