Santander loan

[Janeth8711]

My husband had a personal loan which he bought a car with. We moved abroad but beforehand paid off the full amount of the loan straight from another bank account. We have proof of pay etc, time, ref number but after 2 years of being away we have had collection notices sent to my mother in laws. She has sent proof but it keeps getting passed to different collection agency's. We've since moved back home and got his credit report and yes its on there. He had excellent credit before we left and its made a massive difference now we cant get a mortgage. We sent proof to equifax but they are refusing to take it of his file.

Janet

[R0b]

Re: Santander loan

Hi Janet,

The proof you have is that by way of bank statement? just to confirm you called Santander prior to making the payment before you transferred it?

Is Santander still the owner of the debt or has this been passed on to another party. If so, who is the new owner of the debt? Does it show this on the credit report who it belongs to?

Finally, is the debt collection agency acting on behalf of the owner of the debt or are they the same?

Provided you have the proof that it was paid in full and to the correct bank account number and sort code then I think the next step is to contact the creditor whether it is Santander or whoever and explain to them again that you have realised that this has appeared on the credit report which amounts to a breach of data protection as incorrect information which is actionable through the courts which also entitles you to redress by way of damages. Due to this being incorrectly reported on your file it has prevented your husband from gaining a mortgage. You therefore request that the default is removed within 7 or 14 days from the date of the letter otherwise you shall commence proceedings against them.

The letter of course will need to go in the name of your husband, but you may also need to send them proof if you haven't done already of the payment made. If they still refuse then it would seem like your only recourse will be through the courts.

Equifax can't remove it from the file they can only report it back to the creditor, you can of course add a comment up to 200 words I believe which is added to the credit report but if you are absolutely confident that you are in the right here then I wouldn't bother as court action will be the only to have this removed if they are refusing to do it voluntarily.

[Janeth8711]

Re: Santander loan

Thanks for your reply, yes we have it on bank statement and called prior in order to get a full amount with early pay off etc... On the credit report the debt is Santander but its been passed to around 3 separate collection agency's so not sure as we've not heard back since sending in the latest proof. We never had any letter from Santander before being passed to credit collectors which i found unusual (ie late payment) also.
So my husband needs to send a letter with proof of payment to Santander requesting them to remove?

Many thanks