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Some of you may have followed my sisters long running credit reference damage case against Lloyds. This case has rumbled on for 2 years and is now finally nearly complete. I have been heavily involved in assisting my sister with her case.
During this time I have become somewhat obsessed by the epidemic of wrongful defaults being issued by lenders, utilities providers, telecoms companies and even debt collection agencies. We are now seeing multiple defaults on the same account, often years apart, meaning that the credit file damage could last for 12 years.
I struggle to comprehend why defaults cause the same damage as a County Court Judgment (CCJ) yet can be applied without any checks being made into their validity
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I personally believe defaults should expire after 1-3 years. They should only be applied by the original creditor ONCE. Telecoms and Utilities SHOULD send you some form of default notice to give you a fair chance to rectify the situation.
In my sisters Lloyds case, complexities arose after she filed the claim and in April 2012, Watsons Solicitors (www.watsonssolicitors.co.uk) took the case on ‘no win no fee’. This was hugely reassuring as it meant we had professional back up throughout but were able to still help manage the direction the case was taking.
As a result of many discussions and debates with Watsons on the subject of Credit rating damages, I have been offered a training position with Watsons, working initially as a Paralegal, specializing in these unique credit reference agensy (“CRA”) cases.
I am very excited about this development, as it will enable me to work towards changing the very negatively sloping field of play we currently have as well as continuing my work on general consumer issues on Legal Beagles.
Aside from Durkin and Kpohraror, we have very little useful case law to reinforce these claims against lenders for wrongful damage to a credit file. With the backing and support of Watsons, I can work on selected cases to build a set of useful precedents to make the pathway clearer and easier for consumers.
Watsons are also the only firm I know of, who are working exclusively for consumers, the vast majority of their cases are defending clients threatened with court proceedings, bankruptcy and repossession. Some of their work is done on a No Win No Fee basis. At present their entire caseload is being managed by a small dedicated team and they are in huge demand, especially with cases like Harrison v Link behind them.
Here are a few more:
Arrow v Devlin
HSBC v Crake
HSBC v Carter
HSBC v Barnett
HFO v Morgan
HFO v Cunningham
HFO v Filby
HFO v Samuels
HFO v Wegmuller
Link Financial v Opie
Phoenix v Kotecha
It is a real shame that there simply are not more firms offering such services. But to be fair, consumer law is very specialized and it is often beyond the comprehension of most high street solicitors.
So, working with Watsons, I hope to develop this area of law regarding credit reference agencies, as I am keenly aware that this is a growing problem and prevents people from accessing affordable lending. These defaults feed the sub prime market and payday lenders.
My employment with Watsons Solicitors is independent of the forum but will benefit Legal Beagles as it will enable me to work within a fascinating and important field alongside my voluntary work for LB.
Watsons will not fund Legal Beagles in any way, nor will they affect our policies or independence. My work with Watsons will allow me to work much more extensively on the Legal Beagles site, becoming even more immersed in the vital developments in Consumer Law and I sincerely hope this will enable the forum to progress even more fully.
If you have been wrongfully defaulted, please start a thread in this forum and I will take a look and advise you on the best approach to take to rectify the damage to your credit file.
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