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I want to post this tommorro just want to make sure that it all sounds good,
and see if anyone has any suggestions for improving it.
and see if anyone has any suggestions for improving it.
4th August 2007
Dear Sir/Madam,
Following on from the telephone conversation I had with one of your operatives (Jerry) in your Philippines based Customer Service department at 13:43 this afternoon, I am writing to inform you directly of a serious service error that has led to false information being recorded on my personal credit rating.
It would appear that, due to your mistake, payment for my credit card account (xxxxxxxxxxxxxx) was not taken in March 2007, however, I brought this matter to your attention via telephone and as a matter of resolution a double payment was taken in April 2007 and the late payment fee was refunded on my account . At the time I was assured that this would not affect my credit rating in any way. The operative I spoke to today confirmed that this information has been stored in the permanent notes on my account and agreed that this is indeed a service failure by HSBC Bank. However, a negative credit marker was in fact placed on my credit rating for this error. This is, of course, in direct breach of the Data Protection Act.
I have also noticed that, despite closing my HSBC bank account (xxxxxxxx) in April this year, it is still showing as “delinquent” on my credit rating. As you know, this record should have been updated to “satisfied” upon closing the account. I also note that this data has not been updated since 30th April 2007, which is more than 3 months ago and therefore represents a further breach of the Data Protection Act.
Finally, I would like to draw your attention to the initial response I received to my first complaint regarding the numerous negative credit markers that have been registered against this bank account (see enclosed letter – Ref CIN XXXXXXXXX/CJ) dated 5th March 2007. In this letter you state that over the past 15 months you had reason to return 6 transactions unpaid and pay 7 transactions that you otherwise would not. Whilst this is true, you will see from your records that the bulk of these transactions were carried out prior to you refunding the unlawful bank charges you had previously applied to my account (see attached letter dated 7th June ’06). If these unlawful charges had not been applied in the first place you would not have had reason to return payments or make payments you would otherwise prefer not to. I therefore cannot accept this as a reason for the application of negative credit markers as the problems were simply generated by the cumulative effect of unlawful charges being applied to my account.
Furthermore, you note that no funds were received to the account between 30th June ’06 and 20th November ’06. This is correct, but this was due to a delay in receiving funds from the re-mortgage of my home, a situation that I kept you fully aware of via telephone and a matter that was resolved as soon as funds became available. However, your overall justification for the application of these negative credit markers is that they are applied whenever a transaction is returned unpaid or the account is in excess of an agreed overdraft limit. I wish to point out that this is not stated in any of the terms and conditions associated with the account and I was given no warning that these situations may have led to such a negative impact on my consumer credit file. Also, as at least 7 of these entries were placed on my account prior to receiving the refund for unlawful bank charges it is clear that these are a direct result of these unlawful charges being applied to my account in the first place. In essence, I unreservedly reject your defence of this matter and, particularly in the light of your recent breaches of the Data Protection Act, I repeat my request to have these negative markers removed from my consumer credit file.
I hereby request that all of this information is updated immediately to represent the correct status, as is my right under the afore mentioned Data Protection Act. Copies of this letter have been sent to all three British based credit reference agencies who have been asked to put these entries under dispute and another copy has been sent to the Information Commissioners Office.
Furthermore, as the false information you have placed on my credit rating is now preventing me from obtaining a new mortgage in order to move home, I would ask you to respond in writing on order to confirm that the data you have placed on my credit rating is in dispute and that a suitable resolution is being sought. I hope that you understand that I would appreciate it if you could send this letter as a matter of urgency.
Yours Sincerely,
XXXXX
RE: My credit rating and processing of false information by HSBC Bank PLC
Dear Sir/Madam,
Following on from the telephone conversation I had with one of your operatives (Jerry) in your Philippines based Customer Service department at 13:43 this afternoon, I am writing to inform you directly of a serious service error that has led to false information being recorded on my personal credit rating.
It would appear that, due to your mistake, payment for my credit card account (xxxxxxxxxxxxxx) was not taken in March 2007, however, I brought this matter to your attention via telephone and as a matter of resolution a double payment was taken in April 2007 and the late payment fee was refunded on my account . At the time I was assured that this would not affect my credit rating in any way. The operative I spoke to today confirmed that this information has been stored in the permanent notes on my account and agreed that this is indeed a service failure by HSBC Bank. However, a negative credit marker was in fact placed on my credit rating for this error. This is, of course, in direct breach of the Data Protection Act.
I have also noticed that, despite closing my HSBC bank account (xxxxxxxx) in April this year, it is still showing as “delinquent” on my credit rating. As you know, this record should have been updated to “satisfied” upon closing the account. I also note that this data has not been updated since 30th April 2007, which is more than 3 months ago and therefore represents a further breach of the Data Protection Act.
Finally, I would like to draw your attention to the initial response I received to my first complaint regarding the numerous negative credit markers that have been registered against this bank account (see enclosed letter – Ref CIN XXXXXXXXX/CJ) dated 5th March 2007. In this letter you state that over the past 15 months you had reason to return 6 transactions unpaid and pay 7 transactions that you otherwise would not. Whilst this is true, you will see from your records that the bulk of these transactions were carried out prior to you refunding the unlawful bank charges you had previously applied to my account (see attached letter dated 7th June ’06). If these unlawful charges had not been applied in the first place you would not have had reason to return payments or make payments you would otherwise prefer not to. I therefore cannot accept this as a reason for the application of negative credit markers as the problems were simply generated by the cumulative effect of unlawful charges being applied to my account.
Furthermore, you note that no funds were received to the account between 30th June ’06 and 20th November ’06. This is correct, but this was due to a delay in receiving funds from the re-mortgage of my home, a situation that I kept you fully aware of via telephone and a matter that was resolved as soon as funds became available. However, your overall justification for the application of these negative credit markers is that they are applied whenever a transaction is returned unpaid or the account is in excess of an agreed overdraft limit. I wish to point out that this is not stated in any of the terms and conditions associated with the account and I was given no warning that these situations may have led to such a negative impact on my consumer credit file. Also, as at least 7 of these entries were placed on my account prior to receiving the refund for unlawful bank charges it is clear that these are a direct result of these unlawful charges being applied to my account in the first place. In essence, I unreservedly reject your defence of this matter and, particularly in the light of your recent breaches of the Data Protection Act, I repeat my request to have these negative markers removed from my consumer credit file.
I hereby request that all of this information is updated immediately to represent the correct status, as is my right under the afore mentioned Data Protection Act. Copies of this letter have been sent to all three British based credit reference agencies who have been asked to put these entries under dispute and another copy has been sent to the Information Commissioners Office.
Furthermore, as the false information you have placed on my credit rating is now preventing me from obtaining a new mortgage in order to move home, I would ask you to respond in writing on order to confirm that the data you have placed on my credit rating is in dispute and that a suitable resolution is being sought. I hope that you understand that I would appreciate it if you could send this letter as a matter of urgency.
Yours Sincerely,
XXXXX
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