advice needed about taking Lowell and Experian to court

[stockport6]

Very Very Long Story Short

Lowell portfolio sent me a letter supposedly from Co-operativeBank (pretty sure that it was not actually from Co-Op but from Lowellimpersonate Co-Op Bank – is that legal?) stating that I owed £4116 from acop-operative bank account. I rang Co-op and asked them to check and theyadvised me that it was not my account (after giving basic details) so I wroteto Lowell asking them to investigate this and that I believed they had got thewrong person as I have never had a Co-operative Bank account. I got the usual response "it is you now pay" I have one of the most common names in the country and although it is easy to prove who you are it is impossible to prove you are NOT someone. I ignored the letters thinking it would stop only to find a default in the name of Lowell on my CRA files. I disputed it with the CRA's but they said they could not or would not remove it as Lowell said it was accurate. So I had to embark again in dialogue with Lowlife to get it sorted.

Eventually I got a responsestating that in fact it was not me andthat the details will be removed from their computers and that I will not hearfrom them again. (Jan 14)

For a while I did not hear from them but the letters startedagain which I ignored. I have now received a CCJ from the court saying they are taking legal action against me. I am very disturbedby this and upset. I have also logged in to my CRA files and there is still a defaulton there for the same account. This has not only affected my ability toget credit but also my job. For my role I look aftergovernment and sensitive business data. I have to be MOD Securitycleared for that job. The MOD suspended my clearance as I had notdeclared this default on my submission for clearance. I had to get the letterfrom Lowell to prove it was not mine but this still put my position with thecompany in jeopardy.
and stopped me being promoted.

I have raised complaints with FOS and they have been useless. Siding with Lowell and saying they had done nothing wrong but Lowell offered me £250 I have reported to FCA and ICO and not heard from them yet. I want to take them to court though as this started over three years ago and still have no outcome.

I have had to take loans at 16.9 % and have not been able to get any other credit as my Credit file is so low even though I only have the one default on there.

is there anyone on here that can recommend how I move this forward legally and wipe the floor with all involved. I have letters from Lowell admitting that they have caused me
distress among other things

“Lowell has confirmed that they accept that the account thatthey were contacting you about, is not yours.”

“Lowell has also confirmed that they have no debts that they are holdingyou responsible for. “

“The creditreference agencies will be able to ensure that the information recorded on yourcredit file is accurate”

“Lowell acceptsthat they may have caused you distress and inconvenience when contacting you.”

[Amethyst]

Re: advice needed about taking Lowell and Experian to court

I have now received a CCJ from the court saying they are taking legal action against me.

Do you actually have a CCJ against you or have Lowell just issued a court claim and you've received documents from the court ?

( the rest is very important too but just to double check first exactly where you are at with the court action )

[stockport6]

Re: advice needed about taking Lowell and Experian to court

I received the CCJ from Lowells solicitors. I made my defence based on the content of the letter from them in jan 14 stating it was not mine. I heard nothing back and had to ring the solicitors to be told the they had been instructed to stop proceedings. I heard nothing from Lowell themselves telling me this and no apology. However the default is still on my files. Experain will not remove it even though the FOS have instigated the removal and despite me sending the evidence gained from Lowell and the FOS stating it is not mine. Lowell keep saying that only the original creditor can remove the default. heres the thing. it is in Lowell names on my files and always has been. I cannot contact Co_op as it is not my account and I cannot pass security questions as a I do not know whos it is.

[Amethyst]

Re: advice needed about taking Lowell and Experian to court

Okay. So you don't have a CCJ against you? You should have received a notice of discontinuance from Lowell - so I would check with the court that it didn't continue to Judgment.

So your current issue is with Co-Op and getting them to remove the default from your credit file ( although if Lowell own the debt that is down to them now). Have you tried writing to co-op and have you made any contact with the Information commissioners office about this at all? It might be worth giving the ICO a call and see what they recommend.

[stockport6]

Re: advice needed about taking Lowell and Experian to court

I have contacted ICO and have a reference now. I have had it with this trying to sort out now . I want to know what I need to do to take these companies to court. They have and continue to ruin my life

[Debt Camel]

Re: advice needed about taking Lowell and Experian to court

Going to the ICO is the right thing to get your credit record corrected.

If the FoS told Lowell to correct your file and they haven't, then you could also go back to the FoS. If Lowell say they cannot correct your credit file then they should facilitate getting the original lender to correct it.

Experian are largely blameless in this, there is no point in thinking of suing them as they do only report what they are told.

[stockport6]

Re: advice needed about taking Lowell and Experian to court

Experian are largely blameless in this, there is no point in thinking of suing them as they do only report what they are told.

But are they not in breach on the DPA if they are knowingly holding inaccurate and misleading information on my credit file. It is not myself that has told them to remove it, it is the FOS and they Lowell still says no and Experian are taking Lowells side even though there is written evidence from FOS and Lowell saying it is not mine

[nemesis45]

Re: advice needed about taking Lowell and Experian to court

But are they not in breach on the DPA if they are knowingly holding inaccurate and misleading information on my credit file. It is not myself that has told them to remove it, it is the FOS and they Lowell still says no and Experian are taking Lowells side even though there is written evidence from FOS and Lowell saying it is not mine

The entry would have originated form the CO- OP Bank given its appalling record for incompetence I'm not surprised that an error reporting to CRA files has been made.

Make a Formal Complaint to the Data Controller at the bank ( include screen shots of credit file entries) it is ultimately the banks responsibility to remove the incorrect data.

nem

- - - Updated - - -

But are they not in breach on the DPA if they are knowingly holding inaccurate and misleading information on my credit file. It is not myself that has told them to remove it, it is the FOS and they Lowell still says no and Experian are taking Lowells side even though there is written evidence from FOS and Lowell saying it is not mine

The entry would have originated form the CO- OP Bank given its appalling record for incompetence I'm not surprised that an error reporting to CRA files has been made.

Make a Formal Complaint to the Data Controller at the bank ( include screen shots of credit file entries) it is ultimately the banks responsibility to remove the incorrect data.

nem

[Debt Camel]

Re: advice needed about taking Lowell and Experian to court

But are [Experian] not in breach on the DPA if they are knowingly holding inaccurate and misleading information on my credit file. It is not myself that has told them to remove it, it is the FOS and they Lowell still says no and Experian are taking Lowells side even though there is written evidence from FOS and Lowell saying it is not mine

Whether they technically are or are not, this is simply not a useful angle for you to pursue.

There are lots of things that you can do that could help:

- going to the ICO
- putting in a formal written complaint to Co-op saying that you cannot pass the security questions on the account because it was never you account but asking for their help with Lowell's to resolve the problem
- considering using the county court to enforce the FoS decision (see http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.u...s-decision.pdf)

Any of these could work. But suing Experian is a red herring.

[nemesis45]

Re: advice needed about taking Lowell and Experian to court

Whether they technically are or are not, this is simply not a useful angle for you to pursue.

There are lots of things that you can do that could help:

- going to the ICO
- putting in a formal written complaint to Co-op saying that you cannot pass the security questions on the account because it was never you account but asking for their help with Lowell's to resolve the problem
- considering using the county court to enforce the FoS decision (see http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.u...s-decision.pdf)

Any of these could work. But suing Experian is a red herring.

I agree, the argument is with the CO-OP, Lowell can only up date CRA files with " ownership " details and the CRA's have to rely on the accuracy of the data provided by the original creditor and have no facility to check that data.

nem

[stockport6]

Re: advice needed about taking Lowell and Experian to court

[QUOTE=nemesis45;589005]I agree, the argument is with the CO-OP, Lowell can only up date CRA files with " ownership " details and the CRA's have to rely on the accuracy of the data provided by the original creditor and have no facility to check that data.

nem[/QUOTE

is that the case even if the default has never been in the name of the Co-Op. It was Lowell that added the default so surely they are the sole owner of the default. It wasn't the case that Co-Op chased me for the debt and then sold it to Co-Op it was Lowell that made first contact and added the default.

For a split second I just wish I lived in the US
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...on-agency.html

[nemesis45]

Re: advice needed about taking Lowell and Experian to court

[QUOTE=stockport6;589031]

I agree, the argument is with the CO-OP, Lowell can only up date CRA files with " ownership " details and the CRA's have to rely on the accuracy of the data provided by the original creditor and have no facility to check that data.

nem[/QUOTE



is that the case even if the default has never been in the name of the Co-Op. It was Lowell that added the default so surely they are the sole owner of the default. It wasn't the case that Co-Op chased me for the debt and then sold it to Co-Op it was Lowell that made first contact and added the default.

For a split second I just wish I lived in the US
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...on-agency.html

In the UK a debt purchaser such as Lowell cannot initiate a credit file entry, debt/accounts are defaulted prior to being sold by
the original creditor.

Lowell bought the debt from the from the C0-OP and then changed the account into it's name.
Did you first get any knowledge of the alleged debt when Lowell contacted you?

I suspect when you first checked your credit file the Co-op entry had been removed when
Lowell bought the debt thus you would have only seen the Lowell update.

nem

You need to take that matter up with the Co-Op.

[Debt Camel]

Re: advice needed about taking Lowell and Experian to court

Hi nem,

In the UK a debt purchaser such as Lowell cannot initiate a credit file entry, debt/accounts are defaulted prior to being sold by
the original creditor.

That isn't technically true. If the original lender doesn't use the CRA the debt purchaser does, the debt purchaser can report a default. I doubt whether that is the problem here, but I thought you would be interested.

DC

[stockport6]

Re: advice needed about taking Lowell and Experian to court

About 7 years ago EGG mistakenly linked all my details with another person of the same name. It took me years to clean up that mess and that is when I started getting inundated with DCA sending me demands for debts that were not mine. Everytime they stated the information was taken from the CRAs files. The issues was that although I have cleaned my files up to show the correct details the other person/s that were also probably mistakenly linked to my addresses have not.

I was checking my files regularly after that to ensure that no other mistakes were made. I am 100% sure that I have never had a default from Co-Op. the first I heard was a letter from Lowell and in the same envelope was what was supposed to be a letter from Co-Op saying the debt had been sold to Lowell.

It was placed on my files between 22/10/2013 and 05/11/2013. The first entry is Lowell.

[nemesis45]

Re: advice needed about taking Lowell and Experian to court

A Notice of Assignment can be sent by the Original Creditor ( Co- Op) and /or the debt purchaser creditors often
authorise the debt purchaser to send their NOA with the debt purchasers.

nem