I am looking for some advice with the following problem.

In 2004, a debt was taken out in my name at an address I had left 6 months before. I had no knowledge of the debt.

Last year in October 2008, a DCA (Apex) started to chase me for the debt on behalf of a bank in Scotland. I asked them to tell me what the debt was for .. they didnt know .. I asked them to send me any paperwork .. they couldnt ..

I was then told they would be asking the bank to send them the relevant paperwork, and in the meantime could i send them 5 copies of my signature .. which i thought was amusing tbh, I am not that dumb thankfully ..

They chased me for 6 months offering me all sorts of incentives to settle the debt, up to and including writing 60% of it off if i would pay the other 40% ..

But i am not going to pay someone elses debt .. especially as i wasnt even living at the address at the time the debt was incurred ..

Finally i had enough, and got myself a crime number for fraudulent loan, and sent off a SAR with the £10 to Apex asking for the documents.. following the very nice templates on here (thanks guys)

I then got a very nice letter from them last month saying that they would no longer be pursuing me, and that the debt was being sent back to the bank ..

And this month .. a default registered to APEX has turned up on my credit record, and I only found out when i applied for a loan .. and got turned down by my own bank because of it .. I have had an unblemished credit record going back to 1994 .. and to say I am hopping mad is an understatement ..

My question is now what .. i was never served a default notice, despite them knowing my address, but knowing how these things work from the forums they will claim the default was issued by the bank in 2004 or whenever to the address listed on the account ..

Oh and btw no records came back from the CAR as they dont have any apperently .. but still they can register a default ?

Any advice would be appreciated, before i head off to an expensive court case with them ..

Lodge complaints by recorded delivery with the following by sending copies of all correspondence along with a cover letter explaining what has taken place.. and the timing of events.

Start with the ICO regarding issues with a breach of the Data Protection act, then complain to the OFT through Consumer direct (trading standards) about the unlawful conduct these DCA's have used.

ICO ... https://www.ico.gov.uk/Global/contact_us.aspx

OFT... http://www.oft.gov.uk/

Its a little bizarre .. and surely they are breaking the law in this regard ? .. I spoke to the Scottish Bank .. and they deny any knowledge of the account, or the debt, even though I have given them the correct references (from the DCA itself) .. they deny even having assigned or sold the debt on to the DCA

And I spoke to the Complaints people at the DCA, and they state that the reason they are returning the debt (which they admitted to me over the phone they had bought from the bank) was because there was simply no paperwork received from the bank ..

I find this completely bizarre .. the bank that sold them the debt denies to me that the debt exists in the first place, the DCA admit that they have no paperwork whatsoever regarding the debt from ANYONE, all they have was an amount and my name.. yet they were more than willing to pursue me for a year, with literally over 50 phone calls, I count 20 letters as well.

And then they just summarily place a default on my credit record, even though i absolutely dispute the debt, they cant prove anything, not even dates or times of when the debt was taken out, no proof of any default notices sent out, nothing.

yet here i sit with a default and thus a stuffed credit rating (temporarily) ?

Surely there is supposed to be someone to reign these people in from what i bluntly consider fraudulent activity ?

I have been assured by the DCA that they are in the process of returning the debt to the originating bank (who deny all knowledge of it), and once thats done they will remove the default .. however where does that leave me ? Surely there is some time limit they have to abide by ?

Heh time to look around for a template letter to send off to them .. i cant be the only one in this kind of position

Beldin

You should look to take legal action against the bank and DCA. Perhaps speak to a 'no win no fee' company and see if they are willing to take this on.

Failing that I think the FOS would be interested in receiving two complaints. One against the bank and one against the DCA.

Before you go to the FOS, you should send the Bank and DCA a letter by recorded delivery, asking them to look into this matter and to issue their final response. Advise them that you will be looking to make a complaint to the FOS and do not rule out taking legal action for damages.

Huckster

Beldin - Its a little bizarre .. and surely they are breaking the law in this regard ? .. I spoke to the Scottish Bank .. and they deny any knowledge of the account, or the debt, even though I have given them the correct references (from the DCA itself) .. they deny even having assigned or sold the debt on to the DCA

Beldin - Ask the bank to kindly produce a statement to the effect of their denial above and their permission for it's subsequent removal under those erroneous circumstances, if they are indeed genuine..they should be only too pleased to oblige.

Hopefully once you have that in writing; you can forward a copy of the notice onto the relevant credit reference agencies, requesting the removal of the default that should never have been mistakenly placed there.

Thread of further relevance.

http://www.moneysupermarket.com/community/forums/t/wrong-info-on-credit-report-39466.aspx