As you've been advised, phone the police. Unless you do this, they will continually harass you.

You shouldn't make any agreement with WF; if it isn't your signature, they have committed fraud. You should write to them advising that it is not your signature and that you will not enter any agreement until it is investigated. Advise you will contact the police and FOS if you don't receive a satisfactory response.

Thanks. I'll get him onto it asap

What happened was that someone fraudulently took a loan out in his name, and a credit card (I think) and used all the money without paying back. This obviously was tracked by the CRAs and it's showing months of no payment. The bank did, however, accept that these were opened fraudulently and wrote off any payments owed by him. The accounts are showing as settled, but they still show all the months of no payment on his credit files. Surely this will affect him, regardless of it being settled?

Thanks. I'll find out for sure from him, although it sounds as though he didn't have a default. So does that mean that although Experian and Equifax show a poor credit rating, it won't matter?

Really? Even though the file shows late payments for months? Experian and Equifax show his rating as very poor.

HiMy friend had an account with Lloyds a year or so ago. He was the victim of fraud and this badly affected his credit rating. Lloyds accepted the evidence of this and wrote off any debt. However, he carried out a credit check with Experian and Equifax last week and found that Lloyds still have this data on his credit files. The account is showing as 'settled' rather than defaulted. I told him to contact the bank today regarding this as, in my view, this should have been deleted. He contacted me earlier to say the bank have stated that as it is settled, they can't remove it from his files. The woman also said that as it wasn't a default, any job he goes for that involves a credit check wouldn't be affected. Now I am pretty sure that is a load of rubbish, to put it politely, but I wanted to find out what the next steps are. I was thinking the ICO, but then I wondered if the fos or the FSA should be involved first. Any help appreciated.

Hi My friend had an account with Lloyds a year or so ago. He was the victim of fraud and this badly affected his credit rating. Lloyds accepted the evidence of this and wrote off any debt. However, he carried out a credit check with Experian and Equifax last week and found that Lloyds still have this data on his credit files. The account is showing as 'settled' rather than defaulted. I told him to contact the bank today regarding this as, in my view, this should have been deleted. He contacted me earlier to say the bank have stated that as it is settled, they can't remove it from his files. The woman also said that as it wasn't a default, any job he goes for that involves a credit check wouldn't be affected. Now I am pretty sure that is a load of rubbish, to put it politely, but I wanted to find out what the next steps are. I was thinking the ICO, but then I wondered if the FOS or the FSA should be involved first. Any help appreciated.

Even the likes of Brighthouse have no excuse for losing customers' data http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/editor-s-picks/shoppers-details-dumped-on-street-1.1087282

Well I've spent all of yesterday and today reading through this thread before posting and I'm glad I did. My mum contacted me yesterday saying she was being sued for £295 for allegedly downloading Evacuate the Dancefloor (I assume it's Cascada). It appears that this 'firm' change the type of file they are suing for and send out letters in bulk for the same files. My mum's emailed the SRA a complaint and I got her to email ACS right away yesterday, but I'll get her to type a letter instead after reading this. Surely, though, after over a year of harrassing people like this, the relevant authorities can get rid of the red tape and take action against this 'firm'?

Take it to an ombudsman. I am in the queue after a poor response from an adjudicator. Be prepared to wait though; I have waited about 6 months and I am still waiting.

Have you received any statements? They should be sending an annual statement, but it wouldn't surprise me if they haven't.

I saw an employee of WFS actually admit about the copying of signatures on to re-written agreements. I know we knew this went on, but to actually see it in black and white is still shocking!

The most they can charge, after early resettlement, is 1 month's interest.

It's no different to what the board said at the shareholers' meeting. They'll collect the loan book only and this will last 2 to 3 years before closing down. As Post said, the shareholders requested the wind up, but they have no say really in anything now.

You'll be ok Mich. Their business plan is to stay open for a further 2/3 years for collection of debt. I'd hope that even Welscum would have this sorted within that timeframe.

Yep, it's 5 years since so it's SB.

As we've said, once a company fails to provide your CCA within 14 days your account is officially in dispute and you do not have to pay; ultimately, it's up to you whether or not you pay.

It's good to see MY saying that she doesn't see WFS becoming profitable again . I suppose the point is was it ever profitable? They say they know it went back as far as 2002 and likely even earlier. What a mickey mouse company!

CallCredit is the other agency

Yeah but the intelligent, influential investors have called it a day, they're the ones to be listened to.

You should email him the RNS announcements from the LSE, maybe that'll wipe the grin of his face.

I would think either the banks would take over the debt themselves, it would be sold on to another company, or the remaining debt would be written off as a learning experience for the banks. After all, would you lend to Cattles again?

I agree completely, I have no sympathy for any member of staff at Welcome Finance whatsoever. They played unfair and illegally for too long and now it's hit them back. Who wants to toast?

I don't have much sympathy for the shareholders, they had 6/7 months to sell up their shares n call it a day; they were all giving each other false hope even before the shares were suspended. It's still a shock to see the end of Welcome in sight though 