Vexatious unauthorised searches by Mackenzie hall & Lowell

[tracybeaker]

Mum - wave to guests.........cooooooooooeeeeee:razz:

[tracybeaker]

may be a silly question this one but.... do you get all the information about who is checking your record from the standard credit report ie the £2 one or do you have to pay for the more expensive one??

 

it never even occurred to me that they may do this until in read this thread and i would be interested to see who has been sniffing round my credit report as it were !!

 

thanks

 

TB

[Duffers Mum]

Trish...i see our guests have left...must be time for them to go home

 

I pay the monthly £6.99 for my credit file, i need to at the moment to see who is doing what....

[Blondmusic]

Well I emailed Muck Hall and they have contacted Equifax and asked them to remove all but 2 of the searches (1 on my previous address, 1 on my current address). Muck Hall have promised to let me know when Equifax have removed the searches.

[Brigadier 1JCS]

Hi to all the caggers who viewed this thread and replied to it* SUCCESS*

Checked Equifax yesterday *ALL* searches *REMOVED* Now the Claim for damages and costs can start with a vengence, any suggestions on how much

wong a per search?

 

MUVK HOLE 0 the Brig 1

[unclebulgaria67]

Have you researched how much affect the searches have had on your rating ?

 

Have you worked out any financial loss value you have suffered ?

 

I think you have to approach this, as if you were asking a court for costs.

 

Personally I would think £100 for each search would be reasonable.

[fuzzybobble]

Waiting for my credit file from Experian. Hopefully Hillesdens will have been busy on it and Mucky Hall too.

 

My plan of action is, if they have a number of searches on there, I'll be applying for a credit card, which I know will be turned down. Then I'll go for the Crapital One version at 50% interest, that I know I'll be accepted for. Once this is in place, I'll be after them for removing the searches. Once this is done, a court claim and have evidence I had to apply for a card at a much higher interest rate, due to being turned down for a cheaper one.

 

Think that should do the trick. It will be nice if I can get a DCA to pay for my holiday next year and send them a postcard.

[Brigadier 1JCS]

Hi Caggers :)Good news first MH have admitted the 5 Table 1 searches were

wrong and have removed them.

The Great News they are paying compensation for each wrong search:D

Also some info that might help others this comes from a compliance manager Equifax decide which Table of Searches they enter data on

not the DCA therefore having the proof of this opens up a simple way of getting

the CRA to cough up if your report shows Table 1 searches by MH or Lowlife

which are seen by lenders you have gottem by the short and curlies The DCAs

apparently do not do Table 1 searches as they do not HA HA give credit.

Hope this can help others out of the C**P in the future!! Good Luck The Brig.

[Seminole]

Is that a compliance manager at Equifax or one of the DCAs?

 

I had a run in with 1st Cred and Equifax last year over something that was so SBed it was practically written on parchment. Table 1 searches were made at my current and previous addresses. They were eventually removed after about 10 emails. Looks like I might have missed an oppotunity there.

[Blondmusic]

Hi Caggers :)Good news first MH have admitted the 5 Table 1 searches were

wrong and have removed them.

The Great News they are paying compensation for each wrong search:D

Also some info that might help others this comes from a compliance manager Equifax decide which Table of Searches they enter data on

not the DCA therefore having the proof of this opens up a simple way of getting

the CRA to cough up if your report shows Table 1 searches by MH or Lowlife

which are seen by lenders you have gottem by the short and curlies The DCAs

apparently do not do Table 1 searches as they do not HA HA give credit.

Hope this can help others out of the C**P in the future!! Good Luck The Brig.

 

Great news. Are Muck Hall or Equifax paying compensation? I only want to know as I will definately ask for Compensation after the 14 searches they put on Table One of my credit file.

[Brigadier 1JCS]

Muck have paid!! Just about to tackle Equifax for more wonga a co-data controllers. The catch is that searches shown in Table 1 in report ie those seen

by potential lenders are the ones you can claim on,as I said above the DCA's

don't have a choice where the search is posted on the report,they have confirmed that they do not themselves post reports on Table 1. So it's Information Commissioner first to complain then standard letter to the CRA give them 7 working days to answer, then letter before action stating what you want the to do and how much compo you are after, the same letters to go to DCA who posted the searches be persistent. This is exactly what I have done. Good Luck.

It was DCA comp. managers advice hvae checked it elsewhere it's spot on.

Edited July 19, 2010 by Brigadier 1JCS
Missed a bit Celebrating!!

[Brigadier 1JCS]

Hi Seminole if you have printed out your report or saved you could still take

action if the searches were in Table 1. Good Luck;)

[Blondmusic]

All my searches were in Table 1. The one search that is now on my report by Muck Hall is again in Table 1 which I know is not right. I wouldn't know where to start writing a letter before action let alone how much to ask for in compensation.

[Brigadier 1JCS]

Hi Blondmusic I will get back a little later and will explain what is needed it costs nothing but the postage don't worry,print your report to use as evidence

if you want to send to T/stds the OFT and info commissioner.

 

Can you tell me the dates and the frequency of the searches and are they

for outstanding debt, the header on Table 1 should read Searches Made Regarding Credit Applications this is the important one MH do not offer credit so the search is ''Inappropriate''

Edited July 20, 2010 by Brigadier 1JCS
More Info.

[Brigadier 1JCS]

Unauthorised Searches. Without Prejudice

Write to Mr. Robert Sands, Compliance Manager, Mackenzie Hall, Unit 1A,

58 Portland Street, Kilmarnock, Ayreshire, KA1 1JG.

Head the letter Unauthorised Searches.

Start: Dear Sir.

I your name have checked my Equifax Credit Report and have found No. of searches registered in Table I find this most alarming as I have not authorised you to search my report, the matter is made more serious by the fact that these searches are regarding out standing debt and listed under searches made with regard to Credit Applications as Mackenzie Hall do not offer credit facilities these searches are inappropriate and I formally Request tha they are

removed forthwith.

 

I am allowing 7 Working days from....... for you to respond that is no later than date (7 clear working days) .

If you fail to comply with my request I shall immediately report this matter to

The Office of Fair Trading and Mr. Alan Stewart of your local Trading Standards department, I also reserve the right to inform the Information Commissioners Office and if no satisfactory reply is received I will take my case to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

I am enclosing herewith a copy of the pages from my report showing the offending searches.

As this is a blatant misuse of the Credit Reference Agency I shall seek to recover compensation from both yourselves and Equifax, using the County Court if necessary this will increase the compensation claimed and incur costs as you are obviously aware these searches have seriously damaged my ability to get credit.

Send this RD 1st. Class.

Next amend the letter to Mr. Stewart at Kilmarnock Trading Standards (address on line) don't bother with consumer direct) enclose a copy of the the report pages with all other searches blanked out.

You can do this also for the OFT letter again RD.

When writing to the OFT state clearly that you ARE NOT SEEKING ADVICE BUT

MAKING A COMPLAINT they cannot advise on individual cases.

If MH do not reply in the time limit, post here and I will set up the letter befor action for you.

This is one time you don't need to much legal jargon.

 

Good luck,post here if you need any more help.

 

The Brig.

*should have said send T/S and OFT letter straight away to allow for the usual delays.*

Edited July 20, 2010 by Brigadier 1JCS
Missed a bit

[Blondmusic]

Dates of searches are as follows,

 

10/09/2008 (2 Searches 1 at my previous address and 1 at my current address)

7/1/2010 (1 search, previous address)

8/1/2010 (3 searches, 1 at previous address, 2 at current address)

11/1/2010 (2 searches, 1 at each address, all following searches the same)

14/1/2010

15/1/2010

8/4/2010

 

They seemed to have done a lot of searches in January over a few days. They are all on Table 1 which are supposed to be for credit applications.

 

They have already removed all but one of the searches so far so should i just edit your letter to suit?

 

Thanks for helping.

[Brigadier 1JCS]

Yes you can but the point is the damage has already been done and that the wrong that needs to be compensated so I would carry on send the original print out showing all the searches.

 

Have to go an punish some naughty boys now, but will be back 1330 hrs.

The Brig.

[Blondmusic]

Thanks.

[Brigadier 1JCS]

I have just tackled Lowell and Equifax for the same type of Table 1 searches

and done a little more digging, I have written confirmation that DCA's do not place searches on Table 1 (searches connected to credit applications).

It does seem that the placing of the searches is arbitrary depending on which

data mongrel is pushing the beads on the abacus at the time the search is posted,therefore careful checks are required when any search is made for any reason.I now have information of over 30 cases where this has occurred including my own!!

If anyone needs help with this I have expert contacts to draw on to add to the great fund of knowledge and experience

available on CAG,.

Total money saved,reclaimed and written off since joining CAG £31,000.

Not all mine include friends and relatives, compensation (personal £2250.00) so far.

There is hope for us all!!

Edited July 20, 2010 by Brigadier 1JCS

[Brigadier 1JCS]

Just off to pay their cheque in!!!

[Blondmusic]

I have received a letter from Mackenzie Hall offering me £300 as compensation for the stress and inconvenience they caused me with the searches they put on my file. I have accepted the offer and they are sending me a cheque in the post today.

 

I also received a letter from Equifax but they just say that they apologise but have not offered me any compensation so I will have to write to them again.

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Hi Bolndmusic,

Well done grab the money!!!

I am still trying to tie Equifax down to admitting any thing they have just sent

the most garbled letter re Table 1 searches, in that they say in para 1 searches

in T1 are ''possibly be seen in automated searches used by some of their clients and ''MAY'' have an impact on decisions.

In P2 They say all T 1 searches are not seen and have no Impact on reports.

Brig. the same one as before with an upgrade to 2:?

[Blondmusic]

I phoned them on Monday and they said they have sent the cheque out on Monday. How long did it take for yours to arrive?

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Hi Blondmusic,

I don't know where you live,but our post is very slow at the moment

1st class sems to be at least 3 days.

My cheque arrived within 1 day of signing the acceptance of

the offer.

 

Brig.

[huggys boss]

grrrrrrrrrr, it's stopped, was enjoying this thread. Anymore to report Brig?