Transunion showing wrong and historic financial linking to my EX

[Brodiedog]

Good afternoon. 

 

Full background. 

I used to be in a relationship with someone, her name isn't relevant so I'll call her Brian for the sake of this post.

We owned a house together and she was added to my bank account making it a joint account. At some point we separated,

 

in 2016 the property was sold, our finances separated, we went into the relevant banks and filled in the forms, my joint accounts reverted to sole ownership in my name and we parted ways. At no point were any of our finances ever in arrears, no payments missed, no defaults etc etc, Since 2016 we have had no contact, last I heard she was living on a canal boat somewhere in Norfolk. I have no address or contact number for her.

 

Fast forwards to today.

I'm self employed and I'm trying to improve my credit score a little and I subscribed to checkmyfile to see if I can work out what's dragging my score down, and I discover that Transunion has a financial association with Brian and when I move the sliding scale thing to see how this is affecting my credit score with transunion, it makes a HUGE difference. 

Clearly this is an error, I have no financial links with her at all and have not since we parted ways in 2016.

 

I also create a Credit karma account as this is specifically a transunion report, and it's also reported there. Transunion states it is a Barclays account. I have never ever had a barclays account. Transunion states the account association originated on the 1 September 2012 and was then later confirmed on the 6 Feb 2010. No that's not a typo on my part, unless transunion have a time machine that can confirm a financial association on an account that doesn't exist two years before it was created, then something is obviously wrong.

 

I raised a dispute with transunion and the information I got back is that this entry relates to an account number that is a nationwide account, which is one of my two current accounts with nationwide that I use and that nationwide are reporting it as a joint account and so the dispute is rejected as the information is correct.

 

I've been to nationwide. I've spent around two hours in the branch with some very helpful staff who have scratched their heads to get to the bottom of this. 

The upshot is that I have been given:

Screen printouts from the Nationwide account management system (which as a customer I have no access to), showing the account status as sole ownership in my name. Current statement printouts showing the account in my name only. Historic statements showing the account in my name only. A statement of fees for account showing it as sole ownership in my name only. A statement from August 2016 showing the account in joint names with myself and Brian, And a following statement from September 2016 showing that the account has been changed to sole ownership in my name only. All of these supporting documents have been stamped with the branch stamp, dated and signed by the manager lady who spent ages trying to sort this out for me. 

 

After a lot of ringing other departments, she also assured me that this account is not being reported as a joint account, it is on all the systems she is able to check on reported as a sole ownership account in my name only. She said that the information that goes to the credit reference agencies is a data dump taken from the account management system, where it it clearly not reported as a joint account. And that the same data file goes to all the credit agencies, it's also not possible for different data agencies to get different information for the same account, and as Experian and Equifax both report this account correctly, the correct information is leaving their systems and the issue is with Transunion.

 

I have raised a second dispute with transunion and supplied them with all the supporting documents from the bank showing that this account is

A. A nationwide account and not a Barclays account 

B. Categorically not a joint account with Brian and is a sole ownership account in my name

C. The dates are clearly wrong

D. Experience and Equifax report the account correctly

 

And again they have rejected the dispute stating that the account is reported as a joint account and the information they show is correct. I still have a financial association with Brian on a nationwide account that is solely in my name since 2016, is reported as a barclays account with wrong dates that is harming my credit score and transunion refuse to acknowledge all the documentation I have from the bank. I have raised a complaint procedure with nationwide to get it investigated and have not heard back from this yet. 

 

I was going to wait till I get a response from the bank complaint and then contact the bank ombudsman, although I'm not sure if they have any authority over the credit reference  agencies, and the issue seems to be with transunion rather than my bank. 

 

Anyone able to help with this?

 

Despite the latest communication stating that the dispute has been rejected because the account has been updated by Nationwide in Dec 21 as a joint account, the latest Transunion report (Dec 21) still reports it as a Barclays and last reported in September 2012.

 

I've been told that the banking ombudsman doesn't have any jurisdiction over credit reference agencies.

Any advice will be gratefully received.

 

Nick

 

Any suggestions  on what my next step to resolve this will be very gratefully received.

 

Nicholas 

 

 

Edited January 5, 2022 by dx100uk
formatting

[Brodiedog]

Anyone able to help with this?

 

Despite the latest communication stating that the dispute has been rejected because the account has been updated by Nationwide in Dec 21 as a joint account, the latest Transunion report (Dec 21) still reports it as a Barclays and last reported in September 2012.

 

I've been told that the banking ombudsman doesn't have any jurisdiction over credit reference agencies.

Any advice will be gratefully received.

 

Nick

 

[dx100uk]

start a complaint with the FOS.

and it might pay you to go contact the ICO too first

[Brodiedog]

Thank you. I had been told the FOS had no jurisdiction here, but I will start a complaint with them and see what they say. 

ICO. Information commissioners office? I will do that too.

Thanks.

 

Ill update here when I get a response.

 

[dx100uk]

go speak to the ICO 1st.

they sometimes can wave a magic wand and give a quick call to whomever and problem gets solved.

 

though i will say, you obviously DID have a financial linking with your EX, the fact TU (credit kalma?) have or are giving the wrong say bank a/c or mortgage details might be immaterial.

 

mine from 2008 still shows, but it certainly has/never had any effect upon my score even though they had/have numerous CCJ's, so are a 'risk' to be associated with to this day.

[dx100uk]

Open

[Brodiedog]

Sorry for the long delay on following this up,  Ive been waiting for the results of actions I was promised.

 

After this post I found a telephone number for the ICO and rang them to get some advice on the correct procedure to follow raising this with them.

 

The lady I spoke to said that the ICO had a huge backlog currently, and that what she advised in the first instance, was to log an official written complaint with the nationwide bank.

 

This would then get followed up by technical team who would be able to look at the specifics of this particular issue,

 

and that if this did not resolve the issue, OR the bank did not respond with an acceptable response within the required time frame, 

 

then to come back and to log the complaint with the ICO and they would then take up both the information issue and the lack of response within the legally specified time limit.

 

So a complaint was logged with the nationwide bank and eventually a customer resolutions manager got in touch with me

 

nationwide had found some mistakes in the way some of their different systems were incorrectly reporting the account, while all the systems customer service teams were able to access reported it correctly.

 

He told me his team had spent quite a time going over the systems and had removed a number of instances where the incorrect information was recorded and that he couldnt give me a reason why this had not happened automatically.

 

He awarded me £250 as compensation and told me that the data on Transunion would be updated within the next 6 to 8 weeks and followed this up with a letter.

 

SIve waited a a few months, and nothing has changed

 

I rang the bank and after being put through about 4 different people, was told that it can take some time for all the relevant systems to synchronise with each other before the correct data was reported to Transunion. 

 

Ive waited a couple more cycles.

And the data on Transunion has not changed.

 

 I have telephoned Transunion to follow it up and been told that the account is STILL currently being reported as a joint account by Nationwide, and he cant tell me why Transunion display it as a Barclays account with incorrect dates.

 

As of today there is now a complaint logged with the ICO but the lady on the phone told me that there is a huge backlog and it could be three months or more before its assigned to a complaints officer who will then handle the complaint.

 

Im £250 better off, but to be honest Id rather just have the correct information on my credit account because it is causing me issues.

 

I had to fill in a financial application form with my partner recently, and this was literally the first thing that was flagged up when they did a credit check and I had to explain it all to them.

 

 Im back waiting again...

 

Any further advice on anything else I can do wil be gratefully received.

Nick.

[Badtimes123]

Complaint with FOS? now you've made contact with ICO

 

Check with CRA if closing the troublesome account would help? and do it if so

[dx100uk]

Do you have written proof of the resolution from nationwide?

 

 

[Brodiedog]

Yes absolutely.

The text is as follows:(identifying info removed)

 

Our response to your complaint

 

 

Dear xxxx

I am sorry that you have had to raise concerns regarding your Credit File issues and thank you for your patience whilst I have investigated your concerns.

Thank you for taking the time to talk to me today regarding these concerns.

Your concerns

As I understand, you raised concerns that your credit file had shown that there was an association with a previous joint account holder despite them being requested to be removed in 2016.

Our findings

I have received confirmation that the joint account holder, Miss BRIAN was not fully removed from the current account and her details remain associated with the account until now.

This has been manually updated this week and details sent to TransUnion for their records to be updated. I would hope that they would take the information and backdate this to 2016 however, I suggested that it may be in your interests to contact TransUnion directly to ensure this is done.

This letter is confirmation that this administrative error has been caused by Nationwide but if you require any further documentation to assist with your Credit File, please do not hesitate to contact me.

I have sent a request for all associated financial details to be removed from your profile and this will be processed and TransUnion notified within the next 6 - 8 weeks.

Our decision

You advised that upon reflection, you have been affected by this over the years when applying for credit and I would like to apologise for any inconvenience or confusion caused by this.

In upholding your concerns, I have arranged for £250.00 compensation to be credited to your current account ending xxxx, this will appear as a credit from sundries on your statement by close of business on Monday 14 February 2022.

Your information

The information you provide will be held by Nationwide. We’ll use it to process your complaint and resolve your concerns.

Your rights

You have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, free of charge – but you must do so within six months of the date of this letter.  I’ve included a link to their leaflet, or you can visit their website – www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk. 

If you do not refer your complaint in time, the Ombudsman will not have our permission to consider your complaint and so will only be able to do so in very limited circumstances.  For example, if the Ombudsman believes that the delay was as a result of exceptional circumstances.

Next steps

As previously explained, this letter is to confirm you’ve accepted the proposed outcome and we now consider your complaint to be resolved.  If there’s anything you’d like to discuss further, please reply to this message by sending an email to me at MS&CTeam1@nationwide.co.uk or you can contact me on 00000000000.

Your complaint has been logged in accordance with our internal complaints policy. Our strategic root cause team will therefore be able to access your concerns if required, to identify trends in member dissatisfaction and identify improvements to our products and processes. While we cannot guarantee your case will be reviewed, we take member concerns seriously and therefore are constantly looking to identify areas of improvement.

Yours sincerely

Chris Hemming

Member Relations Consultant

Member Service

[dx100uk]

A copy of that to transunion should get it fixed in 24 hrs imho.

 

 

[Brodiedog]

I dont really want to close the account as I use it for quite a few bills and direct debits, and if I close it Ill have to open another one which will have yet another negative effect on my credit reference rating.

 

I have been in contact with Transunion and they have a copy of the letter.

 

They say that they can remove the entry, however it will not achieve anything as the entry will simply be reinstated on the next monthly cycle because Nationwide are still actively reporting it as a joint account on each monthly update.

 

So because of this, although they can, they are reluctant (read not willing...) to remove it while nationwide are still reporting it as a joint account.

 

They still cant tell me why its reported on my credit reference as a Barclays account though.

 

So im back to waiting for the ICA, but as of today Ive also logged a complaint with the Ombudsman.

 

As soon as I hear back from the ombudsman or the ICO I will update this.

 

Nick

[The GodMother]

It seems to be a transunion problem as l know several people who are have TU issues but they were not there when it was Credit Karma. 

 

Eg my name they are refusing to accept they are the only credit reporting company that has my name wrong even saying how the bank has been telling them its a name l have not used for nearly 21 years been to bank, l was not even with that bank 21 yrs ago, and provided them all the info they have investigated and they gave me all the info logged a complaint and even that showed the bank were not at fault. Gave all the info to TU they still dont accept they are wrong. Logged a FOC ICO etc complaint ICO got info from TU saying they were now using my correct name 3 months after the complaint lodged. Then l found out that TU has changed my middle name and they dont accept that even tho there own records show that when KC it was correct and before l lodged my last name complaint it was correct and they say its bank. its not as the previous complaint says its not. Now they have again suddenly changed the info to correct info. 

 

just waiting for it to change back.