Credit Union reporting incorrectly to CCR/Bankruptcy

[RobInDaHood]

I had to declare Bankruptcy a number of years ago and attempted to start my life over again. I was hampered by a number of financial institutions that kept reporting me to the CCR for non payment of a debt that should have been written off. I tried to address this with the financial institution first and had some success with some but not the credit union.

I brought my case to the FSPO and after fighting my corner for a number of years I finally got the FSPO to accept and upheld my complaint in what the credit union did was wrong. They also advised the Credit Union to make contact with the Central bank of Ireland as this was an operation issue that was wrong and I believe my case was the test case to address these issues. The only remedy available to the fspo was to tell the financial institution to rectify their errors but they did not award any compensation. This is what aggrieves me the most. My only option left is to appeal the case by way of a Judicial review.

I do not have the means to pay a solicitor or a barrister and from reading about the process in the courts website it is just too much for me to make sense of. I am asking if there is a solicitor/barrister who is willing to take this on on a no foal no fee basis?? I also believe this maladministration by the credit unions in Ireland (which was upheld by the FSPO) has affected other people and could there be a case for a "class" action??

Also I only have another week or two before the window to appeal closes.

 

[Brendan Burgess]

@RobInDaHood

Sorry to hear about that and it's odd that the Ombudsman did not award you compensation.

But, under no circumstances should you consider taking a High Court case.

The High Court defers to the Ombudsman and will only overturn his decision in a case where there is a series of egregious errors. The High Court will often say "We wouldn't have arrived at that conclusion ourselves, but the Ombudsman has a right to be wrong."

In any event, even if the High Court upheld your appeal, what compensation would you expect? For such maladministration where there is no resulting financial loss, you would probably have got around €5,000.

Brendan

 

[RobInDaHood]

@RobInDaHood

Sorry to hear about that and it's odd that the Ombudsman did not award you compensation.

But, under no circumstances should you consider taking a High Court case.

The High Court defers to the Ombudsman and will only overturn his decision in a case where there is a series of egregious errors. The High Court will often say "We wouldn't have arrived at that conclusion ourselves, but the Ombudsman has a right to be wrong."

In any event, even if the High Court upheld your appeal, what compensation would you expect? For such maladministration where there is no resulting financial loss, you would probably have got around €5,000.

Brendan

Thanks for your feedback Brendan, I was hoping I would get your opinion on this. i have read your posts on numerous occasions in the past and in fairness you call it the way it is even when the person doesn't want to hear what you are saying. Just to put my issue into context, I was not a large developer or reckless investor. I ran three retail shops over ten years and was employing 15 people by the time I had to make the decision to go Bankrupt. Online ordering and a financial crash in 2007 was just the start of my problems. I have tried to get back on my feet but even getting a Bank account proved a hassle never mind trying to get a loan for a sofa or a secondhand car. Three companies continued to report my loans for non payment (loans which were deemed written off by the bankruptcy). With two of them when I advised of the bankruptcy they stopped reporting me and they offer me compensation which the FSPO agreed and was paid (2500+6000).

The credit union however did not agree with what I was saying or even what the ISI was trying to advise them. This did have an impact on me, if not financial emotional as i know I couldn't build up a new credit history for myself. Finally after numerous discussions and arguments via dispute resolution and then Formal investigation the FSPo ruled the credit union was incorrect in its reporting however they excused them for any compensation payments as they had reached out to their legal team for clarification. Their interpretation of the issue was wrong but it seems the credit union were off the hook because they tried to get clarification on how and what they should report. however a lay man could see what they were doing was wrong and it has cost me 4/5 years of incorrect reporting. Then out of the blue they stopped reporting about 5 months ago. I think if a law or the essence of a rule is broken then regardless of your actions you should still be held accountable to the erroneous decisions. I feel its unfair that the only option I have is the High court , a person that lost everything but just trying to get a fair hearing. Sorry for the rant but from my original conversations with the credit union who completed blanked me to getting a ruling by the FSPO and further an instruction to review and change the reporting of loans that are subject to insolvency or Bankruptcy.

Maybe a small victory and I know what you are saying makes sense but perhaps I have read too many John Grisham books or watched too many Better Call Saul episodes to think someone somewhere could maybe bring this to a correct conclusion.

 

[ClubMan]

You got €8.5K compensation from other companies.
How much do you think that the CU cost you or owes you in compensation?
It's unlikely to be enough to justify a high court case as Brendan has already pointed out.
Maybe you need to put this behind you and move on?

 

[Brendan Burgess]

I think if a law or the essence of a rule is broken then regardless of your actions you should still be held accountable to the erroneous decisions.

This is a very good point but completely separate from the one of compensation.

You were annoyed and inconvenienced by the Credit Unions so maybe €5,000 compensation is appropriate. However the Ombudsman deemed that no compensation was appropriate. It is very likely that the High Court would arrive at the same conclusion. And if they deemed you should get compensation, then maybe €5,000.

I feel its unfair that the only option I have is the High court ,

No, you had two options - the Ombudsman or the High Court. You took the Ombudsman who sorted out the problem for you and it cost you nothing.

You want a second bite at the cherry. You can't have that without great risk to yourself.

Sorry for the rant but from my original conversations with the credit union who completed blanked me to getting a ruling by the FSPO and further an instruction to review and change the reporting of loans that are subject to insolvency or Bankruptcy.

I think if a law or the essence of a rule is broken then regardless of your actions you should still be held accountable to the erroneous decisions.

Forget about compensation but follow up on this. Send a complaint to
Elaine Byrne
Registrar of Credit Unions
Central Bank of Ireland

Enclose the Ombudsman's decision and recommendations.

The Central Bank is not allowed to discuss its regulatory business with you, so you will get no feedback which will be frustrating. But rest assured that they will take this very seriously and will investigate the Credit Union concerned.

Brendan

 

[Horatio]

I agree that the High Court is simply not worth the risk & cost & your valuable time for a few quids compensation however the CU do not know that you are not of a mind to pursue this in the High Court.

You still have a window to lodge an appeal, again I'd imagine the CU do not have the info to hand on how short the window is. You could for example put an offer of to the Credit Union to voluntarily pay a goodwill of x Euro to avoid the incumberance of being engaged in a High Court process which will consume years & many multiples of the proposed goodwill payment.

If they call your bluff & tell you to take a hike then do so & leave the whole thing behind you - You're coming out smarter from the whole affair - worth say EUR5,000? Almost certainly yes.

If they agree to the goodwill proposal then bully for you.

 

[RobInDaHood]

I agree that the High Court is simply not worth the risk & cost & your valuable time for a few quids compensation however the CU do not know that you are not of a mind to pursue this in the High Court.

You still have a window to lodge an appeal, again I'd imagine the CU do not have the info to hand on how short the window is. You could for example put an offer of to the Credit Union to voluntarily pay a goodwill of x Euro to avoid the incumberance of being engaged in a High Court process which will consume years & many multiples of the proposed goodwill payment.

If they call your bluff & tell you to take a hike then do so & leave the whole thing behind you - You're coming out smarter from the whole affair - worth say EUR5,000? Almost certainly yes.

If they agree to the goodwill proposal then bully for you.

Hi Horatio I was thinking of doing this before I put up my post. I just felt they would laugh at me, especially how they had treated me at the start and I was privy to some information during DR dispute resolution which I should not have seen, mainly comments about a wider impact to the Credit union and they also said they had another case with the FSPO who complained about a similar matter. This is why i am saying I feel the put all the weight of the credit unions via their legal team etc to defend their position. I agree it is worth a shot nothing ventured etc.

Also in relation to the comment by Clubman, the other companies stopped reporting me to the CCR at the time I told them, the credit union continued to report me only until maybe they got wind of the FSPO decision on my case as it was coming down the tracks. The only way to made amends is compensation they cant give me back the time I lost. remember Bankruptcy was a system in place to start your life over again, the Credit Union denied me this by continually reporting for non payment of a loan that should have been written off. They never even told me they were reporting for this loan until I got a credit report. I am not being mercenary just want them to pay for their errors, just look at the newspapers today in regard to the fine for the Tracker errors.

 

[Brendan Burgess]

The Credit Union got the Ombudsman's decision and the timeline for appealing it to the High Court is set out clearly.

They will laugh at anyone threatening to appeal it to the High Court.

And they are spending other people's money so they don't care. They are generally extremely arrogant and know best.

You can make them pay for their sins by highlighting it to the Central Bank. Come to think of it, the Central Bank is also responsible for the Credit Reporting and they will be annoyed that it's not accurate.

You can also ring Joe Duffy or a journalist on the issue.

You can go to the AGM of the Credit Union and raise it there.

Brendan

 

[Brendan Burgess]

@RobInDaHood

You should definitely send a copy of the Ombudsman's decision to

Louise Carpendale
Central Credit Register, Adelphi Plaza, George’s Street Upper, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin

They are very concerned about the accuracy of the Register and if the Credit Unions are refusing to adhere to the rules,, they would take a very dim view.

Brendan

 

[RobInDaHood]

Thanks for that Brendan, I will send on the details to them too. I may need to wait until the ruling is in the public domain before I send on details of the ruling (as published in the FSPO findings)

 

[Brendan Burgess]

@RobInDaHood

No need to wait for that. It could take a long time. Disclosure to the Central Bank is perfectly acceptable as they are a regulator.

If you wait you will probably forget about it or your annoyance will mellow.

Brendan

 

[RobInDaHood]

LOL not sure my annoyance will ever mellow but i took them on and won in a round about way. Thanks for the heads up on timescales, i will indeed send on the outcome. Thanks again Brendan your advice is well received

 

[CU Manager]

The Credit Union got the Ombudsman's decision and the timeline for appealing it to the High Court is set out clearly.

They will laugh at anyone threatening to appeal it to the High Court.

And they are spending other people's money so they don't care. They are generally extremely arrogant and know best.

You can make them pay for their sins by highlighting it to the Central Bank. Come to think of it, the Central Bank is also responsible for the Credit Reporting and they will be annoyed that it's not accurate.

You can also ring Joe Duffy or a journalist on the issue.

You can go to the AGM of the Credit Union and raise it there.

Brendan

It's been a long time since I was on this site but I'm very disappointed with your comment that credit union decision makers are "generally extremely arrogant and know best".
That statement is unworthy of a serious commentator and reflects poorly on you Brendan.

 

[CU Manager]

@RobInDaHood

No need to wait for that. It could take a long time. Disclosure to the Central Bank is perfectly acceptable as they are a regulator.

If you wait you will probably forget about it or your annoyance will mellow.

Brendan

The CBI will not reinvestigate this when the FSPO has already done so using their statutory powers. I expect all that would happen is the CBI supervisor will just raise the issue informally with the CU and nothing more would happen