Car finance company sent incorrect information to ICB

Flyinghigh

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My husband has a PCP agreement with a credit company, last week he received a letter from them stating that they had been sending incorrect information on a monthly basis to the ICB in relation to the loan on his old car, it stated in the letter tgat it should have been recorded as non applicable but had been recorded as ‘settlement’.
They apologised for the error and said it had been rectified, and had he been refused credit due to this error that we should write to the lender and explain what happened.

my question is what recourse if any does he have here? He was refused a loan to consolidate some existing debt, it has caused some significant stress/embarrassment because we have just had a baby we expected that with an excellent credit history that the loan would be accepted. We have written proof of this also.
I also assume there has to be some GDPR breech here surely sharing incorrect information regarding someone’s financial situation is a breech of GDPR.

would appreciate any wisdom of how to go about letting them know we are not happy about this situation and the damage it has caused.
 
What was the reason that was given, for the consolation loan being refused - was it specifically his CCR record?

Consolation loans are not always seen as a good idea, so you need to be sure that it was declined due to the CCR record, first.
 
There was no reason given as it was an online application, it said when he applied that in theory he had been approved and when he submitted all his details for a credit check the loan was denied. He didn’t even get as far as giving paperwork etc. It was from an post money and the reason given was for refinance. Thanks for your reply.
 
Can I suggest that he write to An Post and ask for the reason for the decline - maybe also specifically ask if the loan was declined due to CCR records (stating that there's been an error made on this records, and that the error has now been corrected).

He'll need to be able to evidence that the incorrect records had a clear negative impact, before seeking any form of compensation.
 
when he submitted all his details for a credit check the loan was denied
If he request his ICB records, he should be able to see if a credit check was actually performed. I can't remember offhand how long they keep the details for.

What timeline are we talking about here? Was it only his ICB record that was incorrect? Or CCR also?

If you think the refusal was on the basis of the incorrect information, then complain. Even better if the lender confirms. But include a basis for financial compensation, or you might only get a token apology; eg 'we were unable to refinance 10k at 18% interest to a 6% rate, which was applied for on (date) and was refused in the basis of the incorrect credit information provided by your company. This has cost us 3,600 in additional interest over 3 years and leading to unnecessary financial hardship'.
 
Can I suggest that he write to An Post and ask for the reason for the decline - maybe also specifically ask if the loan was declined due to CCR records (stating that there's been an error made on this records, and that the error has now been corrected).

He'll need to be able to evidence that the incorrect records had a clear negative impact, before seeking any form of compensation.
Thats a great place to start thank you.
 
If he request his ICB records, he should be able to see if a credit check was actually performed. I can't remember offhand how long they keep the details for.

What timeline are we talking about here? Was it only his ICB record that was incorrect? Or CCR also?

If you think the refusal was on the basis of the incorrect information, then complain. Even better if the lender confirms. But include a basis for financial compensation, or you might only get a token apology; eg 'we were unable to refinance 10k at 18% interest to a 6% rate, which was applied for on (date) and was refused in the basis of the incorrect credit information provided by your company. This has cost us 3,600 in additional interest over 3 years and leading to unnecessary financial hardship'.
The letter only states that information was sent to the ICB but can request records for both icb and ccb? The only reason could be this incorrect info as we have never been refused credit before and always pay bills on time. It was about a month ago we were refused 12k refinance at 8.9% from 10.9%. Is there a case for GDPR breech here at all?
 
By law, whoever you were applying for credit from must check your CCR record. But the car finance might not have appeared on there depending on when it was repaid.

It's costing you an extra 20 per month interest. Maybe a general complaint is the way to go, but don't be expecting a big payout here. Personally, I think you'll be doing well if they give you 200 euro as a goodwill gesture.
 
While the situation is frustrating, I would encourage you to take a calmer approach. It should not be causing you significant stress and it has not yet caused any real damage (yet). You were refused 1 month ago so €20 is the impact to you so far if it turns out that your credit rating is in fact your problem

The only reason could be this incorrect info as we have never been refused credit before and always pay bills on time
Your situation has changed, you now have an additional dependent so that may also have been a factor in your refusal. If I understand correctly, the credit issue relates to a previous PCP and your husband now has a new PCP and existing multiple loans of €12k so he is carrying a lot of consumer debt. It may have been refused on this basis

As pointed out by @MrEarl, start by contacting An Post and get a specific explanation of the refusal. If your credit record was not the cause of the loan refusal then you don't really have an issue with the PCP provider

As for GDPR, I don't think there is a problem (but I'm happy to be corrected). They seem to have handled and process your data correctly (but made a mistake). They are now taking corrective action by contacting you to resolve any issues they may have created for you.
 
Is there a case for GDPR breech here at all?
No! Your husband would have signed terms that permitted them to submit his personal information to the ICB in the loan application. The details of the loan and labels such as settlement Vs non applicable aren't protected data.
 
No! Your husband would have signed terms that permitted them to submit his personal information to the ICB in the loan application. The details of the loan and labels such as settlement Vs non applicable aren't protected data.
It's a bit of a grey area as I understand, and under GDPR there may be grounds to sue the lender as GDPR opens up the opportunity to seek damages.

If I remember correctly there was a test case lodged in the Circuit Court last year after EBS misreported a number of cases, but I haven't read anything about it since.

It's no my area at all. But I understand there are lots of legal practices who will represent you in these cases, and happily take a fee if a few hundred euro to tell you whether or not you've a case worth pursuing.
 
It's a bit of a grey area as I understand, and under GDPR there may be grounds to sue the lender as GDPR opens up the opportunity to seek damages.

There might be an angle, but my reading of it is that there has been no breach or leaking of PII in this case. The legislation opens the door for compensation for material and non-material loss where data is mishandled or divulged, but here it sounds like data has been handled in accordance with that agreed to the the OP's husband.

The the element on entitlement to correcting inaccurate personal information states the subject has the right to request a correction. If the controller fails to respond to that request, then there would be a clear breach that could be followed up.

They are of course free to take a case, and as you say, plenty will happily take money off them, but they have to prove they've exhausted the controller's procedures before making a complaint.
 
There might be an angle, but my reading of it is that there has been no breach or leaking of PII in this case. The legislation opens the door for compensation for material and non-material loss where data is mishandled or divulged, but here it sounds like data has been handled in accordance with that agreed to the the OP's husband.
I'm way outside my comfort zone on this - anyone who knows GDPR would wipe the floor with me.

We're kind of used to hearing about breaches as leaks or unauthorised access or use of data. But inaccurate reporting, which has affected credit rating, could constitute unlawful processing, which is where the door is opened up.

But I haven't seen any court precedent for compensation for embarrassment or emotional stress etc.

The finance company here have offered an opportunity to let them know if you've been refused finance as a result, and will have a process for dealing with it. It's unlikely that there is a single customer impacted.
 
We're kind of used to hearing about breaches as leaks or unauthorised access or use of data. But inaccurate reporting, which has affected credit rating, could constitute unlawful processing, which is where the door is opened up.

Yeah, there is a provision that measures must be take to make sure the data is accurate. They might argue whatever check brought this to light is sufficient, but a court could easily decide the other way.

It's unlikely that there is a single customer impacted.

Good point!
 
Fadó, fadó, this was a very serious matter. A bank that gave false information about a customer's financial status and reputation committed a very serious libel and courts came down on the offending bank like a ton of bricks. Traditionally something like incorrectly refusing to honour a cheque and marking it "refer to drawer" would attract serious damages. This carried over into the era of credit reporting and (until recently) an incorrect report was also regarded as a serious act of defamation. In a 2001 case, a customer was awarded £10,000 for such a report.


However, matters changed in 2015, when, in the case of Cornelius M. Cagney v. The Governor and Company of the Bank of Ireland, [2015] IEHC 288, the High Court held that such credit reports were entitled to benefit from a defence of qualified privilege (even if the information was incorrect) and thus refused to award damages for defamation.

So that closes off the defamation route. However, the GDPR route is potentially quite interesting. The bank holds and processes data and is obliged (among other things) to ensure that the data is correct. As the GDPR is a piece of EU legislation, compensation for any breach is supposed to be dissuasive in line with standard principles of EU law. This would suggest something more than mere nominal compensation. I'm not aware of any case where this has been tested.

It might well be worth the OP's while to rattle the cage with a solicitor's letter and see what transpires. A complaint to the FSO might also bear fruit.
 
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