In December of last year, I noticed on my credit file that a Santander account had apparently been opened in my name by someone else.
I contacted Santander to alert that and It said he would investigate. Then in February this year I saw that a loan of £15,000 had also been taken out in my name. Again I alerted Santander and again It said he would investigate.
When I went to get a tentative offer for a mortgage in March of this year, I was told the loan was late so I wouldn’t be able to get one.
I contacted Santander again and was told he was still investigating. I complained about the length of this process and received a letter apologizing for the poor service I had received and offering £100 compensation which I did not accept. He also promised that my case would be reviewed urgently.
To date I have not received any further updates from Santander and the arrears continue to ruin my credit report. Now the original bank account is also overdue.
In April, I filed a complaint with the Financial Ombudsman Service. IIt is unbelievable that Santander could take so long to investigate, maintain a complaint and take no action.
Oh, London
It’s a nightmarish tale. A fraudster has tried several times to open accounts in your name at different banks. You alerted Santander to this fraud only so that the bank would not prevent a substantial loan from being taken out in your name.
After dragging its feet for months, Santander was quick to act when we reached out on your behalf.
He says he has a lot of sympathy for all those who are victims of fraud. “We have reviewed this case and believe that the client has unfortunately been the victim of demand fraud, so we have canceled the debt, closed the checking account and are in the process of amending his credit report so that he does not be no continued impact of this unfortunate situation.”
He is “really sorry for the delay” in responding to you and gives you £500 as a token of goodwill. It comes with no strings attached, so you can always pursue your complaint with the ombudsman, a path you haven’t decided on yet. Now you hope you can get a mortgage and move up the property ladder with your partner.
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