help needed on defaults placed I know nothing about!

Hi and Welcome to MSE

For the first 3 if you want to get them removed you would need to write to the creditors explaining that you have no idea what the debts are for and dispute any liability to them. Then ask them to prove the debt is yours or remove the defaults from your file.
If you go down this route you may get quite a bit of hassle before they agree that the debts were not yours (e.g. you may have to request the consumer credit agreement etc).
You could have been a victim of identity fraud or the companies could have incorrectly added the defaults to your accounts when they should have gone to someone elses.
have you always kept your address up to date on the electorol roll? Could they have sent default letters to an old address?

With the 3 that are settled do they now show as default-settled or something similar? These will stay on your report for 6years and then disappear 6years from the date of default.

(The first 3 will also disappear after 6years so if you are close to that date it may be easier just to wait for them to drop off).

The defaults that are yours will fall off your credit file after 6 years. The ones that aren't yours you should contact one of the credit reference agencies to tell them that you have no idea what the debt is for let alone the default.

You should have received a notice of default before one gets put on your credit file. This allows you a certain amount of time to pay the debt before the default gets put on your file. If you did not receive a default notice then the default should not have been put on.

To see if you were sent a default notice, the only way i know of is to send a subject access request (SAR - cost £10), which under the Data Protection Act allows you to request a copy of all information a company holds on you. If the default notice is not supplied with the other correspondence then you can assume one was never supplied. Either that or they have breached the Data Protection Act by not supplying the copy.

Getting the default removed because of this - not sure. Never really looked into defaults that much. If nobody else can help, it might be worth looking at the consumeractiongroup forum to see if they know what legidlation has been breached and what your options may be.