Can HBOS put a black mark against my profile?!

Hendy0911 · 7 February 2017 at 9:42PM

Hi all.

I have been offered a partial settlement (F&F) from HBOS for an amount of £441.00. The remaining balance is £587.89 at the moment.
The debt itself is now off my credit file, having exceeded the 6 year mark so HBOS themselves have advised that they cant put a partially settled on my file due to the account no longer being there, HOWEVER the woman did mention that as i had financial problems on the account in 2010 a black mark was placed on my profile in 2010 which will be there indefinitely - which will hinder my chances for any type of credit (and ive found even bank accounts are declined with the HBOS group now despite being on top of everything for the last 6 years).
So my questions today are
1. Can HBOS have an internal "Black Mark" system that can basically hinder any chance of credit with them forever? And has anyone else experienced this?
And
2. The woman at HBOS mentioned that a full settlement will look better in HBOS eyes than a partial settlement if id ever go for a mortgage with them (immediately after saying that i have basically zero % chance of getting credit with them in the future). So im not sure whether to pay the full settlement or partial as on one hand the £146.89 difference is better in my savings but on the otherhand i am planning on getting a mortgage in the next 24 months so wish to have all my options open...but am not sure if id even be accepted if id paid the full £587.89 because of the 2010 black mark.

Sorry for the longwinded explanation but id REALLY appreciate any help.

C

sourcrates · 7 February 2017 at 10:52PM

Hi,

I don't know what internal systems certain banks may or may not use, but in my experience, there is no such thing as a "black mark register'.

HSBC were my biggest creditor once upon a time, owed 15k, after 6 years, and an IVA, I got another bank account with them almost straight away after it was off my credit file.

I would take what the "lady" said with a pinch of salt.

Call handlers seldom know much more info than what's on the screen in front of them, as most are ignorant of consumer credit law.

fromtheshires · 7 February 2017 at 11:04PM

I don't know the answer, but if you gave someone money and they didn't pay it back, would you go and give them more money ever again? I can only assume this is what they mean about a black mark - basically, they will not allow you to bank / borrow money in their group again. Some banks have long memories. Amex is a prime example of this.

If you have the ability to pay this off then why are you not? Yes, you may be better off by just shy of £150 if you go onto a partial settlement but the banks gave you money in good faith that you would pay it back. If you genuinely cant afford to pay then that's one thing but if you can you should pay back what you owe.

MrsTinks · 8 February 2017 at 11:09AM

Internally I don't know how long they would keep this record - Interesting conundrum. As far as your credit file then once the debt has dropped off your history and they haven't sought a CCJ then that's it. It won't re-appear on your file so it doesn't greatly matter.

I suspect in future if you sought a mortgage with them in 4-5 years time they would probably have archived all of this and it would have no bearing - but in theory the money if not settled with a Full and Final agreement is still owed and they could in theory off set any funds you had with them.

Hendy0911 · 8 February 2017 at 7:14PM

Thank you for all the replies. Fromtheshires, you've made a good point. I have the funds available but was just adamant about paying anymore than I really needed to. However as you've said the "shy of £150" isn't actually a great deal of saving for potentially future hassle with mortgages.

Thank you for the replies, has made me see sense.

angelpye · 8 February 2017 at 9:01PM

You said that the black mark was put on in 2010 and will stay indefinitely - personally I would probably pay the full amount but I would want to double check with them that the mark is there and what happens in the future. If it isn't there and this is just a scare tactic then I would put in a serious complaint and if it is then I would ask for a review once I had paid up...stating it was an issue over 6 years ago and I have since made right the account and paid all funds owing. Not sure it would have any effect but gotta be worth a try?

Hendy0911 · 9 February 2017 at 9:38AM

Thanks AngelPye i think i will definitely try that. She said that it would stay on my account indefinitely despite paying it in full.

Hendy0911 · 9 February 2017 at 2:04PM

AngelPye - I have been told (by HBOS Cust Service) to raise a complaint before anything will be looked at in detail (because its an old debt). So have just raised 1, thank you for your advice.

abby1234519 · 9 February 2017 at 5:18PM

Quite frankly I think its a load of tosh. In 2008 and 2009 I defaulted on a lot of debt - credit cards with lloyds, halifax, capital one and bank accounts as well.

I now have a Halifax Credit card, have had an account with Lloyds etc.

So yes I believe they put a marker on your internal file but I do not believe it stays there indefinitely

Hendy0911 · 9 February 2017 at 8:34PM

Thanks Abby. I didn't think they would be able to put a marker on profile for any long length of time but it just threw me when she mentioned. I'm now starting to believe it was used as a scare tactic. I plan on taking it much further to find out exactly what the marker is and how long it's there or why it's used as a scare tactic. As soon as I know I'll post all the info.

abby1234519 · 10 February 2017 at 10:00AM

Hendy0911 wrote: »

Thanks Abby. I didn't think they would be able to put a marker on profile for any long length of time but it just threw me when she mentioned. I'm now starting to believe it was used as a scare tactic. I plan on taking it much further to find out exactly what the marker is and how long it's there or why it's used as a scare tactic. As soon as I know I'll post all the info.

Well Lloyds told me that they put a marker on your client record so that if you apply for credit it automatically declines. I don't know how long it would stay on for. I can't see it staying on for more than 6 years

Can HBOS put a black mark against my profile?!

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