No payment since 2010 still not defaulted

Hi everyone

I have a similar problem.

I recently discovered that I had an outstanding amount that has been marked as late payment since mid 2010 on my credit report. All my accounts have a good credit rating and have had no problem obtaining loans or credit cards in the past until last year.

I had an account with British Gas in 2009 and on switching to another energy supplier in 2010, I was given a final bill which I disputed.

The company and I agreed to a payment plan whilst the dispute was being investigated. After making 3 months payment, via the post office, (last date of payment 07.07.2010), I had still not received any correspondence from the company regarding resolution of the dispute and therefore stopped making the payments.

I did not receive any further communication regarding the debt since then and therefore considered it to be resolved and closed off. The remaining 'missed payments' did not seem to affect my credit rating as I have been able to obtain loans in this period until last year when I was rejected for a loan to fit a new kitchen! On investigating why, I found the account affecting my credit rating related to 'missed payments' for this energy supplier.

I queried this with the company and received a deadlock letter stating that "they were unable to come to a final agreement about your complaint and that it was unfortunate we couldn’t reach a mutually acceptable solution" i.e. the matter closed - the account would remain open until the balance is paid off and that it had always been on my credit reports as a late payment.

There is conflicting information held by the credit agencies in terms of the dates of the first late payment!

I queried this with British Gas and was informed that Equifax had only updated their records recently and that is why the late payment was showing the Oct 2012 date, but Experian had always shown this account as a late payment (which I believe is untrue). Unfortunately I can't prove this as Experian could not provide me with records dating back 6 years.

My queries are as follows:

• how long should open accounts with late payments remain on one's credit report - shouldn't the account have defaulted and therefore been removed from my file after 6 years?;

• if open accounts remain on the credit report indefinitely, how do I improve my credit rating status as paying off the remaining balance would not resolve the history of this account?

All advice will be greatly appreciated and apologies for the long post (but am at the end of my tether!!)

Hi

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) guidelines say a default should be recorded on a debtor’s credit file after 3-6 months of arrears to show that the "relationship has broken down". Once an account is defaulted it will drop off a credit file 6 years after the initial default date.

http://www.scoronline.co.uk/sites/default/files/high_level_prinicples_document_final.pdf

In the case of both devils_vixen and Germany731 it sounds as though your accounts should have been marked as defaulted years ago and dropped off your files by now. If the creditors do not correct your credit files you should complain to the ICO.

James
@natdebtline