Help needed to remove default from Experian

Saipan

Hi to everyone

Hoping desperately that someone can help!

In a nutshell, my daughter has been turned down for a bank account and mortgage due to a default on her credit record - which she didn't know about until the building society told her it was there.

She had a mobile phone account with NTL, who were then bought out by Virgin Media.

In April 2007 she moved house and contacted Virgin Media, who told her that they do not provide a service to the area she was moving to. She could not afford to settle the outstanding account immediately (about £250) and so Virgin suggested that she pay it in instalments. At no point did they tell her that this constituted making an agreement with her creditors and would go on her credit record - if they had, she would have borrowed the money from me to settle it there and then.

She made substantial payments between April and June 2007, lost track of where she was up to, and then phoned Virgin Media who told her that her account was settled and she owed them nothing.

She then heard nothing whatsoever from Virgin for the following 11 months.

In May 2008 she applied for a joint bank account with her partner only to be told by the Halifax that her application was being declined because of a default notice issued by Virgin.

She then phoned Virgin to ask why she had not been informed of this. They told her that her debt had been sent to their debt collections department. When she asked again why she had not been informed they fobbed her off -she couldn't get a straight answer and they kept transferring her to different people.

She paid the outstanding amount immediately.

Yesterday she was turned down for a mortgage for the same reason and her mortgage broker has advised her to get the default removed. She phoned Virgin who said they could not do this and again could not answer her questions about why she had not been informed.

I have read a lot of posts on this forum (thank heavens it exists!) about removing defaults from Experian but don't understand what some of it means, particularly the acronyms (CCA etc).

Could anyone please advise me:
Does she have a good case for asking for its removal?
Should she contact Experian?
Is there a template of a letter she could send?
How long is it likely to take?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help. This whole experience has shown me how badly someone's life can be damaged by big organisations who can't get their act together.

Many thanks again
Saipan

milliemonster

I don't think there is any point in asking for a copy of the CCA now (consumer credit agreement) as the debt is now settled, did your daughter get any of this in writing? about the planned instalments, receipts for when she paid these instalments, statements, and a confirmed letter telling her her account was settled when they told her on the phone?

If not it is going to be hard to prove, I'm afraid I have no experience in how to get a default removed but I guess your first step would be to put this all in writing to the compaints dept at Virgin (and giving names of the people your daughter spoke to on the phone) and take it from there

Saipan

Many thanks for replying, milliemonster.

As you say, the problem with proving my daughter's 'case' is that so much of what happened was transacted over the phone, so she has very few written records - and Virgin keep changing their story, so presumably they haven't kept proper records.

Virgin are not disputing the arrangement to pay that was made by my daughter or the payments that she made between April and June 2007. They are not commenting on whether she should have been told at the time about the implications of this on her credit record - and they can't or won't explain why the outstanding debt was referred to their debt collections department and a default issued without any attempt to contact her. Nor have they commented on why she was told verbally that her account was clear in June 2007.

I have read a couple of times that creditors must inform their clients before they issue a default - is that the case? Virgin did not do that - but if they should have done, would that in itself be a strong argument for removing the default?

My daughter has emailed Virgin's complaints dept (there is no phone number and the address is a PO Box number - how ridiculous! and how unhelpful for anyone with a problem!). Hopefully they should respond within 48 hours, as promised on their website...not holding my breath, though.

Again, many thanks again for your help -

Saipan

poorandindenial

Hi Saipan

I don't know if any prospective creditors would be more leniant but your daughter can get a note attached to her file stating that she is disputing the default as you were never notified of it

Usually the credit reference agencies can halp you to sort out these errors too. It may also be worth your daughter doing a subject access request (see the information commissioner's website) to the company that added the default (this may or may not be Virgin) for copies of all records they hold about your daughter, if they sent the default notice to an address that she didn't live at then she might be able to argue that she never received notice

Saipan

Thanks so much, poorandindenial - we will try all of these as soon as humanly possible. Brilliant advice! At least now I feel that I can do something and that we are not totally on our own.

Very pleased to hear that my daughter can at least register the fact that she is disputing the default.

I hope all the people who respond to questions on these forums realise what a fantastic help they are and what a brilliant job they do for the rest of us - I would never have been able to find information like this in such a short timescale. Appeciate it so much.

Thanks again
Saipan

milliemonster

It sounds now like although she had an arrangement to pay with Virgin, it still meant the account was in default and this is why the default notice has been applied. However, yes they should write and inform you but again they could just say they did write, and I don't think this would be sufficient to get the default removed.

I hope you get somewhere with this but I think without any written documentation from Virgin to back up what your daughter said about the account being settled, it's going to be very difficult to get this removed. Has the balance now been settled?, if so then that will appear on her credit file and will hopefully help to improve things in time. She might be able to get a mortgage in a year or so but with a higher interest rate.

Does your daughter now dispute the balance that Virgin sent to the DCA's? I only ask this because if she knew at the start what she owed and had an arrangement to pay and paid what she owed, then where does the outstanding balance come from?

Saipan

Many thanks to all who helped with great advice - and good news! The default notice has been removed by Virgin Media!

To milliemonster - the issue around the outstanding balance arose because my daughter moved house and mislaid the paperwork, so she phoned Virgin to ask how much she still owed and was told that her account had been settled in full and she owed them nothing. Amidst all the hassle of moving, she took their word for it - a mistake she will never make again! When she found out that she still owed them some money (the Halifax told her when they turned her down for a bank account) she paid it immediately. Thanks for all your help x

Just in case this helps anyone else - my daughter eventually found the missing paperwork and, although she had nothing in writing to confirm that Virgin had told her that her account was clear, she had scribbled some notes while she was talking to them on the phone, both when she made the arrangment to pay and when they told her account had been settled. These notes did not include anything about an arrangement to pay being entered on her credit record but did refer to Virgin staff recommending that she pay in instalments. She had also made a note of the date she was told that her account was clear although not the name of the person she spoke to.

After phoning Virgin twice and getting nowhere, she emailed their customer services department (the only way you can contact them!) and pointed out that Virgin staff had advised her to do something that would damage her credit record without warning her of this. She also said that she had not received a default notice and challenged them to prove that they had issued one (luckily she moved back home with me, so we knew that nothing from Virgin had been delivered here during the 11 months that this was going on). Finally she said that she would be seeking legal advice and that her solicitor would be contacting them in the near future. Within a few days, the default notice had been removed. She has now managed to get a mortgage offer from the Halifax.

I'm not saying that this would work for everyone but I do believe that fighting your corner can really help - these companies need to be able to prove that they follow the correct procedures.

Again, thanks to everyone for the great support.

Best wishes
Saipan