First Blemishes on Credit File

JWT_2

Good afternoon,

I hope someone can help me with a couple of problems I am having. Only recently I've applied for a student bank account and had it rejected due to something on my credit file from a previous address, naturally I wanted to see what this problem is so I checked my file only to be met with a default and a CCJ.

The default is with Barclays bank who I left in 2007, unfortunately, I forgot to transfer one direct debit to my new account and thus I was charged a sum of £35 + £30 for going overdrawn as well as not having money to cover the DD. The balance of the default is £270 and is wholly made of charges, therefore, I did not want to pay the debt as the banks were in the process of the court cases currently going on over charges. Moreover, the default notice was issued at an address I did not live at at the time of the issue. I would hope somebody could give me some advice with this as to how to go about removing this problem from my history.

The CCJ is for a parking ticket when I had parked for 2 minutes in a non too clearly marked disabled zone to deposit some money into a bank account. I disputed the ticket only to receive a rejection from the council, unhappy with this I disputed the ticket again and did not hear from them for some time and thus thought the matter dealt with. Unfortunately I had again moved when any letters would have been sent through advising me of court action, at which point I'd have DEFINITELY paid the ticket as I can't be dealing with a CCJ on my credit report. Again, any help with where I stand or what to do with this would be greatly appreciated.

Kind Regards
JWT

nansenst

Sorry for your situation. I guess always buy a mail redirection in the future.

When i had a problem with credit (back in 2001), it turned out to be that i had had too many addresses in a period of time - so i put a note on the file that they were all student addresses and i got credit again no problem.

Maybe add a note of explanation to your file? It may help.

pinkshoes

The default due to a DD was your fault; you should have checked all DDs were changed over to your new account before leaving your old one. You should just pay this, and not make the same mistake again.

Likewise for the parking ticket, if it was a non-council one, then they're usually worth disputing, but I believe the council ones are near-impossible to get out of, so you should have just paid this, as you've already admitted to parking where you shouldn't have.

JWT_2

pinkshoes wrote: »

The default due to a DD was your fault; you should have checked all DDs were changed over to your new account before leaving your old one. You should just pay this, and not make the same mistake again.

Likewise for the parking ticket, if it was a non-council one, then they're usually worth disputing, but I believe the council ones are near-impossible to get out of, so you should have just paid this, as you've already admitted to parking where you shouldn't have.

Admittedly the Default is a difficult situation as I didn't dispute with Barclays the fact it was my fault that the charges were being racked up.

I disagree with the CCJ though as I mentioned, the ticket was in dispute (for approximately 3 months I didn't hear anything back) and as I had moved I couldn't have received the summons, and for the same reason I didn't have a chance to pay the fee to stop the CCJ happening.

It's mighty easy to say I should just pay up when it's not your money or your credit report being sullied by such petty amounts. £270 for a bank account default (wholly made of unfair charges) and £202 for a parking ticket.

Thank you for your advice though Pinkshoes.

gordikin

Perhaps the reason you did not receive the summons was that you had moved. Did you let them know your change of address?

JWT_2

gordikin wrote: »

Perhaps the reason you did not receive the summons was that you had moved. Did you let them know your change of address?

I'm fairly certain it's because of my move of address. The ticket was issued in June 2007, I moved out of the rented property in December 2007 and according to my report I was issued with a CCJ in April 2008. I didn't inform them of my change of address as I'd not heard from them for so long and assumed the matter closed.

substandard

JWT wrote: »

I'm fairly certain it's because of my move of address. The ticket was issued in June 2007, I moved out of the rented property in December 2007 and according to my report I was issued with a CCJ in April 2008. I didn't inform them of my change of address as I'd not heard from them for so long and assumed the matter closed.

To be fair, the point of a credit check is so that companies can decide whether or not to give you credit. If you decide off your own back not to pay because you don’t agree with the charges, you’re not a good person to lend money to. The rights and wrongs of your individual cases are irrelevant here because a lender wants to know that in the case of disagreement, you won’t disappear off the radar. So the only thing you can do, is continue to dispute the payments with the relevant parties or pay up.

JWT_2

substandard wrote: »

To be fair, the point of a credit check is so that companies can decide whether or not to give you credit. If you decide off your own back not to pay because you don’t agree with the charges, you’re not a good person to lend money to. The rights and wrongs of your individual cases are irrelevant here because a lender wants to know that in the case of disagreement, you won’t disappear off the radar. So the only thing you can do, is continue to dispute the payments with the relevant parties or pay up.

Thanks substandard for your reply.

The fact is that I've been rejected for a student bank account with the same bank I've been banking with for the past 3 years now with no charges, my direct debits have always gone out on time and the companies I deal with for my mobile phones, insurance, store cards and other companies will show (and indeed do according to my credit report) that I am an exemplary payer of money. I don't personally see how the "rights and wrongs of the individual cases" could possibly be irrelevant. The facts are that I've unfairly been charged an obscenely grotesque amount of money for a direct debit not being transferred (an easy mistake to make when you have plenty of companies to pay to). Then when it appears it's easier to instead of CALL me on my phone to ask why I've not responded to their letters, to place a default against my name for a non-existing credit agreement. The punishment appears to me to be far harsher than the crime warrants, this default, unless resolved will cripple my credit report for at least 6 years! The CCJ again is something that stands out yet I had that in dispute and thought the matter dealt with.

It appears that with the exception of one post people are more interested in helping the companies at fault here than helping another insignificant sufferer of the corporation.

Thank you all very much for your time though.

gordikin

How do you arrive at \'It appears that with the exception of one post people are more interested in helping the companies at fault here than helping another insignificant sufferer of the corporation.\'?

pinkshoes

JWT wrote: »

It's mighty easy to say I should just pay up when it's not your money or your credit report being sullied by such petty amounts. £270 for a bank account default (wholly made of unfair charges) and £202 for a parking ticket.

JWT wrote: »

It appears that with the exception of one post people are more interested in helping the companies at fault here than helping another insignificant sufferer of the corporation.

Until you have written confirmation that a case is closed, you shouldn't assume it to be closed.

The issue here is that you had an ongoing dispute over a parking ticket, and failed to notify them that you'd moved address.

If you'd notified them of your change of address, or used the Royal Mail forwarding service for a year after moving, then I'd be 100% on your side over this being unfair.

The fact remains that this CCJ is due to your failure to notify them of a change of address...

You seem to be searching for someone else to blame over this.

Volcano

JWT wrote: »

....... did not hear from them for some time and thus thought the matter dealt with..........as I'd not heard from them for so long and assumed the matter closed.

As Pink has said, you have to accept responsibility for your inaction that has led to this. The posters here have offered accurate and polite advice and though this may not tally with your opinion on who's in the right, nevertheless hopefully you'll be able to see that they're coming from an unbiased and unemotional position.

Some similar postings are met with childish scorn and derision on these boards (and these posters may be along soon). I think you've done well to get some very good advice and should be a little more appreciative even if the answers are not what you want to hear.