Deafult Notice from Jul 05

jamzy_2

Hi there, first time poster here. Until today thought I had a good credit history. Apologies if this is not in the right forum area.

Anyway back in 2003 I got a professional development loan to go back to uni. I am not sure of the exact details of the loan now as I cannot remember but it was with the HSBC and amounted to around £11,000 over the full period of the loan. I was particularly stupid in that I never completed the course, bummed about for a year, spent the money and then never started the repayments. Young and silly.

Anyway the debt was eventually passed to Frederickson International who issued a default on my credit file on Equifax in Jul 05. There was thereafter a payment plan set up and there is only a balance of something like £3,000 left.

I have since sorted myself out, gone back to uni, did law and I am now working as a trainee solicitor. Last year my girlfriend and I bought a house together and had no trouble getting the mortgage, granted her credit rating is brilliant and thats probably why it went through.

I have a £2,000 interest free student overdraft which I wanted to get rid of and went to get a loan to pay this off. I was rejected and when I checked my credit file I realised this old default and loan was still there. Other than this I have no other credit issues whatsoever, everything consistently paid on time and full meet the affordability for the loan.

What I am wondering is,
1. can the debt company issue a default for credit which I did not take out with them? ie. they must have bought the debt from HSBC
2. Can I have it removed even although there is still a balance left on the debt? For instance due to having kept up repayments.
3. I know that the default will be statutory timebarred next July, will it definately be removed then even if there is still some amount to pay on the loan?
4. When the debt is statutory timebarred can it be enforced against me? I want to pay it, but I was thinking as a bargaining tool against the debt collection agency, I could say this to them.
5. The loan has been getting paid since July 05 but on my credit file it doesnt show any money being paid, should I contest this?

BTW although I am a trainee lawyer, I only practice criminal law thus my reason for my ignorance in consumer credit issues.

I recently helped a friend get defaults removed in a week by writing lawyers letters to the companies and their CEO's - I am not sure though if this will work in my situation.

I thank you all in advance for any help you may be able to offer me.

Judas

The default is correct. Why would it be removed ?

zzzLazyDaisy

Why would you want to take out a loan, thus incurring interest, in order to pay off an interest free overdraft??

Jojo1daffy

Hiya..
When was your last payment/acknowledgement of the debt?. Is there any way you could make a full and final settlement offer? I've seen another thread on here where a chap could pay something like £300 to settle a much larger debt.
Fredericksons may have purchased your debt for only 10 -20% of it's original value so to offer 30+% as settlement figure with the assurance that the balance would appear as settled on your credit file might be worth trying..?
Have a nose through other threads to see if there's a similar issue there that could give you some ideas.
Hope that helps a little bit!

Jojo1daffy

Oh and as regards your overdraft - ask your bank for it to be on a reducing basis rather than taking out a loan. That way you can be paying it off at a rate that suits you (say for eg £50 - £100 per month) and as it gets lower that would inspire you to pay more off it and clear it.
Yes the default will stay on your credit file - but if the debt is settled it would also show that as well.

jamzy_2

Judas - the reason is would be removed is because I would like it removed. I know it can be done because I have done it on behalf of a friend before. I just wondered if something was perhaps wrong with it.

zzzLAZYDAISY - I want to take out a loan to pay off the overdraft as it stops being interest free in October. I would rather pay the extra to have a direct debit set up and know exactly how much is coming out each month over a longer period - say 5 years. It is a personal preference as I am terrible at keeping tabs on these sorts of things.

JOJO1daffy - the debt has been being paid at £169 per month since July 05, so it comes out every month. It started out at £150, they asked me to raise it over the period and I have accepted, thus why it is now at £169. When you say it will stay on my credit file, I take it you mean once it is statutory timebarred if there is still money owed it will stay on my credit file?

Fang_3

jamzy wrote: »

Judas - the reason is would be removed is because I would like it removed. I know it can be done because I have done it on behalf of a friend before. I just wondered if something was perhaps wrong with it.

zzzLAZYDAISY - I want to take out a loan to pay off the overdraft as it stops being interest free in October. I would rather pay the extra to have a direct debit set up and know exactly how much is coming out each month over a longer period - say 5 years. It is a personal preference as I am terrible at keeping tabs on these sorts of things.

JOJO1daffy - the debt has been being paid at £169 per month since July 05, so it comes out every month. It started out at £150, they asked me to raise it over the period and I have accepted, thus why it is now at £169. When you say it will stay on my credit file, I take it you mean once it is statutory timebarred if there is still money owed it will stay on my credit file?

It won't become statute barred until six years after the last payment. So if you made a payment today, and never again, it would only become statute barred after six years, and that's if there are no CCJs in place.

Also - you're not getting the default removed. You defaulted. Deal with the consequences.

jamzy_2

Fang - thank you for your advice, I should mention I am in Scotland so CCJ does not apply to me. I understand that the Prescription and Limitation Scotland Act makes the debt statutory time barred after 5 years if I have never paid or acknowledged the debt. obviously I have done this ie. paid installments and therefore the debt would not be stat time barred until 5 years from last payment. I am talking about the default.

Also - yes I did default and I am dealing with the consequences by not getting a loan now - so I think I am being suitably chastised as matters stand, but I know they (the default) can be removed, I am not asking if it will be removed as of now - I am asking if it will be removed with the debt still there. I know it can be removed once the debt is paid off, because I have done it - as I have said I have done for a friend.

judy_

The debt will drop off your credit file after 6 years of the default date (5 in scotland I think) even if there is an outstanding balance owing.

BLT_2

jamzy wrote: »

Hi there, first time poster here. Until today thought I had a good credit history. Apologies if this is not in the right forum area.

Anyway back in 2003 I got a professional development loan to go back to uni. I am not sure of the exact details of the loan now as I cannot remember but it was with the HSBC and amounted to around £11,000 over the full period of the loan. I was particularly stupid in that I never completed the course, bummed about for a year, spent the money and then never started the repayments. Young and silly.

Anyway the debt was eventually passed to Frederickson International who issued a default on my credit file on Equifax in Jul 05. There was thereafter a payment plan set up and there is only a balance of something like £3,000 left.

I have since sorted myself out, gone back to uni, did law and I am now working as a trainee solicitor. Last year my girlfriend and I bought a house together and had no trouble getting the mortgage, granted her credit rating is brilliant and thats probably why it went through.

I have a £2,000 interest free student overdraft which I wanted to get rid of and went to get a loan to pay this off. I was rejected and when I checked my credit file I realised this old default and loan was still there. Other than this I have no other credit issues whatsoever, everything consistently paid on time and full meet the affordability for the loan.

What I am wondering is,
1. can the debt company issue a default for credit which I did not take out with them? ie. they must have bought the debt from HSBC
2. Can I have it removed even although there is still a balance left on the debt? For instance due to having kept up repayments.
3. I know that the default will be statutory timebarred next July, will it definately be removed then even if there is still some amount to pay on the loan?
4. When the debt is statutory timebarred can it be enforced against me? I want to pay it, but I was thinking as a bargaining tool against the debt collection agency, I could say this to them.
5. The loan has been getting paid since July 05 but on my credit file it doesnt show any money being paid, should I contest this?

BTW although I am a trainee lawyer, I only practice criminal law thus my reason for my ignorance in consumer credit issues.

I recently helped a friend get defaults removed in a week by writing lawyers letters to the companies and their CEO's - I am not sure though if this will work in my situation.

I thank you all in advance for any help you may be able to offer me.

The debt is only statutory timebarred if they have been unable to make contact with you for a specific period of time, clearly as you have been making payments for the last 5 years this does not apply.

The simple fact is that you are in default, your loan was passed to a credit company, ergo you are considered a bad credit risk, nothing is going to change this. The credit reference agencies are merely recording the truth as it stands, they have no obligation to change the data, nor should they else the whole basis on which credit referencing is predicated would be sundered.