Outstanding debt marked as settled on file??

danny_boy_3

Hi all,

I'm new to this forum so please bear with me.......

About 4 years ago I decided to take action on my mounting debt, and entered into a 5 year debt management plan. My monthly payment is £927 of which £897 is paid to my creditors.

I don't want to get into a debate about paid / free DMP's as I tried a free one and they were terrible. I decided to stay with a paid plan for the simplicity and they have been fantastic in my opinion.

My debts overall (8 accounts) were approximately £50K and I made the decision to enter a DMP rather than and IVA or going bankrupt. I decided this as the debt was my fault, not the banks, and I wanted to pay back every penny (in a manageable way). I'm not heroic, but it made me feel better about the whole thing.

Thankfully I only have 13 months left on my plan which is rather exciting, and am down nearer the £10K mark now so it's coming down quickly.

With the debt nearing an end, I'm looking hard into my credit file and what defaults have been recorded etc in readiness for repairing my credit rating and hopefully securing a mortgage at some point in the future. I have been through my credit report with a fine toothcomb, and am happy to say that only 2 of my creditors have recorded defaults. Not sure if one recorded default is as bad as 8, but I was expecting worse.

My questions.......................

1. One of my accounts is approximately 3K in the red, and currently being paid around £250 per month via the DMP. I have compared account numbers and the account is marked as settled in November 09. Why would this be when I still owe them money and am still paying them via the DMP?

2. My previous current account (changed when I started my DMP) is not shown on my credit report at all, although I still owe about £300 and they are receiving payments via my DMP. Why would this be?

All other debt accounts are showing as they should be on my credit file.

I look forward to your responses, and thank you in advance.

Dan

bottleofred

The debt may be showing as settled due to a debt collector buying the debt, but not registering it.

Tixy

Which credit reference agency did you check?

The settled debt could either be as red says because a DCA has bought it but is not reporting, or it could be because they are reporting to a different CRA or its possible (but unlikely) its just a plain error.

Current account - either might be showing on the file from a different agency (assuming you've only checked one) or if its quite an old account - with some older current accounts the lenders didn't routinely get your permission to report to a CRA.

danny_boy_3

Thanks for your advice both...

I got my £2 statutory file from Equifax. I think it might be an idea to get my Experian one too?

I think you may be right about the DCA. My DMP company correspond with Apex Credit Management Ltd, although the original debt was with Lloyds TSB. I would have thought that a DCA would need to show up on my credit file though no? If not, how can they pursue you for the cash?

Cheers

Dan

Tixy

No requirement at all for them to report to one of the credit reference agencies. If the original debt is on your credit file then most DCAs do report to one of them, but they certainly don't have.

They can still persue you for the debt, by proving that you owe it and that they have bought it from the creditor. No different from any other debt that is owed that doesn't appear on your file.