Checked my Credit Report for the first time! Some advice please.

wakeupcall2012

I'm 28 and in my quest to sort my finances out I recently checked my Credit Report through Equifax for the first time...an interesting read to say the least! Whilst my Credit Report shows I have a good rating, there are a couple of things I was completely unaware of which I'd like to iron out:

1) Out of all the credit I've undertaken in the last 6 years; credit cards, loans, finance, phone contracts etc, ALL but one are stated as 'Settled' with one showing as 'Defaulted' which I was gobsmacked to see. I have never refused to pay ANY bill or missed a payment EVER....or so I thought - on my Credit Report it shows that I still owe £17 on an old mobile phone contract with Vodafone that expired in 2009. I have discovered that just as Vodafone had sent me my final bill, I was having to move out of the rented house I was in and therefore never saw the bill, and to be honest never even thought about it until now (I honestly thought everything was up to date). At that time I didn't think to have the post forwarded and I had changed my phone number upon moving to a new operator, which meant Vodafone had no way of contacting me about the outstanding bill.

I have spoken to Vodafone this week, discussed the situation and paid the £17 immediately. They said it will update in their system and eventually be updated on my Credit Report as 'Settled'. However, whilst the debt is settled I've been told it will still show up on the report as 'Late Payment' in a big red box for the next 6 years and be seen as a negative to potential future lenders. Now, of course the payment was late (2 years late) but as it was a total mishap which I didn't even know about (not like I refused to pay the bill), I've been told that under the circumstances, the relevant Vodafone dept. have the power to mark this account as just 'Settled' without any indication of a late payment on my Credit Report. Is this true? Would it be worthwhile trying to talk to Vodafone in the hope they will understand what happened and simply mark the account as settled & case closed without any mention of a late payment for the benefit of my Credit Report? It's a big ask but just wanted your thoughts.

2) The second thing and the main reason I ended up checking my Credit Report was due to being declined for a new credit card by my bank - they said it wasn't because of my Credit Rating as such but based on 'affordability'. I thought it was strange as my income would more than allow me a credit card so it was then when my bank advised me to check my Credit Report to see if there were any previous cards I had taken out that were still showing as active. Upon seeing my CR I discovered to find a whole range of different credit cards I've had over the years that, whilst the balance is £0 on them all, the credit 'limit' is anywhere between £500 and £4000 for each card - in my eyes these are just old credit cards that I've used, paid off, then ditched when the 0% interest period ended, but supposedly a lender still sees this as 'available' credit to me and therefore this together with with my current outgoing's is seen as more than manageable resulting in a decline in any further credit.

According to my CR the total amount 'available' on these old credit cards add up to about £10k so I have been advised to contact each credit card company to tell them to set the credit limit to £0. So far this has been a painful excercise; the first couple of companies I've called said they don't have any details on record for me due to the account expiring over time, therefore they are unable to set any credit limit to £0. I am now confused? So there is no way to set the credit limit back to £0 in order to increase my credit availability when contacting future potential lenders? Anyone with more info or any advice about this aspect of a Credit Report would be much appreciated.

Many thanks.

fermi

1) The default will stay for 6 years I'm afraid. You could ask Vodafone to remove it, but I have to say that may be unlikely.

Vodafone

Hi wakeupcall2012,

Although I can't guarantee the outcome I'd be happy to get this investigated further.

To enable me to do this could you email the details of the account in question to the address in our profile here and quote WRT135 - Fao Lee in the subject line?

Please be assured that as soon as you're in touch I'll get back to you as soon as possible.

Kind regards,

Lee

Web Relations Team

Vodafone UK

wakeupcall2012

Hi Lee, thank you for your reply - I have emailed you at the address in your profile.

Thanks.

Vodafone

Hi wakeupcall2012,

Thanks again for coming back to me and for your time on the phone the other day.

As discussed, your case is now under review and as soon as I have update I'll get back in touch with you as promised.

Kind regards,

Lee

Web Relations Team

Vodafone UK