Default on Credit File

Concorde001

This might be the wrong Forum Room to post this on, but here goes.

Last year (May/June 2011) I cancelled my Orange Mobile account. I didn't owe them anything - I made a point of asking when I closed the account. And then promptly forgot about Orange.

Over the last few months I have been trying to sort out a small extra mortgage, but kept getting declined. Today (16th Jan 2012) myself and my wife went to Nationwide to open a new Current Account - only to be told that we couldn't have a full account because of our Credit Rating. This surprised me - we have lived at the same house for over 30 years, our combined income in about £70K, and we have never defaulted on any payment or agreement.

So I obtained my Credit Rating from Equifax - and there was 5 missed payments to Orange dating from June 2011, and in December 2011 they placed a Default on my credit report. The total sum they say is owed on the Credit Report is ..... £10!

My Credit Rating is now rubbish, which is why we've been rejected for the extra mortgage and a normal bank account.

Orange have NEVER contacted me about this £10.

I have written to them by Registered Letter but how do I ensure that the debt is not written off or settled but removed totally? If they just say it has been 'settled' it still stays on my file for 6 years?

Anybody any ideas?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Enfieldian

They should have sent you a letter or "default notice" prior to officially defaulting.

Ask them to provide a copy of this letter, if they cannot then you have grounds for asking them to remove the default from your file(s)

Edit.

Just read the post again and if you never actually owed them anything then definitely ask them to remove it. Do you have a final statement showing a zero balance?

fluffnutter

Ask them to remove the default notice. If, like you say, you've never owed this money, they should remove the debt and the notice.

TBH, I think the government needs to be looking into credit reference agencies. The power they wield is becoming frightening and it's often difficult to remove erroneous information. Moreover, companies doing credit searches find one default notice, uh huh! Computer says no! and that's it, you're screwed. No opportunity to say 'but look, I've got a great track record stretching thirty years, I've been banking with you all my adult life blah blah'. No one's prepared to make any human decisions any more.

Like many good ideas in principle, the application of it's become stifling and inflexible.

Concorde001

Thanks for the replies. No, they have never sent a Default Notice!

fluffnutter

Ask them what they're playing at then. They haven't followed due process. And yet it's you that's suffering. That's what gets my goat. Baaaaa.

And make sure you check the other credit reference agencies too. Not just Equifax.

Azari

fluffnutter wrote: »

TBH, I think the government needs to be looking into credit reference agencies. The power they wield is becoming frightening and it's often difficult to remove erroneous information. Moreover, companies doing credit searches find one default notice, uh huh! Computer says no! and that's it, you're screwed. No opportunity to say 'but look, I've got a great track record stretching thirty years, I've been banking with you all my adult life blah blah'. No one's prepared to make any human decisions any more.

Agree 100%.

That and continuous authorities on credit cards are areas where the population are (potentially) getting royally screwed and the government takes no interest.

Concorde001

Yesterday I emailed Orange's Executive Office, their Credit Referal department, and even their CEO! Also sent a letter by Registered Post to their Customer Services.

Contacted Equifax and Callcredit. Callcredit emailed me for all the details - which I sent. Contacted my bank (Lloyds) as well. They have a service called ID-Aware, which I'm entitled to. Spoke to a charming and very polite young girl who said what had happened was not correct. She is sending us our complete Callcredit Report as part of their service and she said if I got no joy with Orange within 7 days then ID-Aware would sort it out on my behalf and get our credit rating restored. Good service from a bank? :shocked:

"This afternoon received an email from Orange Credit Referals:
"Thank you for your e-mail regarding your Orange account and the information showing on your credit file. We reviewed your account and found that the default showing on your credit file relates to the 08/05/2011 invoice.

We have removed the default from your credit file. This has been completed with all credit reference agencies we share information with. Please allow at least 24 hours for changes to be made to your credit file. After this time please ensure that you obtain a brand new copy of your credit report to see any changes. Thank you once again for contacting us and we hope this is to your satisfaction."

So a result of sorts. I have replied to make sure that they just haven't marked the Default as 'Satisfied' as that would still leave all the alleged overdue payments and the Satified Default on my file. I have asked them to remove all traces of the £10 - I want a clean bill of health!

Thanks for all the advice received - much appreciated.:o