Credit Rating

JazzPolice

I have recently switched bank accounts - I was assured that the switching team would switch all Direct Debits etc with relative ease and I had nothing to worry about.

Today I have been notified by my Virgin credit card that my direct debit was unsuccessful as a result of it not being switched in time and returned unpaid! As a result they wanted to try and remove the promotional rate etc.

After a long conversation Virgin reassured me that they would reinstate my promotional offers and any interest occurred would be credited back on to the card. All I would need to pay would be £12 fee.

I'm just worried what impact this could have on my credit rating? My main concern is I will soon need to transfer this balance as my promotional offers run out in 4 months and I'm now worried about the possibility of being rejected.

Any advice/thoughts greatly appreciated. Thanks

Tixy

If anything it would be marked down as 1 missed payment.

How much later did you pay the bill compared to when the DD should have been taken? if it was within a few days then its quite likely they won't mark it as a late payment (though they could if it was past the statement due date).
If its been longer than that - or if its appeared on your next credit card statement then it may well be, or have been recorded on your credit report.

Its probably worth asking virgin if this will show on your credit file - and if they say yes then asking them not to mark it as such (other people have got them to agree to this as well as the reinstatment of the rate).

webbhost

as far as I am aware, if this missed payment shows on your credit rating, it should be possible to add your own note stating the reason it happened, this might help to get a more likely offer - but how effective this actually is, is unknown.

Just a thought with the fee, when I switched to santander using their switching service, they stated to me that if I had any fines or bills as a direct result from switching, that they would pay these fines for me. It might be worth looking into as the bank you switched to might pay for the £12 fee with it being a direct result of you switching to them?

For now, I would ask virgin if you can get a written receipt of payment for the £12 fee?

JazzPolice

Thank you both for your quick replies.

I have taken both pieces of advice with successful outcomes. I spoke to Virgin to ask if this would show up on my credit file and I was assured it wouldn't. Apparently they have a system in place that if payment is received within a few days on a direct debit fail it goes no further than that.

Spoke to Halifax and they said if I show them my statement with the fee attached they will refund the fee.

I can breath again, many thanks team!

webbhost

Glad I / we could help Just looking back into history of my posts and its good to see I've been of some vague use from the crap I've posted on here!!

iaintw

If their is a problem with your credit report you can send equifax, callcredit and experian a notice of correction on your credit report if halifax or virgin card mark you a 1 late payment charge and it will show it on your credit report.
You also have the right to challenge the late payment charge to lenders
Dispute resolution

If you have a problem with your agreement, please try to resolve it with us in the first instance. If you are not happy with the way in which we handled your complaint or the result, you may be able to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service