Someone please point me in the right direction :(

dunld001

Hi,

I had student account with Santander years ago and an overdraft of £1600 roughly. I stopped paying it back and they registered a default on my account in 2010. They then sold the debt to another company and I have recieved nothing in the post regarding the money I owe from this debt collecting company.
I have registered with Experian and I can see the Santander default on my credit report but not the other company.

My question is (as I'm saving for a mortgage and want my credit report to be as good as it can be - it is currently 'fair'):

If I phone up this other company and offer them a final payment, will it make a difference to my credit score/report, as there seems to be no evidence anywhere of me owing them the money?

Is it possible to ask Santander to show the default as 'settled' even though I will not actually be paying them the money??

I hope someone can help!
Thanks
Danielle

timetochange116

Hi if you had a default registered in 2010 you will have to wait until 2016 for it to leave your credit report.

My partner had one in 2006 and despite his credit score now being good at 932, we still can't get a mortgage with the default, even though it's been satisfied for a few years.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. x

dunld001

Hi,

Thanks for the reply.

Have you tried a sub prime lender (if that's what they are called?). I wasn't hopeful about getting one with one of the main banks etc, but I was hoping another lender would.

Thanks
Danielle

timetochange116

We live in an expensive area, so need to get a mortgage at the best possible rate, to do this we need to be squeaky clean. We tried with a lender who we were told were lenient and they rejected us, so stopped trying as we didn't want to do anymore damage. There might be somebody out there who will lend to you... but given the default you will get a horrendous rate for it.

rising_from_the_ashes

Having a default marked as "settled in full" will be much better than an outstanding default but it will still be taken into account whenever you apply for credit until it falls off.

If you do decide to go down this route, ensure you get something in writing confirming that the account will be marked as settled in full before paying.

dunld001

Yes that was my thinking for the orginal question really, I was wondering if Santander would change it to settled in full even when I'm not settling it with them directly?

The debt collecting company has not contacted me so far - I don't even know who they are!

I don't know how to go about paying and making sure it says 'settled' on my credit report?

SusieT

I think even if they were to remove the default it would just reault in late payment markers on the account since you stopped paying which are almost as bad. The bank will argue that the record should show the true state of the account, so either default or if you could get it removed late payment markers that are almost as bad.
Could you agree to settle the account and then wait a few years before you get a mortgage so you get the rate you need and it will also give you longer to save for it which will be in your favour as you will have a bigger deposit?