Account listed as in arrears

HKitten

I checked my credit report today and noticed that a mobile phone account with o2 that I cancelled in September 2012 was showing as in arrears for October to January, then as settled in February. Confused, I logged into my old o2 account and it's saying I need to pay £7.54.


I ring them and apologise, saying I had no idea there was still an amount to pay (I didn't). The guy was very nice about it and took the payment, then says he'll go ask what can be done about the note on my credit file.


Then he comes back and says he's very sorry, but it looks like the balance on my account was actually settled - he has no explanation for why it was showing as outstanding. So he does a refund for me, and then gives me an email address to send a copy of the credit file showing the black mark to o2 so that they can correct it.


I had a look back at my bank account and noticed that I did make a payment in January, so I guess I must have logged in and noticed the amount then, though it was still late at that point. At no point since September though did I get any letters or emails to let me know there was a balance, I'm sure of that because I always pay my bills as soon as I can, and £7.54 isn't enough to have warranted avoiding it for any reason!


If they sent me no correspondence in that time and I was previously always a good customer, and paid as soon as I realised (twice, in fact!) are they likely to remove the arrears mark from my account? It's the one big issue on my credit file.

Tixy

If they didn't send you the bill for the amount or any chasing correspondance then you absolutely should be able to get the entries removed from your file.

Did they previously have paper bills? or did you only get your bills if you logged in to an online account?

happy_bunny_2

The only way O2 did this for my OH was to send a text to the disconnected number. Not very bright these folks

HKitten

I didn't get paper bills, I just got an email telling me what my balance was. I tried searching my emails yesterday and can't find anything to suggest I had money outstanding at the end of the contract.

I've sent them an email about it, with the relevant page from my credit report scanned and attached. I hope you're right Tixy, I'm hoping that since my history with them was otherwise great, they'll be nice about it.

HKitten

happy_bunny wrote: »

The only way O2 did this for my OH was to send a text to the disconnected number. Not very bright these folks

I actually transferred my number to my new phone, so if they had been chasing by text I still should have got something. It's very bizarre.

HKitten

Well, for anyone interested - I sent them an email on Monday basically imploring them to remove the mark on my credit file, and last night I got an email back, very brief, just saying they have cleared my file and settled the account, and in 48 hours it should show on my credit file!


I'm trying not to get too excited until I see whether this has actually worked but hopefully in less than two days, my credit file will have this black mark removed! If anyone else is thinking of trying - just ask. They didn't make a big deal out of it at all, I just wish I'd known about it to ask sooner.

Tixy

Good result.

Worth checking all 3 credit ref agencies to make sure they have corrected any that they report to.

HKitten

I actually registered with that checkmyfile one, because it says it checks all three - mainly because I already did a free trial with Experian last year. I'm not sure how good it is yet, hopefully this will be a test for it.

Tixy

Checkmyfile does not show the credit account information/history from your experian file.
Once it appears to have been corrected I'd check at least your experian report as well to be sure (just the £2 report is fine you don't need the expensive ongoing options).

HKitten

I can't seem to find a £2 report - if I go to sign into my account, it says I need to pay £14.99 immediately. Is there a way round this?

Tixy

Order now button from on this page
http://www.experian.co.uk/consumer/statutory-report.html