Help - Very Poor Credit rating due to Virgin Media

sartois

Hi, really hoping someone can help here.

I finally am in a good position to get a mortgage, and almost have the deposit together. I was about to get a Financial advisor to get a decision in principle for me but thought it would be prudent to get a credit check first.

It turns out I have a very poor credit rating, partly due to electoral role, and a few minor blips due to poor admin with credit cards not having DD so a few late payments recorded. However the major reason is due to Virgin Media. Over a year ago I asked them to transfer a service over to my new address. They wasted 3 full days of my time not bothering to turn up and when they did they discovered they could not provide the service anyway. After much complaining I eventually got them to cancel and even had an email from one of their managers stating that I would not incur an early cancellation fee.

It turns out that not only did they not cancel this fee but have been putting red marks against my credit report for not paying the cancellation fee of £88 for 12 months now which has pretty much ruined my credit score.

Is there anything I can do here to get this corrected? My fear is that I will need to get the imbeciles at Virgin to help here, and from past experience with those idiots is not something I would relish.

Thanks

Morrow1984

I'm not an expert but a bit of a web search suggests that you have sufficient evidence to prove that this default is erroneous. I would suggest that you contact Virgin and provide them with the evidence you have (email, etc) and then get them to agree that the default has been placed in error. (A letter from them would be better than an email) You'll then have to send that confirmation to the 3 credit reference agencies to have the default removed.

Bad news is that a search threw up all sorts of problems with this process from unhelpful creditors to credit reference agencies refusing to accept the proof. You may have to log formal complaints to get anything done.

Good luck.

sartois

Thanks for the response.

I can't begin to describe how much I hate this company... they really are a bunch of muppets. It gripes me so much how they claim I owe them money for not only a service they were unable to provide, but also for wasting 3 days of my time.

Lodging a complaint with them will no doubt be simply one of thousands I presume they get on a daily basis.

I will have to do some digging... I have a feeling that the email they sent was to an email address of a company I used to work for, and with a couple of changes of computer since then I have no idea if I will still have the email...

Even if I pay them the £88 (which I really don't care about) they will still leave the default on my file I presume... which could potentially cost me thousands on the basis that I will not get a very good deal on a mortgage because of this...

BrookesAndrew

I would get in contact with them and tell them about this and see what they say. Hopefully they will be helpfull and they should have notes on there file. You can always go to the FOS if things get worse and that is something they will not want you to do because its a lot of hasle for them.

I dont have any experience in this but this is the first thing I would do and get there side of the story. No point trying to find emails and evidence if in fact you ring them and they say 'we are so sorry, we will put this right for you'. I doubt they will do that but you never know!

Hope it all goes well and let us know how you get on.

[Deleted User]

I've written a letter to Virgin Media that I posted today (recorded delivery of course!) about my default for £39 that has also stopped me getting a mortgage. They placed it 3 months after I left the property as I was told my balance was clear (which I should have asked for in writing). That means I've to wait till April 2015 to be considered for a mortgage. For some reason I let them away with this for a few years, but as my credit is improving I got mad with this last night and decided to try. I'm going down the nicely nicely road first, something about flies honey and vinegar I think!

I'll let you know how I get on! Fingers crossed

Dovah_diva

To be honest, sartois, even if you manage to sort out the Virgin problem, do not underestimate the problems this

sartois wrote: »

and a few minor blips due to poor admin with credit cards not having DD so a few late payments recorded.

is going to cause you. You're a tad cavalier about a 'few late payments' but they'll sit on your file for six years and will continue to have a negative impact - especially on a mortgage application.

Morrow1984

I've just spoken to a pal who knows a bit more about this than i do and he says that its the responsibility of the creditor to mark a correction against your credit file. He says you may face some resistance on this as it costs the company money, but he suggested reminding them that it is their responsibility to keep up to date records under Data Protection and they now have a responsibility to correct the mistake.

Good luck.

sartois

Dovah_diva wrote: »

To be honest, sartois, even if you manage to sort out the Virgin problem, do not underestimate the problems this is going to cause you. You're a tad cavalier about a 'few late payments' but they'll sit on your file for six years and will continue to have a negative impact - especially on a mortgage application.

Thanks, yes I know this is not great and I feel a bit silly about this as I have always earned a good salary and it is just bad admin... just irritated that somehow despite earning a 6 figure salary, have never been unemployed, have never not repaid a debt, have paid literally thousands of pounds in interest on car loans, credit cards etc in my life... all successfully paid off in the past with no hassle... but my credit rating seems to be right up there with someone who has gone bankrupt owing tens of thousands unpaid, with no means to pay them back. The credit cards I mentioned are now all paid off and I have zero debt. I was shocked that my credit score was not near perfect to be honest.... all for the sake of £88.

There are 3 yellow blips on my file for the credit card misdemeanours. I am not saying I should have a perfect rating but if these alone prevent me from getting a mortgage I would be very surprised.

John1993_2

sartois wrote: »

There are 3 yellow blips on my file for the credit card misdemeanours. I am not saying I should have a perfect rating but if these alone prevent me from getting a mortgage I would be very surprised.

Why? The companies who you want to borrow from don't really care why a person is the sort who pays late, they just need to know IF you are the sort of person who pays late.

Your "blips" are each a breach of contract. It being because you did not care enough does not really help your case.

I hope that you'll end up finding a lender, but a change of attitude towards other people's money may well help.