Removal of default on credit rating

PeteM30

Hello to you all, my first post here at MSE, hoping someone could offer me help.....

Some three and a half years ago I split from my wife. (we remain split permanantly although not divorced and she has a new life in another country)

As a deal for me to keep the house and children she asked for a payment which i agreed and sunsequently remortgaged, removing her name from the deeds which allowed me to pay her the money.

Part of the money she received was to pay off a loan in joint names that she used to buy a new car and paid back from her wages alone.

Whilst we were waiting for the remortgage to go through she defaulted 3 times on the loan, however paid it off in full the next month.

3 years down the line i am trying to restore my finances and get my life back together. Having worked hard to pay of store cards, credit cards and loans I am now trying to better my finances, i.e. moving credit cards changing banks and treating myself to some home comforts. However in every circumstance i am declined due to this default on my rating. I was totally unaware what was going on at the time and didnt recieve any mail from the direct line at the time.

I have contacted Direct Line to try and resolve the issue, however it is proving difficult as they no longer have any loans department and have no records of me, my ex or my address.

The lady I spoke to could never confirm my details but basically said there was nothing i could do. I asked Equifax to investgate which they did and removed the default as Direct Line failed to respond. It was reinstated when the eventually responded and basically they accepted the same response that there was nothing could be done.

So here I am...can any of you good people help me out?

Thanks

PeteM

Thrugelmir

PeteM30 wrote: »

Part of the money she received was to pay off a loan in joint names that she used to buy a new car and paid back from her wages alone.

Whilst we were waiting for the remortgage to go through she defaulted 3 times on the loan, however paid it off in full the next month.

You were jointly responsible for the repayment of the loan. Any agreement between you and your ex has nothing to do with the lender. So the default is technically correct.

rizla_king

Sadly if you take a loan out in joint names then you are both fully responsible for making sure it is paid on time. What private arrangement you have in place between you to pay it is irrelevant. The default on your record says that a loan you were responsible for was defaulted on, which from what you say is true and accurate.

Only possible angle I can think of is if they were too quick to apply a default. In most cases they shouldn't do that until 3 or more months in arrears has built up. Check the ICO guidelines on defaults to see if you think it was applied fairly. If not then complain to direct line and take to the ICO and FOS if required.

PeteM30

rizla_king wrote: »

Sadly if you take a loan out in joint names then you are both fully responsible for making sure it is paid on time. What private arrangement you have in place between you to pay it is irrelevant. The default on your record says that a loan you were responsible for was defaulted on, which from what you say is true and accurate.

Only possible angle I can think of is if they were too quick to apply a default. In most cases they shouldn't do that until 3 or more months in arrears has built up. Check the ICO guidelines on defaults to see if you think it was applied fairly. If not then complain to direct line and take to the ICO and FOS if required.

can a company agree to remove a default or once its added thats it

rizla_king

If it is inaccurate or put on there incorrectly then they can take it off.

PeteM30

rizla_king wrote: »

If it is inaccurate or put on there incorrectly then they can take it off.

It is hard to say if that is the case, however they never informed that this would happen, maybe they did to my ex, might this be an angle

Thrugelmir

PeteM30 wrote: »

It is hard to say if that is the case, however they never informed that this would happen, maybe they did to my ex, might this be an angle

The fact that you weren't aware that payments were being nissed. Suggests that your ex was the one concealing the communications.