Credit Default???

Samurai2587

Hi
The matter to which this relates to is a mobile phone contract I had with Orange back in 2010 to which I was happily paying for even after I was made homeless (05/2010) untill I was attacked and the mobile phone stolen by a gang of youths.
Unfortunately the same night it happened I went looking for these youths to try and get my phone back and was arrested in the process for possession of a bladed article amongst other offences and was not able to retrieve my phone and sim card. I was also in-prisioned from that night onwards until April 2011, during which time I made contact with Orange to explain to explain the circumstances surrounding to which I hadn't paid my bills and was happy to take the contract back on until completion of my contract so as no hard feelings. As I said I was happy with my contract and paying the bills which were reasonable having been a good pay as you go customer for a very long time previously, but the customer service agents I spoke both to on the phone and in person at their store in Greenwich,London were very rude and to my amazement told me I had no option but to pay the default amount of over £1000 even though I could produce proof that I had been Incarcerated since that particular night and had only just been released so could no way have used the telephone/made payments to the account and the fact that I was no way able to find a number for them whilst medically unwell and in prison!

A very short time after these conversations (a week) I was sent back to prison for violence and public disorder and had not been released until January 2012, since which I have been battling homelessness and several medical disorders and mental health issues and have been in and out of prison 5 or six times and a phsycyiatric hospital once for attempted suicide since then so have had even thought about them until I received my credit report.

Any ideas on how I can have them removed from my records and what I can do to repair my credit history???

Any help would be much apprecated.

Thank You

Samurai2587

Tixy

Whatever the reasons unfortunately you did default on this agreement and so it is reasonable and accurate for a default to appear on your credit file in relation to this debt.

What is the date of default on your file? it should be within a few months of when you originally stopped paying the bills in 2010. If it is much later than that they you should write to complain.

Defaults stay on your credit file for 6years from the date of default.

In terms of the outstanding debt then they should be able to provide you with a full statement of account showing how the alleged balance is arrived at. If they haven't done that, or if you think that the £1000 is far more than the remainder of your contract would have cost then you could write to them to request that breakdown.

If you start to get chased for this debt (by orange or a debt collector) then it may be useful for you to write to make them aware of your mental health problems, and this link may be useful for you to read - http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/mental-health-guide

In terms of improving your credit file - the usual recommendation is to try to obtain a subprime credit account and to use that to demonstrate you can now handle credit responsibly. (It would need to be a subprime account because with the default you will struggle to get mainstream credit).
However given your situation I would think very carefully about taking out any new credit agreements, as obviously if you miss payments on a new agreement and ended up defaulting again (due to being in hospital or prison etc) then that could set you back a further 6years on your credit file.

JKSandy

This has to be a fake post?

You have a criminal record and mental health issues and your concerned with your credit history?