Default Advice

ic31420

Hi

Foolishly my girlfriend just prior to splitting with her ex agreed to take out a mobile phone contract in her name for him. However, he paid all bills on the dot and it was never an issue.

The contract ended in May/Jun 2013.

In December 2012 and in anticipation of any issues the GF updated O2 with her new address and contact numbers, working on the principle that it is ultimately her responsibility to pay the bill, despite him still having and using the phone.

All was well as far as we knew.


In December 2013 the GF received a letter from Lowell Finance stating they had taken over the account which was now in default for £26 and want paying or else bla bla....

We paid the same day.

A credit check shows an entry for LOWELL as a default, settled the first month (Jan 2014).

Prior to the letter from LOWELL we had no contact from o2 and and if we had we would have settled the £26 bill without complaint.

Between 2008-11 the GF racked up around £10-12k of personal debt with various lenders, however by Sept 12 this with the aid of Payplan was all settled by agreement with the various lenders.

Since then (well after the various cos finished updating her file in Dec12/Jan13) she has had an unblemished credit record with no defaults, showing good behaviour on her own phone contract and Next Account.

Is it worth persuing with O2/Lowell as we feel that they made no effort to ask for the money, or is the likely outcome of a note on the file with the default still standing not worth the hassle?

Its a bit frustrating as in 3½yrs time we was hoping she could come onto the mortgage when it is due for re-negotiation!

Also is it worth her getting one of these credit cards and paying it off every month to help build her credit history?


It is worth noting the ex was behind most of her debt as he had 20k of his own personal debt he was trying to hide from and get statue barred. The GF herself is a great little save to buy-er.

nottoolate

was she getting the bills to her address up until this?

ic31420

Nope no bills, AFAIK online only.

nottoolate

she didnt think that odd?

and if she was checking every month online she should have seen a month was left unpaid?

sounds like she didnt keep tabs close enough

ic31420

Not odd at all.

I have never had a bill from o2 through the post for 10 years.


I agree she/we should have checked up on it, but we didnt. There was some communication btween ex and gf at the time the contract ended about not renewing it. I dare say it was intentional on his behalf to stitch her up, but still it would have been so much simpler for o2 had they asked for the money!