ORANGE Phone company's error stopping us from getting a mortgage...

Kusa

3 years ago my partner and I hit some rough times and struggled to pay his mobile phone bill, the debt was passed over to a debt collector (Moorcroft) and as soon as they contacted us, we agreed to a repayment of £10 per week. We didn't miss a single payment and I have bank statements to back this up. Eventually we got a "Debt Settled" letter from Moorcroft and everything was honkydory and until this summer (when we upgraded to EE) we were both contract customers with Orange.
Last year we had a letter from Orange regarding the original account, informing us that we were 35 pound in credit, confused we rung them up and were told the letter had been sent out in error and we would get a new letter within a few weeks.
Eventually we got a letter from Orange informing us that the account was settled and closed.
As far as we knew, everything was good, until last month, when we applied for a joint mortgage.. We got an immediate NO, dispite neither of us having any "defaults" or "CCJs" on our reports (as far as we knew).
Turns out Orange has put the original phone contract down as "default" with no repayments shown.
Obviously we rung Orange up straight away, but get this.. They can't find any information on this contract and hence wont remove their mistake of my partners credit report.
Apparently it's up to us to first prove he ever had a contract with them, then we need to prove we paid it off.
Since we assumed it was finally settled, all the related paperwork went in the bin when we last moved house, all we have to prove any repayments is a direct debit paid weekly to Moorcroft (the debt collector) not Orange..
I'm sure it goes without saying that we have rung Orange up various times over the last few weeks, but all they do is pass us from one person to the next, with out us actually getting anywhere, at least twice we have been told by a customer advisor that they will look into it and personally ring us back.. Obviously they never have...
We feel we have hit a brick wall, only Orange is standing in the way of us getting a mortgage (which is only a tiny one btw) and hence our family home.
WHERE do we go from here??

Thanks for reading and sorry for the long essay
Any advise would be so very much appreciated..

Tixy

Hi

If the debt was passed to a debt collector then he did default on the account and it is correct for a default to show on file. (Being passed to a debt collector is an indicator of a default). Though the enty should be marked as a satisfied default with no balance outstanding.
What default date is shown on file? - it should be dated no later than when the debt was passed to Moorcroft.
Presumably the entry on his file is in the name of Orange not Moorcroft?

If you have only rung Orange so far then I would write them a letter detailing that the debt was fully paid through moorcroft and should be showing as a satisfied default on his credit files and that you require them to correct the entry with immediate effect.

supermassive

If you mean they've put another default on there for an account that was settled, then the responsibility is on Orange to prove that they've got this contract with you.

I would ask a solicitor to send them a letter.

Anoneemoose

supermassive wrote: »

If you mean they've put another default on there for an account that was settled, then the responsibility is on Orange to prove that they've got this contract with you.

I would ask a solicitor to send them a letter.

Quite a costly thing to do when they will be able to prove it. They fact that they have ongoing contracts and are using the service will probably be sufficient.

The only thing Orange has done wrong is to not mark the default as settled. The rest sounds like it is correct. As Tixy says, sending to a debt collection agency is indication of a default and usually means payments have been missed for a few months.

I am unsure why they can't find details of the account. Records will be there.

Thrugelmir

Anoneemoose wrote: »

I am unsure why they can't find details of the account. Records will be there.

Closed account records will be deleted at a point in time.

Anoneemoose

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Closed account records will be deleted at a point in time.

Not after 3 years though. And I saw accounts up to 10 yrs old when I worked there.

Experian_company_representative

Kusa wrote: »

We feel we have hit a brick wall, only Orange is standing in the way of us getting a mortgage (which is only a tiny one btw) and hence our family home.
WHERE do we go from here??

Thanks for reading and sorry for the long essay
Any advise would be so very much appreciated..

Hello Kusa,

I would really like to help look into this one for you, a defaulted account will only remain on your credit report six years from the default date.

If your partner's credit report is with Experian I am more than happy to look into any information that your partner feels is incorrect by [EMAIL="uksocialsupport@experian.com"]emailing me[/EMAIL] the following:

- Full name
- Date of Birth
- Full Address including postal code

Useful information can be found here if you want to dispute a defaulted entry on your credit report.

If your partner's credit report is with a different CRA other than Experian, then he would need to contact them directly to dispute the information he feels is incorrect, here is their contact details.

- Equifax
Equifax Credit File Advice Centre
P.O. Box 1140
Bradford
BD1 5US


- Callcredit
Consumer Services
Callcredit Limited
PO Box 491
Leeds
LS3 1WZ

Your partner also might want to think about adding a 'Notice of Correction' to their credit report to explain the circumstances behind this record appearing on their credit report.

If a Notice of Correction is added to your partners Experian credit report, banks and financial institutions will only see it if they use us (Experian) as their credit reference agency. Your partner can also ask Equifax and Callcredit to add this notice to their credit reports as well.

Further details on how you can add a 'Notice of Correction' to your partners credit report can be found here

I hope this helps.

Kind Regards
James Jarvis

Kusa

Thank you youve all been very helpful

Siliquaesid

1) Threaten orange with legal action for damages

2) Same for Equifax. They have a duty to ensure that the data they hold is VALID, if it isn't then you can claim for libel amongst many other things.

REMEMBER these "credit Reference" companies area CON and all funded by the banks, they are a way of making you frightened by threatening to give you a "bad rating" LMAO who cares? I have destroyed my " credit rating" deliberately and I have no problems getting what I need.

DON'T let these muppets rule your life.

nicholaswitchell

It's really rude and ignorant to call everyone at a company a "muppet" when it may not be everyone at fault.

Anoneemoose

Siliquaesid wrote: »

1) Threaten orange with legal action for damages

2) Same for Equifax. They have a duty to ensure that the data they hold is VALID, if it isn't then you can claim for libel amongst many other things.

REMEMBER these "credit Reference" companies area CON and all funded by the banks, they are a way of making you frightened by threatening to give you a "bad rating" LMAO who cares? I have destroyed my " credit rating" deliberately and I have no problems getting what I need.

DON'T let these muppets rule your life.

:rotfl:

Damages for what? Reporting factual information? OP's partner DID default (hence being passed to a debt collection agency) so the info is correct.

As for not being able to find the account - I bet they could if they needed to like in court. Sounds like OP spoke to someone who didn't search correctly that's all. The records WILL be there.