Settled accounts

forum-member

Hi,

This is my first post to MSE forums as I usually manage to work out any financial issues but one has me a little flummoxed. CRA`s say they keep information on accounts as follows;

"We hold open accounts indefinitely. Once an account is closed, we hold it for six years from the settlement date. We also keep defaulted accounts for six years from the date of the default. The current balance on a defaulted account should show if payments have been made since the default or if the account now been fully paid."

It "looks" as though "settled account" information will be kept from 6 years from the date of settlement, this bit I understand. However the 6 years of previous information held on the account also seems to be being kept. Put another way I closed an account 12 months ago and it is still showing 6 years of "active" account information. Thus the information on the furthest away in time transactions on the account will be almost 12 years old by the time the "settled account" is 6 years old.

The only way it makes sense to me is if the CRA`s classify the "settled account" previous information as suddenly all of the same date as the account settlement?


Is this the way it is? The way it should be?

Thoughts..................

Many thanks

fermi

http://www.experian.co.uk/consumer/questions/askjames376.html

But for accounts that haven’t defaulted, like your card account, we keep these on your report for six years from the settlement date. When an account is updated to settled, the entire record is frozen. This includes its previous payment history, which goes back up to six years. That information then stays on your credit report unchanged for six years until the entire record drops off your report,

And yes, you could possibly argue that is a little odd way to do it.

forum-member

Thanks for your time fermi. That fits with what is actually happening on my account. If they keep some account info for 12 years then surely they should be more upfront with this information. Its ok to say

"The odd missed payment from several years ago is unlikely to have a significant impact on your credit rating as lenders tend to be much more concerned with your more recent behaviour. So it really isn’t something I’d worry about. (December 2013)"

But really should the CRA`s be keeping basic account transactions visible for this length of time. Maybe a small point as i dont have anything to bad on there and I am happy in general with my CR. Just think that it should roll off the back of the CR as active accounts do.

Has anyone brought this up with any of the CRA`s to any avail?

Thanks

fermi

Not in any serious way that I'm aware of?

There are a few odd quirks of the system like this.