Old phone default trick

gazdowson1978

Hi, ill try and keep it brief. My wife and I had good credit, although i had no borrowing history in the form of loans or cards for 8 years so was advised to get a small credit card and a few more utilities in my name.

I did and I managed the card well. The wifes credit as expected is immaculate. We applied for a mortgage on help to buy. It was refused, unsure why we used experian.

Her score 991 out of 999, mine 920 out of 999. Both excellent on score, but on my file I have a default. In April 2010 my mam got a cold call from o2 offering a mobile phone but i took the call and they got me one.

I lost my job and went to the o2 shop FOUR month after ( august) to say help i cant pay, what i can now only consider fraud, the man at the shop was very "helpful" and said dont worry just return your phone and we'll cancel it.

Therefore I returned phone....Heard nothing for 4 years then a letter saying I owed £580 for an o2 contract, i paid four months at £25 p/m do not sure why they billed me 24 months there....

However I ignored thinking it was a mix up as i returned phone and then got another letter demanding payment, thinking I was in the wrong I just cleared it, the debt collection company were not interested in what happened to the phone.

I received no default notices, just a bill from the debt collection agency, as i dont like debt i paid it.

Im now told by my mortgage advisor that the man in the shop more than likely just pocketed the phone, Great. so a phone down and now i have a default (satisfied) which went to a default on dec 2010, means it drops off dec 2016, but why is my wife and 2 babies being penalised for a debt which is paid which i was to lied about handing a phone back and it would be sorted.

Can I get this default removed???. My wife is broken hearted our home move has fallen through due a stupid small amount of debt

We have no other black marks at all all bills paid on time, credit cards cleared each month and no overdrafts, perfect bar this !!

paulsad

Similar to me I never bothered with experian just noddle which showed a satisfied default and nothing else.
On checking experian I find I have the same default unsatisfied?
Another £12(!) default from Virgin (!!!!!!) Media from 2009 I knew sod all about as I was still a customer till 2012 so this "default" must have occured from changing my TV package when they failed to clear it.
And to cap it all Experian still had me at my old address 2.5 years ago! Despite me being on electoral role etc.

happy_bunny_2

gazdowson1978 wrote: »

Hi, ill try and keep it brief. My wife and I had good credit, although i had no borrowing history in the form of loans or cards for 8 years so was advised to get a small credit card and a few more utilities in my name.

I did and I managed the card well. The wifes credit as expected is immaculate. We applied for a mortgage on help to buy. It was refused, unsure why we used experian.

Her score 991 out of 999, mine 920 out of 999. Both excellent on score, but on my file I have a default. In April 2010 my mam got a cold call from o2 offering a mobile phone but i took the call and they got me one.

I lost my job and went to the o2 shop FOUR month after ( august) to say help i cant pay, what i can now only consider fraud, the man at the shop was very "helpful" and said dont worry just return your phone and we'll cancel it.

Therefore I returned phone....Heard nothing for 4 years then a letter saying I owed £580 for an o2 contract, i paid four months at £25 p/m do not sure why they billed me 24 months there....

However I ignored thinking it was a mix up as i returned phone and then got another letter demanding payment, thinking I was in the wrong I just cleared it, the debt collection company were not interested in what happened to the phone.

I received no default notices, just a bill from the debt collection agency, as i dont like debt i paid it.

Im now told by my mortgage advisor that the man in the shop more than likely just pocketed the phone, Great. so a phone down and now i have a default (satisfied) which went to a default on dec 2010, means it drops off dec 2016, but why is my wife and 2 babies being penalised for a debt which is paid which i was to lied about handing a phone back and it would be sorted.

Can I get this default removed???. My wife is broken hearted our home move has fallen through due a stupid small amount of debt

We have no other black marks at all all bills paid on time, credit cards cleared each month and no overdrafts, perfect bar this !!

You should have complained to O2 ages ago. Sounds impossible to prove he pocketed the phone now if you didn't get a receipt.

In reality, sounds like you did default and got billed for the whole contract period.

Even if you complained and were successful, it may take months. Sounds slim chance though.

happy_bunny_2

paulsad wrote: »

Similar to me I never bothered with experian just noddle which showed a satisfied default and nothing else.
On checking experian I find I have the same default unsatisfied?
Another £12(!) default from Virgin (!!!!!!) Media from 2009 I knew sod all about as I was still a customer till 2012 so this "default" must have occured from changing my TV package when they failed to clear it.
And to cap it all Experian still had me at my old address 2.5 years ago! Despite me being on electoral role etc.

Did you not complain about the default?

gazdowson1978

Well i know I have no proof about the phone being lifted, I complained to the debt collection agency about what happened. I didnt know what defaults etc were really I knew i had never missed a payment in my life soi presumed i had good credit. I only found out about this default when we applied for mortgage.

Even if i queried the debt it was still defaulted so i payed it. I dont know it was defaulted as such till last week. all i knew is i handed a phone back 4 years later i get a bill for 24 months worth of contract and i paid it...

happy_bunny_2

You could try complaining again, but will take months if it needs to go to the ombudsman. No certainty either.

You should still be able to get a decent mortgage with that via a broker.

Best post for advice on the mortgage board.

matttye

Never apply for credit, especially something important like a mortgage, without checking all of your credit files with a fine toothed comb first to see if there are any problems or inaccuracies.

You've learned that the hard way.

kirstybum

I don't know if this helps either of you but I had a £94 default from virgin and contacted them explaining that it was stopping a mortgage application and since it was a very small amount would they consider removing the default and they did! They were very helpful, I've never dealt with 02 but it's worth a try! X

DCFC79

Your scores of 991 and 920 mean nothing to lenders, lenders use in house system to determine whether to lend to you or not.