Mobile phone contract dispute

Craig.M

Hello, I'm hoping for some knowledgeable people out there to be kind enough to offer advice.

I went overseas due to a career opportunity that arose in the middle of a mobile phone contract. The phone company were unwilling to put the contract on hold for the time I was away, and I ended up going without paying off the contract.

When I returned, I had received several letters from the phone company and then from a debt collection agency. I immediately contacted the DCA and asked what I owed. I asked them to confirm that upon making the payment they requested that the matter would be at an end. They assured me that it would, so I paid what I understood to be the full debt via phone by credit card.

I later contacted the phone company's credit file department after a few months to confirm that my debt had been settled, and they said I still owed an outstanding sum. The DCA still insisted that the debt was closed.

The phone company have offered to halve the outstanding amount. They claim that they are not at fault, and that the fault is with the DCA. As such they will not waive the debt as I requested, stating that my credit rating has been damaged in the year I wish to apply for a mortgage.

My questions are:-

Can the phone operator reverse the marks against my credit history or is that irreversible?
Are the phone company free of blame despite the DCA acting as an agent for them?
Can I realistically demand the debt to be wiped, or should I take the half payment option?
If they refuse to budge and I refuse to pay, how negatively will that impact me?

Thanks in advance, I hope I'm not asking for too much info

[Deleted User]

The credit history is likely to remain as is, as it is a reflection of how you managed the account.

Do you have confirmation in writing from the DCA that the debt was fully settled? If you have, then provide that to the phone company.

If not, then I would look to settle the debt.

Gordon_Hose

You went away without paying your phone bill, the phone company have recorded this period of non-payment on your credit file as they are entitled to.

Nothing you can do about the credit file entries as they are a true reflection of your account conduct.

If you have a letter from the DCA stating the amount you needed to pay and a record of you paying this amount to the DCA then provide a copy of this to the phone company.

If you have nothing in writing then, as stated, I'd be looking to pay it off.

Might be harsh, but you went away without paying your phone bill! There is no-one but yourself to blame for this mess. Phone companies don't put contracts "on-hold", and they told you as much. And you still went away leaving an outstanding debt.

Craig.M

Yes I did go away without settling the bill, however there were factors that are irrelevant to the questions I'm asking which caused that to happen, so for the sake of being concise I omitted them. My position is that once I returned I immediately asked how much I needed to pay and did so; my debt has been left unpaid for longer than necessary through their error, hence my request to waive the remainder rather than halve it. Thanks for your input

Anoneemoose

I am not sure how the phone company can say you still owe them if they passed it to a DCA.

Usually the DCA will tell the phone company that you have paid but sometimes this can take a while. Is it possible it's a crossover?

Are the charges the phone company are saying you owe the same as what you paid the DCA?

In regard your credit file, they won't change that.

[Deleted User]

The debt is not always sold to a DCA, but their services used to collect it.

DCFC79

What did you expect to happen re the phone contract once you got back ?

Anoneemoose

Deleted_User wrote: »

The debt is not always sold to a DCA, but their services used to collect it.

Yes, sometimes it is passed to them to collect and if that doesn't work, it is then often 'sold', meaning the phone co would have nothing to do with it any more.

It sounds like in this case it has just been passed on for them to collect, but still showing on the phone co's systems. This is why I said, they could just be waiting for the DCA to update the payment.

PaulW922

I think that the DCA is acting as the mobile company's agent and as such, the phone company is bound by what the DCA said. Why not try and obtain written clarification from the DCA that the debt is settled? They are usually ok at doing this and you don't need to mention what the phone company says about the debt.

As others have said I doubt you will get the adverse credit data removed as it is accurate - however there should not be an outstanding amount shown.