Credit File ruined for £59

chaplin2020

Hi


I have been waiting for the last 6 years for defaults to drop off my credit file. I lost my business years ago and went through hell paying back loans etc. I had 8 defaults at one point but steadily the balances have been paid off and the defaults dropped off due to being 6 years old. I am now in a good position financially and was looking forward to my last default dropping off my account which has happened this week.


I moved into a new rented house late last year and started paying my water bill with South East Water. What I didn't realise was that I also have to pay a separate bill to Southern Water. I received a bill but thought this was for my final bill at my old address which I had already paid. I was paying south east water thinking that was the water bill for my new address sorted.


Anyway I have just had a default go onto my account today for £59.07 which I should have paid southern water as they deal with my waste water and south east only deal with the fresh water.


I am absolutely gutted, I feel physically sick, years and years of paying things off and waiting for my defaults to go and the week the last one drops of I get one for £59. I was hoping to get a mortgage etc. and be finally free.


I spoke with them to tell them I received no default notice but they say they sent it and that's all they have to prove. Is there anything at all I can do? I just can't go through another 6 years of being a bad credit risk. I thought it was all finally in the past.

telboyo

You have my sympathy, I fell for this exact same thing a few years ago whilst living in Hampshire, they don't makeit clear enough.

agarnett

Have you disclosed to them your past troubles ? If so, that might be unfortunate because it gives them an opportunity to point the finger and label you as a hopeless case instead of the rightfully aggrieved citizen that you are.

This is clearly a case where associates of CRAs (data providers) and their lowest qualified employees are becoming recklessly tolerated to ride roughshod over our livelihoods.

I recently had a derogatory status suddenly appear on my file due to the clumsy idiots at an upstart bank.

Generally speaking, there will usually be someone at the data provider whom you can escalate your complaint to. Let's be clear - you are making a complaint about Southern Water's clumsy behaviour with your personal data. You are not asking for a favour because you have suffered enough already at the hands of CRAs.

If you have not disclosed to Southern Water how you had bad credit previously and suffered, then hold your head up Monday morning and politely go in with some guns blazing and escalate your complaint to someone who understands how ridiculous it is:
(a) that you have to pay two separate water companies with similar sounding names for a disjointed water service.
(b) that no-one at Southern Water made a decent attempt to contact you e.g. by phone, to query whether the £59 outstanding might be an oversight because it was your first bill with them and they should be alive to the natural confusions of the strange setup they have as one of two water companies sending you a bill for one address.

There are some proper numpties employed everywhere you turn thesedays. I call them the T&Cs brigade. Everything is your fault because you have not got a PhD in the forensic analysis of and critiquing the pitfalls and consequences of every sentence in their particular business T&Cs, or in their various practices and environment.

I sympathise. Best of luck with getting someone with half a brain to see sense and to agree to remove the arrears record - perhaps as a goodwill gesture, you may have to allow them that to get it removed.

chaplin2020

Thanks or the replies, they do not know the details of any previous history.


I had a call back from someone saying they were Southern Water collections and were ringing to deal with my complaint. Straight away she launched into a defence saying they only have to prove they sent the default notice and it doesn't matter if I didn't receive it. She then went on to say I could have the default shown as settled if I paid the £45 fee that a debt collection agency has added??? I explained the default was for £59.07, that I had already paid that 2 weeks ago and it should be marked as settled already but she kept saying that only buy paying the fee they have now added would this be marked settled. I strongly suspect she was from a debt collection agency as it was a Leeds number which would be strange for Southern Water.


I have contacted Experian who say they will check with Southern Water. Obviously only their version means anything. They even said they will not add a notice of correction because there are contradictions in the date they hold and what I have said??? This account has never even appeared on my file until this default was added so what possible contradictions are there? I have asked for clarification but in y experience the CRA's will always do as the lenders tell them.


I was always of the opinion that the CRA's were supposed to show you 'ability to pay' This is such a small sum and the reason it wasn't paid was not due to ability but a mix up regarding who I was paying.


I will not give up on this and will go to the top of Southern Water, my MP, the media, however I can and will write every day for the whole 6 years if need be.

GingerBob_3

Out of interest, how did Southern Water find out who you are? More to the point, how did they obtain sufficient information about you to enable them to blacklist you on the CRA's files?

SeduLOUs

Best of luck Felix. I'd be absolutely devastated.

Don't give up, I'm sure when you push hard enough you'll get it removed, it's usually just a case of getting through to the right person who can apply a bit of common sense, but they aren't always easy to find!

Voyager2002

You have been badly treated by a water company: this is not the fault of a CRA, since they only process information given to them by providers of credit.

There is a regulated process for making complaints about water companies: details on this link.

https://www.ofwat.gov.uk/consumerissues/complaints/

And good luck.

Tixy

Did you only get the one letter, the bill, from southern water?

No second 'red' letter? no other contact? nothing at all until you spotted the default added to your credit file?

As a phone call has not worked I would make a complaint in writing to southern water outlining the position.

NorthernMonkey1

Have you raised a 'complaint' to the water company.

Make sure you use the word complaint so they don't file your query as 'feedback'

Use the term 'I do not think I have been treated fairly'. Explain why

This is a critical term, they have a regulatory requirement to treat everyone fairly.

chaplin2020

Hi


I received a couple of letters including a final demand. (No default notice though) The problem is my previous company was Southern Water and I had an issue with my final bill as they were charging me for a period after I had moved out. I was in touch with them and they were preparing a revised final bill which I then received and paid in full. All this was going on at the same time so when I was receiving bills for the smaller amount from them I assumed it was the amount in dispute and their wires were crossed. I was paying South East for my new house and as far as I was concerned they were my new provider. I had no idea there would be two companies.


I have emailed the CEO and received a reply almost straight away, they have asked for my phone number and are going to look into it then ring me so hopefully someone will show some common sense and be able to remove it.

chaplin2020

Well I have been contacted by Southern Water who say my case went right to the Directors who asked for a full investigation. They have told me that the default will not be removed form my file.


I am livid, I was told that their lower limit for registering a default is just £50. How can they justify this being an accurate record of my ability to pay?


I really want to fight this and don't mind how long it takes or how many letter I need to write. I will be complaining to the ICO but this will take ages. Can anyone recommend any solicitors that would specialise in this kind of thing?


I am still unsure how they can process my data when I have not agreed for them to do that? I don't even know where they got my details? I think the first thing to do is to SAR them and take it from there.


I know this could be a long haul but I will not give up even if it takes 5 years 11 months and 29 days.