Trying to change default date

stockport_hatter

In January 2010 i entered into a DMP with PayPlan and one of my creditors at the time was Santander (loan). The DMP was finished in March 2015 and i am now trying to tidy up my credit file and i'm aware that defaults show on a credit file for 6 years from the date of the default.

Santander have recorded that i defaulted on my account in April 2011 (14 months after the start of my DMP) which means that this will disappear off my credit file in 2017 but is this fair? Shouldn't the date of default be earlier than that seen as i entered into a DMP in January 2010 and fell into arrears in February 2010?

I applied for the date to be changed via Noddle as i said that the information shown on my credit file was incorrect but Santander have now written back to say that they are unwilling to change the date of the default. I was hoping that these defaults would drop off my credit file in 2016 so i could try and change my mortgage provider (been stuck on a high interest rate) but now it seems that i will have to wait longer to rebuild my credit file.

I have a similar issue with Natwest but i am waiting to hear back from them.

happy_bunny_2

Complain to the lender in writing.

If they refuse, refer to the FOS.

It depends how much you were paying v what you were meant to pay. Amongst other things.

Have a look at the ICO default guidelines from 2007.

stockport_hatter

I did actually write direct to both lenders at the end of April citing why i felt that the date recorded for the default was incorrect and i also lodged the dispute with Noddle as i use them to look at my credit file. I've only had correspondence back via Noddle though.

My loan repayments were £290 with Natwest and £185 with Santander and at the start of the DMP i was paying back £180 and £100.

happy_bunny_2

Did the amount you paid drop at the time of the default?

If you wrote end of April, you can refer to the FOS after 8 weeks from then.

I'd send a chase up letter to each, including the Noddle response, asking if that's their final response as you intend to refer to the FOS.

stockport_hatter

I have always increased my payments to all creditors each anniversary of me starting the DMP, so if anything my payment to the creditors would have increased by a couple of pounds by the time they registered that the account was defaulted. As an example my loan repayments with Santander were £185 but at the start of the DMP i was paying only £100 and then when they put that i had defaulted i was paying £109 each month.

Thanks for the advice about sending a reminder letter, can't do any harm in case i need to go to the FOS. Will make sure it is sent by recorded delivery as well.

I have noticed that the ICO recommends that defaults are recorded 3-6 months after an account falls into arrears which is better than 14 months from Santander and 12 months from Natwest. Just looking forward to the day that i can finally draw a line under this matter and have a clean credit file again.

stockport_hatter

Sorry to bump an old thread on the forum but I am now actively looking to remortgage and the rates that I am being offered due to the adverse information on my credit file (two defaults as mentioned above) are high in comparison to rates offered to other customers – saving approx. £150 a month. I have also approached a specialist mortgage broker to help with the remortgage although the fees I will pay for their services are significantly higher if I have defaults on my credit file compared to the fees payable if it was clean.

I contacted the ICO regarding the matter as I wanted to seek their opinion before contemplating taking the matter further and they seemed to agree with my point that the dates appear to be unfair.

I have once again written to both lenders to query the date that the default has been recorded and the response from Santander is that they have done nothing wrong. I have been looking at my payments at the time the default was recorded on my loan account with Santander and my account appears to be a total of six ‘full’ months in arrears (£1,244.37) so is this technically correct how they have done it?

One of my arguments is that as soon as I entered into a DMP my loan agreement was broken and that the default should have been recorded 3 – 6 months from the start of the DMP based on guidance from the ICO (or have I misinterpreted this?). I’m still waiting to receive a response from Natwest but I don’t hold much hope in them changing it either.

Also I have been going through my old paperwork and appear to have received the first default notice served under section 87(1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 from Santander in December 2010 and then further default notices were issued in subsequent months. Have Santander done anything wrong by not recording the default until March 2011 – 3 months after the initial letter? The default letters state that default information will be recorded with credit reference agencies within 28 days of the date of the letter so surely it should have been registered in January 2011 and not March 2011?

gilmum

stockport_hatter wrote: »

Sorry to bump an old thread on the forum but I am now actively looking to remortgage and the rates that I am being offered due to the adverse information on my credit file (two defaults as mentioned above) are high in comparison to rates offered to other customers – saving approx. £150 a month. I have also approached a specialist mortgage broker to help with the remortgage although the fees I will pay for their services are significantly higher if I have defaults on my credit file compared to the fees payable if it was clean.

I contacted the ICO regarding the matter as I wanted to seek their opinion before contemplating taking the matter further and they seemed to agree with my point that the dates appear to be unfair.

I have once again written to both lenders to query the date that the default has been recorded and the response from Santander is that they have done nothing wrong. I have been looking at my payments at the time the default was recorded on my loan account with Santander and my account appears to be a total of six ‘full’ months in arrears (£1,244.37) so is this technically correct how they have done it?

One of my arguments is that as soon as I entered into a DMP my loan agreement was broken and that the default should have been recorded 3 – 6 months from the start of the DMP based on guidance from the ICO (or have I misinterpreted this?). I’m still waiting to receive a response from Natwest but I don’t hold much hope in them changing it either.

Also I have been going through my old paperwork and appear to have received the first default notice served under section 87(1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 from Santander in December 2010 and then further default notices were issued in subsequent months. Have Santander done anything wrong by not recording the default until March 2011 – 3 months after the initial letter? The default letters state that default information will be recorded with credit reference agencies within 28 days of the date of the letter so surely it should have been registered in January 2011 and not March 2011?

Bumping this as I am interested in this as well. On here people seem to refer to the 2007 Guidance from ICO however, their website currently directs you to a 2014 Guidance Note which suggests that DMP is the appropriate record if you are in a DMP even if you are in arrears for a number of months, so long as your payments aren't token payments. This seems crazy as it penalises people trying to repay under a DMP as opposed to bankruptcy / making no payments as it will last for 6 years from the end of the DMP. Interested in any views on this.

stockport_hatter

Thanks for the previous bump 'gilmum[EMAIL="casework@ico.org.uk"][/EMAIL]'

I have spoken with the Information Commisioner’s Office regarding the response I received from Santander as I wanted to double check that the way I had interpreted their own guidance was not the same as how Santander were saying it should be done so that I didn’t waste anyone’s time, and the person I spoke to (and his colleague) were of the same opinion that it was the account falling into arrears and not the amount of the account arrears that should matter when recording a default.

They did also advise me to speak with the Financial Conduct Authority about what the protocol is for raising a default on a credit file although it turned out to be a pointless exercise as they couldn’t offer any guidance to me on the matter as they deal with the financial institutes and not consumers. They just suggested that I speak with Santander about my complaint or apply a notice of correction to my credit report.

Last week I filed an official complaint with the ICO so I’ll have to wait and see if my complaint is upheld based on my understanding of their guidelines. Worst case scenario is that the default will be backdated from March 2011 to January 2011 based on the default notice that Santander sent me in December 2010 and not February 2011 as stated by them.

NatWest have also written back following my letter of complaint challenging the default date and this has been upheld. They confirmed that a default notice was issued in February 2010 (I never actually received this) and as a result the default date should have been March 2010 and not January 2011 so I am happy about this (and a few pounds richer which I wasn’t expecting or demanding).

So two of the three creditors I owed money to at the start of my debt management plan saw fit to default me immediately but Santander insist they have followed standard procedure………