Given bad credit

timefortea

I'm having address issues with HSBC too, I changed my address with them about 10 months ago and all of my statements go to my new address, but all other letters go to my old address. It's really strange, and if my old address wasn't my mum's house I would have easily missed some important letters.

[Deleted User]

Lenders have a duty to report accurately to credit reference agencies. The default is accurate, you had a debt and you didn't pay it.

Moving house and forgetting about it isn't a good enough reason to have not paid it- and if you didn't tell HSBC your new address you can't now blame them for contacting your old one. Lenders have to notify you in writing before they can apply a default, which they did, the fact that you'd moved and not told them isn't their fault.

You say you're happy to pay it, so pay it. You don't get to use paying it as some sort of bargaining chip to get a factual default removed, you owe them the money. As others have said, count yourself lucky it's still only £300 and pay it.

matttye

SeduLOUs wrote: »

They didn't add the credit mark because they sent letters to the wrong address. They added the credit mark because you had an account that was overdrawn by £300 and you failed to make any payment or contact to rectify it.

As I said previously, them sending letters to the wrong address wasn't helpful, but the bulk of the blame lies with you for 'forgetting' that you owed money.

I disagree. If it was some other kind of debt I would agree with you, but overdrafts are repayable on demand. The OP never received the demand for repayment because it was sent to the wrong address. He was therefore never aware that the money was due.

Yes he's been a little careless but that doesn't change the fact that he wasn't notified it was time to pay the overdraft back and was therefore given no chance to rectify it.

This is based on the assumption his post is correct. I find it hard to believe the bank wouldn't write to the address they have on file first before writing to some random address where he may or may not be.

Angry_Bear

[quote=[Deleted User];69282581]... if you didn't tell HSBC your new address
...
you'd moved and not told them isn't their fault.
[/QUOTE]
I feel like you haven't bothered reading the OPs posts.

[Deleted User]

Apologies- I did read OP's post but misunderstood what he has written.

Either way the debt is owed. I don't think they will remove the default as if they can prove they sent a letter to the address you are living in they wouldn't necessarily take your word that you never received it- plenty of people try and dodge debt this way.

I still don't believe you can withhold paying the debt on the understanding that they remove the default. You either concede that you owe the money or you don't- it's all very well saying you'd have paid it straight away if you'd known, but there's no proof of that. It seems odd that if they had your correct address they'd have written to the old one- either you received the letter and ignored it, or it went missing somewhere.

AndyBSG

[quote=[Deleted User];69282581]if you didn't tell HSBC your new address you can't now blame them for contacting your old one.[/QUOTE]

But the OP clearly states that he did inform them of his new address and they have his new address as the listed address on the account, they just ignored this and carried on sending all the notifications to the old address.

[Deleted User]

AndyBSG wrote: »

But the OP clearly states that he did inform them of his new address and they have his new address as the listed address on the account, they just ignored this and carried on sending all the notifications to the old address.

And as I've clearly posted above- I misread his original post.

SeduLOUs

AndyBSG wrote: »

But the OP clearly states that he did inform them of his new address and they have his new address as the listed address on the account, they just ignored this and carried on sending all the notifications to the old address.

Which makes no sense. My guess would be that they did write to the new address, and then started writing to the old one when they got no satisfactory response.

I accept I could be entirely wrong, but it does seem very strange.

smdabs

i wouldn't go as far to say he 'clearly' states he changed address with them, he says that when he called them they had the correct address on file - which all seems very strange to me that they wouldn't have written to your correct address. A bank loses a ridiculous amount of money when they sell debt on to a collection agency so they usually do as much as they can to get the money from the debtor in the first place.

Regardless of the address issue, as has been said before, i'd suggest not wasting the Financial Ombudsman's time by taking this to them.

You had an account which was in arrears. I assume you were receiving statements at the time (and thus - they were being sent to the correct place) and therefore you would also have received the statements on a monthly basis showing the amount still due. An account can take months of non-action to be considered 'dormant' so letters would have been sent to you all throughout this time.

Arrears are rather hard to forget, and the banks usually make sure that 'forgetting' is not possible.

Whether it took them a month or it took them a year to get hold of you, the marker on your credit file is there because you did not pay back a debt, of which (and it will have been a recorded line)you have admitted to doing.

Just pay back the debt and let time deal with the marker on your credit file.