incorrect default date on file

larryp

Hello I hope someone can help me. I recently returned to work late last year after I lost my business, health, house you name it in the crash in 2008.

I am now trying to get my credit file back on track and today i joined equifax to view my credit report. I have 2 items on file.

1. A credit card from amex . it started on 06/04/2005 and I last made a payment in December 2007 and no payment was ever made after that, however they did not choose to default it until Jan 2010? ,the file shows 6 payments late indicated by July 2008 which would be correct however by December 2009 they still only show 6 payments late? can this be done ? i had assumed that it would come under statute barred debt as being over 6 years old from default however as the default date has been kept back for 2 years until 2010 is this legal?

2. i have a debt to BT which i offered to pay what i thought was correct in 2013. I had BT broadband and phone contract for 12 mths started in July 2013. My partner who regularly called abroad with home based work changed our phone line to unicom and they paid a penalty fee to BT for us to get out of the phone contract. At no time did BT contact me the bill holder to discuss the new arrangement by phone, email or letter. So i assumed all was well.

I moved to Malta to live in May 2013 and called BT to settle my bill which i thought was for 3 months remaining. However they told me that as i had changed the contract mid session that a new contract was now in place for just the broadband and now for "24 MONTHS" not 12 MONTHS as was the previous contract. I even offered to pay the remianing 9 months of a new 12 month contract but they would hear none of it. I obviously did not pay it and now its on my file. My question about this is, can they do this? is this legal not to tell customers a new contract has been created?

thanks for your help in advance
Lawrence

National_Debtline

Hi Larryp, welcome to MSE.


In regards to the first issue (Amex) the default date has no bearing on the Limitations Act and from what you have described that debt seems to be statute barred. (The 6 year clock starts from when the first payment was due and missed or from when the last payment was made or from when the last written acknowledgement was made - whichever is the later). If any organisation is chasing you for that debt I would suggest sending the Limitations letter to argue they are too late. You could also raise a complaint with that company at the same time about the default date.


As far as the default is concerned there is some guidance about when a default should be registered from the Information Commissioner - https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/finance/. You could complain to try and get the default date amended and if they refuse you could escalate the matter to the Information Commissioner.


The BT debt seems very strange – I would suggest you make a request for the agreement and a breakdown of the account and anything else that you think would help you to understand this debt (that will help you decide whether to dispute or make a payment plan) - https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/sampleletters/sole-letters/Pages/Personal-information-under-the-Data-Protection-Act-(sole-name)-.aspx


Laura
@natdebtline

larryp

Hello Laura, thank you so much for your response and warm welcome to the MSE. In regard to Amex, I am not being called by anyone looking for payment and I have not been for years, so in that case will i have to contact amex directly to remove this? i tried to add a link for a screenshot of the equifax report showing the default period..but i was unable to upload it as as new member.


Re BT I called Ofcom today and they told me to call BT which i did to make a complaint as they should have told me by some method that my contract duration had been changed. I called and they asked me for the money funny enough. I asked for a deadlock report to be sent to me as i am not paying and reporting it to the ombudsman. They have now escalated it and one of their managers will bet in touch on Monday to confirm i want a deadlock report.

thanks so much for your help in this Laura

Kind regards
lawrence

larryp

I got in touch with the financial ombudsman and they told me to call Amex and ask them to remove it as its clearly over the date. I therefore called Amex and explained that i had been talking to the financial ombudsman who would have registered the complaint there and then but they had asked me if i wanted to call Amex first to sort it out and ask for it to be removed.

The agent at Amex was very helpful and told me it would be removed immediately from my file. So a great result!

Thanks for your help

National_Debtline

That is great news about the default and I am glad you are getting things sorted Larryp....seems like you are on a roll.

Laura
@natdebtline