Default says balance is 0

vakaviper

Hi all out there....
A few months back I decided to do something about my debt, so first step was credit expect to check my credit score !! I wanted to set up my own DMP.
That's when I noticed that a Wonga account which was defaulted was Saying my balance was 0!!! So I contacted credit Expert to make sure it wasn't a mistake and they said no it wasn't it was 0.. they advised me to contact Wonga and ask for my file to be updated... so I did.
The next month I checked my score again only to find that the Wong account now read £800, I thought to myself they are devious so and so's..... this time when I called them I couldn't get through..
Now I just check my credit score again and it is now reading 0...


What can I do, as it is still marked as default and thus affecting my score, has anyone suffered this before or shed some light.


Many thanks
chris

fermi

What should be the status of the account then? Paying it off doesn't remove a default if the default was a valid one.

vakaviper

It is saying default on my file...
But to be host I am not clued up on the whole credit score thing... I thought if the balance was 0 then the account was settled.

vakaviper

I had originally defaulted on this account.

fermi

A default is always a default. When settled/satisfied is marked as a satisfied one, but the fact of the default remains there as well.

Would really need to know what happened with the account and see the entry in question to say whether it's recorded fairly, but if you did default and were hoping that would be removed simply because it was paid, then you are out of luck. Does not work that way.

vakaviper

I know it was a default, but it paid off should it not be settled... so the only way you can remove a default is let it drop off after 6 years?

fermi

It should be marked as 'satisfied' in some way. Not settled.

That's a odd quirk of the way these things are displayed on credit reports. Defaulted accounts are marked as 'satisfied', while only account that never defaulted and were paid back fully in line with the original agreement are marked as settled. Lender etc checking your report and seeing that know that's how it works, so not a problem.

Yes, a default stays for 6 years, even if later paid off and marked as satisfied. Only way it could be removed is if it should never have been a default in the first place, or you can get the lender to remove it as a gesture of goodwill. 1st sounds as if it doesn't apply here, and 2nd is just very very very unlikely.

vakaviper

Ok, thanks for the info, although it makes me wonder should I go to the bother of settling my default debts, maybe just wait till they fall of my record??? As in in NI and we don't have bailiffs here yet???
Now you said the company might wipe it as a gesture of good will, I wonder could I pursue this option as the whole debt in question was with WONGA and they are the ones who actually wrote off the debt in first place???