Capital One - desperate help needed

*cosmicgirl*

Hi

Two years ago my partner was diagnosed with incurable cancer age 43. During a conversation with Capital One's foreign call centre, the lady asked if a payment plan may help our situation. She explained that there were two options. One with a harder financial pressure to pay the full amount after 6 months and close the account which would have no effect on my credit file (I clarified this with her several times during the call) and another option which was easier financially but did have a negative effect on credit. I chose the harder plan and thought nothing of it.
I kept getting letters asking for payment each month, I kept calling and being told to stick to the plan, it would have no effect on my credit score.
I followed the plan, paid it off in full and thought nothing of it until a few months back.
I checked my experian account and it has shown as a delinquent settled account!

I called capital one, sent many letters asking for a goodwill removal and have had no sympathy/joy since.

Its going to be on there for another 5 years and I desperately need a new mortgage due to my partners health.

My credit file is perfect in every other way but this is having a huge effect on my score.

Is there anything at all that I can do??

Many thanks in advance.

fermi

You can try complaining that you were mislead as to the impact on your credit report. Without proof of what you were told, it may be difficult.

However, even if they refuse your complaint you can take it to the ombudsman/FOS. Something that CrapOne would likely wish to avoid.

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumer/complaints.htm

If you’d like us to contact them for you, just get in touch.

May be worth doing that now and asking the FOS to write with your initial complaint for you.

So CapOne are slightly less likely to fob you off at the start.

Ben8282

Whilst not wishing to sound in any way unsympathetic to your situation, I am finding it difficult to understand exactly why you chose to take out this payment plan.
A payment plan with 'harder financial pressure to pay the full amount after six moths and close the account' must surely have involved making payments greater than the normal minimum payment. As your OP makes no mention of any default situation existing on the account, I therefore do not understand why you went along with this.
Unfortunately, any arrangement to pay will have a negative effect on your credit file.
If Captial One, or any other lender, were to respond to a terminal diagnosis in respect of a cardholder by putting pressure on the cardholder to enter into a payment plan to make extra payments to ensure that the balance was repaid prior to their death, I would be shocked and appalled.

System

Ben8282 wrote: »

If Captial One, or any other lender, were to respond to a terminal diagnosis in respect of a cardholder by putting pressure on the cardholder to enter into a payment plan to make extra payments to ensure that the balance was repaid prior to their death, I would be shocked and appalled.

As I understand it, OP had the card, OP's partner had the terminal cancer

*cosmicgirl*

Ben8282 wrote: »

Whilst not wishing to sound in any way unsympathetic to your situation, I am finding it difficult to understand exactly why you chose to take out this payment plan.
A payment plan with 'harder financial pressure to pay the full amount after six moths and close the account' must surely have involved making payments greater than the normal minimum payment. As your OP makes no mention of any default situation existing on the account, I therefore do not understand why you went along with this.
Unfortunately, any arrangement to pay will have a negative effect on your credit file.
If Captial One, or any other lender, were to respond to a terminal diagnosis in respect of a cardholder by putting pressure on the cardholder to enter into a payment plan to make extra payments to ensure that the balance was repaid prior to their death, I would be shocked and appalled.

A bit more background. At the time when my partner was diagnosed, I had just had a baby 4 weeks prior. I was on mat leave and down to half pay. My partner had t leave work as he was receiving chemo and was on zero pay after 4 weeks. So when the lady told me that I could join a plan where I needed to make only nominal payments for 6 months, then 3 large final payments to clear the balance it sounded great - as I would be back to full pay 6 months later.
I feel so stupid now, I should have asked for written confirmation of what she was telling me but at the time I was not in a place to be as sensible and prudent as I normally would have been.
I'm just hoping that I can salvage something from this and turn it around as it will be on my account for another 5 years. This one delinquent account is destroying my credit score - even though everything else is perfect on it.

Thanks for the replies.

Thrugelmir

*cosmicgirl* wrote: »

A bit more background. At the time when my partner was diagnosed, I had just had a baby 4 weeks prior. I was on mat leave and down to half pay. My partner had t leave work as he was receiving chemo and was on zero pay after 4 weeks. So when the lady told me that I could join a plan where I needed to make only nominal payments for 6 months, then 3 large final payments to clear the balance it sounded great - as I would be back to full pay 6 months later.

What would you have done if the payment plan wasn't offered?

The fact that you entered into a payment plan is an accurate record as to the conduct of your account. That's the whole purpose of CRA information. How any other business then uses this information is a commercial decision, set internally. You can get a mortgage just not the one you'd hoped for. As there are mortgage lenders that cover the whole spectrum of borrowers.

Superscrooge

You can't have the delinquent settled account removed because it is an accurate record of your credit history.

However. If everything else about your credit history is good. It doesn't mean that you can't get a new mortgage.

A settled account is always better than a defaulted account. But you might need to consult with a mortgage broker who would be able to find a lender that would be happy to lend to someone with a recent delinquent account marker.

Best of luck! .

*cosmicgirl*

Thrugelmir wrote: »

What would you have done if the payment plan wasn't offered?

The fact that you entered into a payment plan is an accurate record as to the conduct of your account. That's the whole purpose of CRA information. How any other business then uses this information is a commercial decision, set internally. You can get a mortgage just not the one you'd hoped for. As there are mortgage lenders that cover the whole spectrum of borrowers.

If the plan wasn't offered then I would have (just about) managed the monthly payments. At the time it was a help as we only had half of one wage coming in so it seemed ideal but I was silly really, I didn't 100% need to do it. It wasn't a do it or I can't pay situation. I wasn't thinking it through at the time and now my stupidity will cost me unfortunately.

fermi

If they persuaded/convinced you that you could do it without impact to your credit file, then that is certainly cause for compliant.

*cosmicgirl*

fermi wrote: »

If they persuaded/convinced you that you could do it without impact to your credit file, then that is certainly cause for compliant.

They most certainly did but unfortunately I have zero proof of this, it was all via phone calls and I didn't even have the common sense to record names or dates of the calls.

fermi

As said, complain and take to the FOS if you get nowhere. FOS may be able to extract info from they that you can't.