Shop Direct (Very) account

WeeThistle

Good morning all,

I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice. I had a store card with Very which had a total of £1800 on it. I got into difficulty keeping up the monthly payments whilst at university and Shop Direct put me onto a payment plan. I was paying off the balance slowly as they froze the account and all was going well (I thought). I was paying £50 on the 1st of each month every month as I got straight into a job after my degree ended.

The payment on the 1st November was not taken by shop direct and I received a letter later in the month to say that the account had defaulted and was being passed to Lowell. I was really confused as to why this had happened, so spoke to Lowell who said I had not kept to the payment terms. Still confused (as I had), I rang Very who said that my payment terms were 28 days and I was paying monthly, so every payment was late on the account I hadn't had any letters through to say this was the case, cannot speak for phone calls as I only answer calls I know. No voicemails left and there wasn't a record of persistent calls on my phone to flag any worries to me.

Anyway, I made a payment of £50 to Lowell in February and paid the whole account off in March, but by this time Lowell had registered a default on my credit file. Before this the Very account wasn't on there at all (I check my file through Noddle and Clear Score as we're hoping to buy a house soon).

Basically now, I would like to know if there's anything I can do to have this default removed? I don't dispute the debt and have paid every penny in full, but I feel the default is really unfair. I've lodged a complaint with Very, but haven't heard anything in two weeks. We have just tried to get a mortgage and even though I explained what had happened and could prove the payments it has been a factor in us being declined. The Building Society have told us they will lend to us in 12 months when it is older so not all doom and gloom, but I would really like to get rid of this as it's unfair.

Many thanks in advance for your help

Wee Thistle x

fatbelly

I always find Noddle (callcredit) comes a poor third to Experian and Equifax for accuracy.

Shop Direct were obliged to default you after 3-6 months of not receiving the contractual payments. If you ask them (and this may need a Subject Access Request) they should send you the history, which I would expect to include the issue of a default notice.

Lowell have bought the debt from Shop Direct and they would not have done that unless it was defaulted. The date they are reporting now for default should be the same one as Shop Direct, as you can only be defaulted once.

If your investigations show that a default notice was never issued then you have a case for the default being removed. The SAR to Shop Direct is probably the key.

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/gettinginformationfromyourcreditors/creditagreementadvice.aspx

fermi

Read through the info in this link

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3172602

to see if you think the info is fair.

If not, complain formal, citing the grounds from that you beive apply, and tell them that if not corrected you will be taking it to the FOS and ICO.

An informal arrangement does not replace the original terms, which are to pay every 28 days, so it is likely the original agreement terms that Lowell meant you did not keep to.