Small default - help

Bonfire_Bride

We currently have our house on the market so have been keeping an eye on our credit files. I have always used Experian but have recently switched to Equifax.

Equifax had an £84 default against my name under BT Ltd from 2012. I have not received a single thing from BT regarding this debt and can only imagine it is around the time we switched to Sky. However, I would not have "not paid" them any outstanding money so honestly believe I was never contacted about it.

I phoned BT immediately and asked them to provide me with evidence of this debt. They advised because it is such an old debt, it would take up to 60 days to get this information. (I still havnt received this info) I also asked them for copies of the letters they have sent me. They could not "deal" with my query or take a payment as the debt was being handled by Lowell.

I had not received anything from Lowell either about this?? Phoned Lowell 2 weeks later as I finally received a letter from them regarding the debt and they told me IT HAD ONLY JUST BEEN PASSED TO THEM in the past week.

So, basically...BT had not passed on this debt from 2012 and refused to deal with my account. They only passed the debt on after I had contacted them.

I have paid off the balance as I dont want to be contacted constantly about this. If I owed the money then fair enough but I would like the marker removed from my file as If I had been aware of this then it would have been paid immediately and certainly would not have defaulted.

How do I approach BT about this? They still have not sent me a breakdown of the debt and any copies of the letters they supposedly sent to me.

Thanks.

Bonfire_Bride

Any help please?

Do you think they would remove the default?

Thanks

Arleen

Paying the debts admits that you did owe the money, so why would they remove it? Heck, since you admit to owing the money (did so by paying it), it would be irresponsible and unfair to other lenders not to report how the account was handled.

And it's up to you to follow on your accounts, not for the companies to chase you all around. It may be harsh but it's true. And as for no letters, the usual cause is that there was an old address with the account or some other circumstances around it, but that doesn't excuse you from not settling the account back then.

Silver-lining here is that the account is old, for small amount and now settled so it should have very little impact, assuming that your credit file is otherwise pristine.

As small edit: stop spending money on the equifax/experian scam. For the 15quid/month you could just order your statutory file every month, from all 3 agencies, and still have 9 quid left!

National_Debtline

Hi Bonfire Bride,


I would suggest that you make a formal complaint to BT about all of this. At the moment, if they are refusing to provide you with information you may end up in a battle of 'he said, she said' so you can formalise your request for information under something called a Subject Access Request.


This is a request for any data held on you under the Data Protection Act. It may cost you £10 and they have 40days to comply. The reason this may be worth doing because it may help to give you complaint more 'bite'. You can ask for things like proof of letters sent to you requesting payment, terms and conditions of the contract, policy of chasing outstanding debts etc. You need to check whether or not they fulfilled their responsibilities as the service provider.


Complain to BT and ask them to remove the default as a gesture of good will based on what has happened. They are not required to do this if the information is in fact accurate, however, you can escalate this matter to the Telecommunications Ombudsman for another look if you can't resolve this with BT. I am afraid there is no guarantee that they will remove the default, but this is your best chance. Good luck,


Laura
@natdebtline