Help/advice please

Abz12

Hi all,

I am a regular poster on the debt free wannabes but need some advice on my boyfriends default.

He recently went to finance a car and was declined, after checking his credit file on experian we found out he had a default on there from an old Barclays overdraft he had from 2010. Months of trying to track it down I have found out the following;
The account was opened and immediately overdrawn by £200 in March 2010.
Interest accurred over the next 3 years until in November 2013 they sent a letter advising he was now in breach of the T&Cs and the account would be closed.
Between Nov 2013 and March 2014 they sent 9 letters and 4 text messages to his previous address. In Jan they advised he has until Feb 2014 to settle the account before it goes into default.
Since then they have made no contact and have sold or transferred he debt to other agencies. They have assured me that they have not added charges for this.

I explained that he is willing to pay the debt but they are saying it will remain for six years. My issue is he moved out before the account went into default and was on the electrol roll but they did not conduct searches in order to find him. I am mad at him because he should have updated the address but that is neither here or there now. We want to get. A mortgage next year but if he can't even get approved for car finance he has no chance with a mortgage. Is there anyway I can get them to remove it based on the fact that they haven't proactively tried to find him before putting the account in default?

Any comments welcome.

pvt

Abz12 wrote: »

Is there anyway I can get them to remove it based on the fact that they haven't proactively tried to find him before putting the account in default?

Any comments welcome.

So they sent 10 letters and 4 text messages to the contact details he had given them. In what way do you hope to argue they haven't been proactive?

Abz12

I was hoping I could go down the route of they haven't searched the electrol roll to find him after he moved. I want him to pay for it but not to have the default until 2020

Alice_Walker

You seem to expect the bank to do an awful lot of searching for a man that has done nothing to remedy the issue. Do you want to take out a mortgage with someone who runs away from his debts?

He (not you) needs to contact Barclays and arrange to repay the debt. It will remain on his credit file as that is a record of his credit history. He can put a note on his file to explain the debt, but I doubt his story will go down well with future lenders.

Abz12

I don't know much about the way defaults work which is why I have posted on here.

I don't expect him to get away with it and want him to pay as he owes it but I don't want him to be penalised until 2020 for a mistake he made as a teenager.

Abz12

And yes I do want to get a mortgage with some one who has a default. He was a teenager at the time who had no clue how to manage money.

I didn't expect people to be so judgemental it's not like that on the DFD

Experian_company_representative

Hi Abz12, if the default has been accurately recorded then it would stay on your partner's credit report for six years from the date of the default. You might find our guide to defaults useful here.
As the default gets older though it will have less of an impact on his credit report and having a default does not necessarily mean that you would not be able to get a mortgage at all.
Kind regards
Neil

Abz12

Thank you for your help Neil.

In your opinion do you think I have grounds to ask them to remove the default ? Or is that standard procedure ?!

Experian_company_representative

Hi Abz12, If your partner believes that the default should not have been recorded then he can ask the credit reference agency that he has got his report with to query it on his behalf. However this does not mean that Barclays would have to remove it if they think it is correctly recorded. Your partner could add a notice of correction to explain why the default occurred, which lenders could then take into account when checking his report. Kind Regards Neil