Closed bank account showing a balance on credit report.

Memamem

Hi,

I have just checked my credit report with Experian as I've recently had problems with Vodafone and wanted to see if they had left a bad mark on my report after cancelling a contract.

When checking, I noticed that a bank account I had with Co-operative has a balance of £190. What does this mean? When I switched to Barclays, I owed Co-op nothing and as far as I was aware, the closing balance was Zero so why would a balance show? I can't find any answers on the report itself and am now worrying!

Thanks in advance for any help!

davidsuffolk

Surely the only logical answer is to contact the Co-op and ask them?

National_Debtline

Hi

I agree with David that you’ll need to ask the Co-op for more details. It’s possible they could have simply made a mistake with updating your credit file, in which case ask them to correct it.

If they say you owe the £190 request a full statement so they you can verify whether it seems correct or not. You may need to go down the complaints route if you have a dispute over the balance.

James
@natdebtline

Memamem

davidsuffolk, I'm not that thick, thanks. I contacted them this morning and without an account they told me they couldn't tell me anything. I posted here last night to see if anyone knew of anything before I had a chance to contact them as I suspected that they would tell me they couldn't tell me anything.

I'm at a loss now of how to find out what that balance means.

National_Debtline

You could try raising a dispute with Experian as you think the information on your file is incorrect. If Co-op can’t demonstrate that it’s correct ask them to remove it. If they don’t, make a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service and Information Commissioner’s Office.

It’s also worth checking your credit files held by Equifax and Call credit to see how it’s recorded there.

James
@natdebtline

DCFC79

Memamem wrote: »

davidsuffolk, I'm not that thick, thanks. I contacted them this morning and without an account they told me they couldn't tell me anything. I posted here last night to see if anyone knew of anything before I had a chance to contact them as I suspected that they would tell me they couldn't tell me anything.

I'm at a loss now of how to find out what that balance means.

Try a complaint.

Ben8282

Is the co-op account showing in the active or settled accounts section of the credit report?
If it is showing in the settled accounts section and the account status code was 0 for the final month and the account is clearly shown as settled then this is very unusual but probably nothing to worry about as it is not an 'adverse' entry as such. Would suggest sending co-op bank photocopy of credit report and closing statement and asking for your credit files to be updated to show the correct closing balance of the settled account.
If it is showing in the active accounts section of the credit report, when was the account last updated and what is the status code for the final month shown?
If you settled the overdraft and closed the account last week it will not have updated yet. Have you allowed sufficient time for the account to update and for it to change to a settled account?
Must admit to some surprise that they were so unhelpful when you called them. If you have been conducting your account with them satisfactorily there is no reason for them to be so unhelpful ....

davidsuffolk

What I was actually suggesting when I said contact the Co-op was to write to the HO giving all your details and a copy of the credit report you have and ask them to sort it out.
They must have some sort of record of you other than account number, address possibly.
If they can find it, they can then tell you what it is about. If they cannot you could reasonably require they to remove it from your credit file