Arrangement vs Deliquent Account

Rebuilding

Hi,

I ran into a problem with my bank account just over a year ago. I'd moved from one bank to another (Santander to Nationwide) but my new account only had a £1000 overdraft vs £2000 on my Santander account, and unfortunately I was living up to my limit every month.

I intended to keep paying some money into the old account but I was in real trouble financially at the time and simply couldn't spare it. After about 3 months, Santander asked for the whole £2000 back, which I couldn't pay. After ignoring them for a while (I know this was the wrong thing to do), I agreed an arrangement with them to pay £140 per month for 14 months (my situation had improved by this time).

By this time, Santander had started to report to the CRAs that I was 2, 3, 4, 5 and then 6 months behind in payments. They also reported the account as "Delinquent". Once I started paying the arrangement, they also marked this on my account but it remained as showing 6 months missed payments and "Delinquent"

After 8 months of paying £140, I was able to clear the balance entirely using my annual bonus with a payment of £942, which I did on the 12th December 2016. As you can imagine, I was very happy to have cleared this debt, but was disappointed when Santander updated my credit files on the 25th December to show that I still owed over £1000, was still 6 months behind in payments and that the account was still Deliquent. I raised a complaint directly with Santander to have this corrected, however at this point I've heard nothing beyond an acknowledgement letter.

In researching what the CRAs should be reporting, I feel like there's a few things Santander are erroneously reporting:

- Once I'd entered into the arrangement, they should not have continued to report the account as Deliquent.

- Once I'd entered the arrangement they should not have continued to report the account as 6 payments in arrears

- They should not have jumped from 0 payments in arrears to 2 months

- Each month, Santander reported my account status on or around the 28th of the month but each time failed to take into account payments I had made on the 12th so they were not reporting accurately.

Can anyone advise me on this? Am I right or do I have to accept it? I know this is of my own making but I have repaid my debt, I just want Santander to play fair so I can start to rebuild my credit status. Throughout my financial difficulties, this was the only account I do much as missed a payment on, and I feel it's having an excessively high impact on my credit rating, which is now Very Poor.

ashp_2

Which CRA are you using to get your report?

mrmagooooooo

Your credit report will sometimes be a couple of months out of date.

For instance, my barclaycard shows on my credit reports that i have a balance of almost 3k. I cleared this 3 months ago and the actual balance is 0.

They are reporting your account as a delinquent account as it is a true representation of the account.

They asked you to repay the 2k and you ignored it as time kept ticking you were indeed in arrears regardless of the agreement made.

Unfortunately there isnt a lot if anything you can do about this. You could write to them and plead that they remove the markers but if im honest you'll probably be wasting your time.

Best thing you can do now it keep on top of all your payments for any other credit agreements and build on this for the next 12 months before applying for any form of credit and it will be tricky to obtain credit with a decent apr for a good while after im afraid.

Sorry if that wasnt the answer you were probably looking for :-/

Rebuilding

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

mrmagooooooo wrote: »

Your credit report will sometimes be a couple of months out of date.

The CRAs shows the date when each company updates the file, which can be anything from 4 weeks to 6 weeks apart (or more if there's nothing to report). The ICO says that the banks have to report something that is true. In this case, what they reported is 14 days out of date and 14 days is plenty of time for them to pull together a number electronically.

mrmagooooooo wrote: »

For instance, my barclaycard shows on my credit reports that i have a balance of almost 3k. I cleared this 3 months ago and the actual balance is 0.

You should question this, my Barclaycard balances are bang up to date.

mrmagooooooo wrote: »

They are reporting your account as a delinquent account as it is a true representation of the account.

Being in an arrangement, which is being kept up to date with is not delinquent. Delinquent is for accounts where no response is coming from the account holder. Whilst the account could be described as delinquent for a short time, this is demonstrably no longer the case.

mrmagooooooo wrote: »

They asked you to repay the 2k and you ignored it as time kept ticking you were indeed in arrears regardless of the agreement made.

I was in arrears, however the total arrears came to £150 (in terms of missed payments) and this was paid as the first payment of the arrangement. The account is no longer in arrears, it is in an arrangement.

mrmagooooooo wrote: »

Unfortunately there isnt a lot if anything you can do about this. You could write to them and plead that they remove the markers but if im honest you'll probably be wasting your time.

I'll definitely be trying

mrmagooooooo wrote: »

Best thing you can do now it keep on top of all your payments for any other credit agreements and build on this for the next 12 months before applying for any form of credit and it will be tricky to obtain credit with a decent apr for a good while after im afraid.

Sorry if that wasnt the answer you were probably looking for :-/

I'll be paying a lot of things off over the next year, so hopefully things will look a lot better soon