Complaint about missing default: Barclaycard

mattymoo2014

I wonder whether people could help me here?

Rather than relate the history, I'll paste a complaint letter I have drafted below, which should explain what is going on.

Just to say: this information on my file, appearing to suggest I was in arrears more recently than I actually was has been damaging me –!so I basically need to know whether I should try to oblige the company to add the default, or to amend the arrears somehow.

Many thanks.

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Barclaycard House
PO Box 5592
Northampton
NN4 1ZY

Account No: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX

31 July 2017

Dear Sir/Madam

COMPLAINT: Inaccurate credit report details

I am writing to you to complain that inaccurate information has been given to the Credit Reference Agencies and to request that you amend same with the facts immediately.

I take this opportunity to remind you of the history. Following financial difficulties caused by nursing my mother through a terminal illness, I first wrote to you on 14 July 2013 to offer a token payment plan, which you agreed to on 24 July 2013, with balance at £10,530.12. After that, I duly made those token payments every month until you accepted my offer of £4,207.00 in full and final settlement of the debt on 2 September 2014. I made that payment on 8 September 2014 and was that day (as per my records of the telephone conversation) advised by your representative, Mark, that the credit file would be marked as Satisfied and you would then not pursue any further amount with the remaining balance written off and the account closed.

I am disappointed to find, as I see now, that you continued to make entries of late payment on my credit file until 13 December 2015, some 15 months following settlement and closure of the account, and in addition have not correctly recorded my payments on account according to the terms of our agreement for several months before that.

In fact, as your letter of 22 August 2014 shows, a Default should have been registered against my account as from 30 January 2014. You said in that letter that you would correct your reporting error and update the information held by Credit Reference Agencies; I request that you now do that in accordance with ICO rules.

I have recently telephoned you to register this complaint, and have additionally requested correction via Experian (Ref: XXXX). I look forward to a swift resolution of this complaint.

Yours faithfully

XXXX

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National_Debtline

Hi mattymoo2014

If I understand correctly a default was not registered on your account. Whilst a default is considered damaging, if it was registered on 30 January 2014 it would means the debt would drop off your credit file on 20 January 2020.

As it currently stands the debt is going to drop off 6 years after the date the account was settled or the last payment was made. If that was 8 September 2014, the debt will drop off 8 September 2020. By asking for the default to be added it will mean the debt will be removed slightly sooner.

All information recorded on your credit file must be accurate. If the information about the arrears is incorrect you have grounds to complain. If you can’t resolve this with Barclaycard you can escalate your complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office. Good luck with it.

Susie
@natdebtline

sourcrates

Hi,

Did you get this agreement in writing, or just verbally over the phone ?

mattymoo2014

@Susie –!thanks for your advice.

@sourcrates: Yes, this agreement was in writing.

mattymoo2014

The main issue for me is the additional information until December 2015... For some reason this appears on Experian but not on Equifax - can someone let me know whether it is normal for different agencies to have different information?

Also, this information makes it look like I was in arrears until that point –!my mortgage advisor is telling me that this is a problem, although I am trying to get across to him that this information pertains to before the settlement.

National_Debtline

Hi there again

Yes it is normal for different credit reference agencies to hold different information. There are 3 agencies – Experian, Equifax and Call Credit. It is up to a creditor which of the agencies they report information to so you can see information on one, but not on another. Hope this helps.

Susie
@natdebtline

mattymoo2014

Thanks susie @nationaldebtline but surely - aren't they all supposed to be 'correct'? In which case, why would they differ? Issue here is that Experian is wrong, Equifax is more correct, but neither hold the Default information.

[Deleted User]

The CRAs are only correct the extent that lenders report to them.

TakeItAsRed

I am by no means an expert on things like this, but what would be more damaging to your mortgage application? a default or arrears?

mattymoo2014

The problem is that the arrears are showing over a year later than they actually were. Getting them to apply the default as they should will at least put things further back, after which there have been no other problems. There are a couple of other defaults (from the same time) so I'm guessing it won't matter to have another from the same period?

mattymoo2014

So, in a strange twist, Barclaycard have acknowledged the Default should be on but are also willing not to apply it. It is my choice, they say. Since it is a while ago.

Opinions anyone? Settlement date is given as 30/01/14; another area of the report says 'Partial Settlement 01/14', but the payments go 1, 2, 3, etc months in arrears until 6 for 10 months and then my part payment is showing and balance goes to zero.

So, question is, will the debt disappear sooner if the Default is applied or not? It would appear to make no difference, but instead the difference is whether there will be Default or not.

Finally, at the bottom of this section it does say: 'Settled accounts are kept on file for six years from the settlement date. The status history in respect of a settled account relates to the period of time prior to the date of settlement.' So, really, to my mind, this should not appear as defaulted more recently, in spite of what the mortgage broker says.