Default Date incorrect

alias00

I had a Shop Direct Littlewoods account in 2012/13. I missed a payment in August 2013 and then they put something like £70 charges on the account (I only had about £33 to pay off). I was in financial difficultly at the time as I was a student and refused to pay. The last payment or correspondence I had regarding this account was 28th October 2013.
I then never heard anything about it until October 2016 when the debt got sold to Lowells. I part settled the account and thought little more of it.
It has just been bought to my attention that a default date of October 2016 (date sold to Lowells) has been applied to the account and my credit rating is shot just as I am trying to purchase a house! For the last 3-4 years my credit report has been squeaky clean with no missed payments and I feel this is an incorrect representation of my conduct. Additionally I thought legally they had to apply the default 3-6 months from the last payment?

I have complained and they will come back to me with a decision shortly. I just wanted some help/advice to arm me with information in case the result is not what I want to hear. Does anyone know what my rights are? Or what their legal obligation is?

Worried!
A

sourcrates

Hi,

The guidelines on defaults are just that unfortunately, guidelines.

There are no legal obligations here.

The creditor can choose when to default an account, the only edict they must follow, is fairness to the debtor.

So you have done the correct thing and complained about it, if they agree to change the default date, then fine, if not, the ICO (information commissionaires office) would be your next port of call.

Thrugelmir

alias00 wrote: »

and refused to pay.

I part settled the account and thought little more of it.

I feel this is an incorrect representation of my conduct.

Your actions. Your words. That's precisely why debt collection is a business not a game. Only borrowers (try to) play games. Nothing that hasn't been seen or heard before.

fatbelly

The guidelines are here.

http://www.scoronline.co.uk/sites/default/files/high_level_prinicples_document_final.pdf

It sounds like you have a case for changing the default date but it will still be showing for another 3 years or so.

System

alias00 wrote: »

For the last 3-4 years my credit report has been squeaky clean with no missed payments and I feel this is an incorrect representation of my conduct. Additionally I thought legally they had to apply the default 3-6 months from the last payment?

I have complained and they will come back to me with a decision shortly. I just wanted some help/advice to arm me with information in case the result is not what I want to hear. Does anyone know what my rights are? Or what their legal obligation is?

Worried!
A

Forget the mortgage. You ignored a debt, decided that you'd pay what you decided you want to pay and your credit record now shows that in all its glory. Lenders aren't really going to be interested in lending a six figure sum to someone with that level of disregard.

Their legal obligation is to be factual. The debt got sold to Lowells, you decided you weren't going to pay the full amount, they've reported a default because you decided to wash your hands of it.

alias00

Thanks fatbelly for the guidelines. According to those they are in breach in four areas:

Not informing me 28 days before (or at all) of applying the default
Not applying a default if everything except fees are settled (which I did)
Not having a fair, accurate etc representation of my conduct on my file
Not applying a default 3 or 6 months after first missed payment

So this helps me lot when fighting my case, thank you!

In response to everyone else, I guess I am learning the hard way and I will suck it up if I can't get the mortgage. But I think the injustice of these companies and the fact they are a law unto themselves is disgraceful and something I wasn't aware of until now. Of course now that I know I will be much more careful in future!