Wrongfully pursued for a debt, now have a default!

DCFC79

If you know the number you can get the number blocked, pay off whats owed and treat it as a lesson.

the_JHD

You let them use your name, it’s your debt. You will be liable for it however much you plead. Rubbish as it may feel now I’d pay it and move on. As for a laptop etc, save up for one

D_M_E

Since you have handed over your details you can expect this to be an ongoing problem - people taking out contracts, loans and suchlike in your name without your knowledge.
Particularly as you don't have amicable relations with whoever you shared your details with.
You should seriously consider taking out CIFAS fraud protection - with this companies will do or should do extra checks to make sure it's you taking out whateveritis.

spadoosh

To get the default removed youll need to show the account was opened fraudulently. If as i suspect theres little evidence of any arrangement between you and the non payer i think youd have a relatively easy time of getting the default removed. Ill let other peoel argue the rights and wrongs of it all but ultimately you can get defaults removed, the only really viable way is by showing the account was fraud.

Inner_Zone

MrT2018 wrote: »

About 8 years ago, my brother's partner took out a phone contract in my name and it turns out that she missed payments, owed a cancellation fee etc. So earlier this year, I received a letter from a debt collection agency (Lowells) informing me that they'd purchased a debt and I have to pay.

Obviously I was incredibly confused as I personally have never dealt with EE, Orange or T-Mobile and not a single penny from my accounts has ever been paid to these companies, nor have I had any sort of correspondence from them.

When I contacted the debt agency, they told me which address the defaulted account was registered to. Lo and behold, it was my brother's now ex partner. We contacted her and she agreed to give me the money to pay the debt.

Fast forward a few weeks and the same thing has happened. Another letter from Lowells, same company (EE, phone contract), contacted them and again, they point me to her address.

I told Lowells that they have the wrong person, I have never lived at this address or paid in to this account etc (all true) and they put the case on hold pending an investigation. I have also contacted Experian and raised a dispute about the address being linked to me on my credit file.

Sadly, I've noticed that I have a default registered on my file from Lowell and my rating has gone from 'Very Good' to 'Very Poor', basically from the very best to absolute rock bottom and because I didn't know about this, I've had a loan and laptop on finance rejected which seems to have made it worse.

So...

Since Lowell have pursued the wrong person and I'm assuming they will go after the brother's ex (I'll happily point them in her direction if I need to because I'm not suffering over this), do I stand a good chance of having this default removed?

OP has started three threads all about the same subject:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5896547/personal-loan-rejected-for-credit-score-destroyed

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5856863/did-i-just-fall-for-a-debt-collectors-scare-tactics

MrT2018

Inner_Zone wrote: »

OP has started three threads all about the same subject:

Sorry for this. It's just because I'm incredibly confused and in a massive panic.

When I agreed to do this favour (I was 18/19 or so at the time) I didn't even know what credit meant, what credit files were and how important they were for the future, it was just a case of my brother being like "oh, mind if we stick your name down so we can get a phone?" and I was just all "yeah fine no worries".

Sadly, it turned out she [the brother's ex] was in massive amounts of debt and in their relationship, she controlled the bills and finances and she destroyed his credit score massively, he's had to wait like 6 years before things have started to improve and hasn't been able to get a mortgage etc. If I had ANY idea what I was doing at the time or any of the knowledge I have now, I would never have agreed to it, I purely thought I was just letting them use my name, I had zero understanding of what that meant legally.

Fast forward to the past few months and now it's happening to me, I've got a default registered over a measly £167. This is affecting me short term (can't get a laptop to supplement my studies), will struggle to get a car on finance as planned and a mortgage seems hopeless. It's put so much stress on my life and relationship because of near future plans (children and house), I need to be driving ASAP and I need to be open to the prospect of getting a mortgage.

So this is the overall situation:

1. When I was younger and had no idea what I was actually doing, I agreed to let brother and his ex partner take out phone contract in my name. It was registered to her address and all payments came out of her/their bank accounts.

2. Turns out she was in masses of debt and paid virtually nothing, including this phone contract.

3. Fast forward 8 years later, EE sells 2 debts to Lowell. One is for £100 and the other £67.

4. Lowell sends me a scary letter about the first debt, in a panic, I pay the debt and brother's ex partner sends me the money afterwards, acknowledging that it was her debt, morally at least

5. Lowell sends another letter a few months later regarding the final payment of the phone contract, the remaining air time and all that, for £67. I told Lowell that I don't believe this is actually my debt, that it's not my address linked to the account and that I've never lived there (true) and that I've never paid a penny to EE (true). Lowell said they will put the account on hold whilst they investigate the matter.

6. I notice that Lowell registered a default. The account was opened on
19/04/2010 and settled on 05/06/2017. I contacted Experian and asked them to remove the address of my brother's ex-partner from my credit file. Not sure if this, just feel it's not fair that I'm linked to her address.

I'm absolutely gutted. I have a pretty good job and have never, ever missed a payment on anything hence why my credit score and file was immaculate. I'm most upset at how this is going to make it feel nigh on impossible to start a family life in the next few years.

Can't I get her to contact Lowell and admit liability for the debt/request that they transfer the default and debt to her or does it not work that way legally? Perhaps I can use the fact that I was young and of no understanding of the financial and legal consequences to help my push to get the default removed?

I just feel it's not an accurate representation of MY credit file or ability to pay AT ALL. I'm so angry at this person and disappointed in myself, even though I didn't understand at the time. I'm not sure how the fraud route will go since I did consent to her using my name originally, there must be a way

spadoosh

The only way this default will be removed is if you tell lowells the account was fraudulently set up.

Youve pretty much lost that route by paying (And therefore accepting) one of the debts for that debt.

In your situation, where you were the victim of a fraudster i think id find it very easy to justify reporting the fraud even if i was partly culpable for being silly and naive (And thus more likely to be a victim of a fraudster).

MrT2018

spadoosh wrote: »

The only way this default will be removed is if you tell lowells the account was fraudulently set up.

Youve pretty much lost that route by paying (And therefore accepting) one of the debts for that debt.

In your situation, where you were the victim of a fraudster i think id find it very easy to justify reporting the fraud even if i was partly culpable for being silly and naive (And thus more likely to be a victim of a fraudster).

I feel crap because she's the mother of my nephew and is generally on good terms with my family but given the impact this is now having on me and my future, I think I'm going to have to go down the fraud route.

Thank you for the reply. I told Lowell that I have never lived at the address they had on record, I've never paid in to this account etc and they said they will immediately freeze the account on their end and suspend action whilst they investigate.

Will it help if I report this to the police and have a crime reference number and if that happens, will I not get in to bother due to initially and naively consenting to them using my name? Also, I don't want to get her in trouble, she has a job and my young nephew to look after, arghhh, feels like such a mess!

spadoosh

MrT2018 wrote: »

I feel crap because she's the mother of my nephew and is generally on good terms with my family but given the impact this is now having on me and my future, I think I'm going to have to go down the fraud route.

Thank you for the reply. I told Lowell that I have never lived at the address they had on record, I've never paid in to this account etc and they said they will immediately freeze the account on their end and suspend action whilst they investigate.

Will it help if I report this to the police and have a crime reference number and if that happens, will I not get in to bother due to initially and naively consenting to them using my name? Also, I don't want to get her in trouble, she has a job and my young nephew to look after, arghhh, feels like such a mess!

The same thing happened to my OH, we found out when applying for our mortgage.

THe situation was a bit closer than mother of nephew but was done without consent to use her information. We informed lowells it was fraudulent activity and naturally they wanted to investigate. We where pretty honest with them and said we knew who it was and the issue they would have was that the finance was taken out in my OHs name when she wouldve been 17 thus they didnt have a good position to start with. Obvioulsy lowells just want their money, knowing this we offered to settle the account on the proviso the default was removed (all in writing of course). They where happy with this as it meant they didnt need to investigate fraud and didnt need to try and get money from someone who wouldnt be able to pay it. We where happy because we could proceed with our mortgage. It took a few months for the default to drop off but it did eventually.

There was no need to report a crime. The person who took out the credit was never contacted. This was about 8 years ago, so they mightve changed policies on how they handle defaults (the rules havent changed but then they didnt really stick to the rules for us) now but as mentioned if i was you id be going down the same route.

redux

Calm down a bit and answer this question

McKneff wrote: »

When did it default then

If it defaulted in for instance January 2013, which might not be a wild guess if the account was opened in 2010 and was in trouble almost straight away, it will drop off credit files a couple of months from now, whatever the subsequent history.

If it's been paid back and sorted out, recovery action isn't a worry now, so it might be only a few months before it can all be forgotten about.

Get Lowells to confirm the actual default date, and look forward to its 6th anniversary. This might affect the short term laptop you mentioned, but not the future house and family.

Edit: it might even be possible to look at the payment record and make a case the default could have happened a few months earlier, thus dropping it off files a bit sooner.