Suppression of Settled Payday Loans from UK Credit Files if a lender has gone bust

jmc1976

Hi all,

I am after a little advice and or peoples views regarding closed Payday Loans still showing on a credit file. Has anyone had any success having these permanently suppressed where a payday lender has gone bust and the business has wound up.

In a nutshell I have around 20 closed payday loans showing on my credit file which were paid in full and did not default. I believe these paint a sorry picture to future lenders and may affect my ability to get a decent rate mortgage.

I am aware that hard searches remain on your file for a period of 2 years whereas closed accounts remain for 6 years regardless of being paid on time and in full.

I am also aware that payday loans in particular were sold using under the misleading pretence that having a payday loan could boost your credit worthiness. Something we all now know to be untrue as it is difficult to get a mortgage with a payday loan showing on your file.

A number of these companies have now gone bust and despite complaining to the FOS on these accounts and winning some of the cases some of the accounts are still showing on my credit file as closed and settled whereas some have been removed as part of settlement negotiations. My understanding was that these should be removed if you win your case and there is negative information showing as a result of mis - sold accounts or irresponsible lending.

My questions are as follows.

1. If I dispute an account with the credit reference agencies do they forward the dispute to the data controller of the lender?
2. If no response is received in 28 days from the lender the credit reference agency claim they will suppress or remove the account from the file until such as time as the data controller from the lender responds or provide evidence that the entry is correct?

3. What might be the situation if the company is now bust as a number of my historic payday lenders are? (Presumably there would be nobody to respond to the credit reference agencies request and therefore the account should therefore remain suppressed as though it never existed?

4. If I chose to raise disputes with lenders who have gone bust stating that I do not recognise the account would I be breaking any law? Something I do not wish to do!!! Or would the credit reference agencies just remove/suppress the account until it reaches 6 years of age and automatically drops off my credit file?

Has anyone any experience or success in doing this or know if this is a legal loophole to credit file repair.

Any thoughts, advice, ideas or successes would be greatly appreciated.

Ben8282

I don't see that the fact that a lender has gone bust should have any effect whatsoever on settled accounts shown on your credit files.

brettcta

Very much as the above - there’s no good reason that they should be removed just because the lender’a gone bust.

What you’re suggesting in the latter half of your post looks, smells and tastes like fraud.