Defaulted nearly 3 years after DMP started

bell2020

Hi,

As the title says.. have been with Stepchange since July 2015, so over 5 years! Have never missed a payment. NEXT have defaulted me April 2018. I questioned it & they replied saying this,

"If Stepchange didn't make us aware that you require a long term plan (longer than 18 months) then your account would of been put on our short term plan, as you was not able to return to your minimum payments after the 18 months your account was defaulted and put on to a long term plan"

It just doesn't make sense. They had been receiving payments from Stepchange for 2 years and 9 months when they defaulted me?

Has anyone else had this? Or am I missing something 🙈

Thanks 

adamp87

It’s quite common I think to see this has happened. They should of sent you notice of the default but it’s done now.

They can default you as it shows the agreement/relationship has broken down. If you are using StepChange that suggests you are paying off less than required anyway so it’s fair.

bell2020

adamp87 said:

It’s quite common I think to see this has happened. They should of sent you notice of the default but it’s done now.

They can default you as it shows the agreement/relationship has broken down. If you are using StepChange that suggests you are paying off less than required anyway so it’s fair.

Thanks for replying. They may of sent me notice of default, I'm not sure. I've only been checking our credit files the last 12 months because we are trying to apply for a mortgage. The other defaults are 5 years old which coincide with the DMP.... Its just this Next one that is 2 years old 😩

runforlife

Try this. I got all of my defaults back dated to within 3 to 4 months of the dmp starting. They are now no longer represented on my credit report.

Sir/Madam,

I refer to the above mentioned closed and settled account which was being reported on my credit reference files.

I propose that as you have used arrangement to pay markers in place of a default on the account. It is understood that the Information Commissioner's Office does not agree with this and states that this is indeed unfair practice.

I entered into a debt management programme with Stepchange in October 2013 and provided you with a breakdown of my debts and income and expenditure. 

I understand that you defaulted the account on 14th November 2014. 

By April 2014 you were recording the marker ‘DM 3’ with Noddle/Callcredit  which states ‘agreed repayments are 3 or more months behind…”

Clearly throughout 2014 I had failed to meet the contractual agreement and had defaulted on the account. 

By entering into the DMP agreement you had sight of my income, outgoings and budget provided to you by Stepchange. This would have made it obvious to you that I was not in a position to repay the outstanding amount in full and would be in a DMP for several years. 

The Information Commissioners Office guidelines state than an informal arrangement such as a DMP should not last for more than 6 months, after which either the account should be returned to normal or defaulted. 

I contest the account is incorrectly reported from April 2014. 

For your consideration all other creditors have defaulted my accounts with them prior to the date you have reported the default of 14th November 2014. Notably Barclaycard agreed after recent communication with them that the account with them should have been defaulted from January 2014 which they have now rectified. 

If the current reporting of the account remains, then this places me at a disadvantage to those debtors who do not repay any amount to the creditor and have their account defaulted at the earliest opportunity. 

I therefore propose it is against the Information Commissioner's Office guidelines for my debt not to have been defaulted on or before 1st April 2014.

I request that you place a default date on the account of 30th March 2014 with all of the credit reference agencies you report to.  This will bring it in line with my other debts. 

I look forward to your reply. 

Yours faithfully,

bell2020

runforlife said:

Try this. I got all of my defaults back dated to within 3 to 4 months of the dmp starting. They are now no longer represented on my credit report.

Sir/Madam,

I refer to the above mentioned closed and settled account which was being reported on my credit reference files.

I propose that as you have used arrangement to pay markers in place of a default on the account. It is understood that the Information Commissioner's Office does not agree with this and states that this is indeed unfair practice.

I entered into a debt management programme with Stepchange in October 2013 and provided you with a breakdown of my debts and income and expenditure. 

I understand that you defaulted the account on 14th November 2014. 

By April 2014 you were recording the marker ‘DM 3’ with Noddle/Callcredit  which states ‘agreed repayments are 3 or more months behind…”

Clearly throughout 2014 I had failed to meet the contractual agreement and had defaulted on the account. 

By entering into the DMP agreement you had sight of my income, outgoings and budget provided to you by Stepchange. This would have made it obvious to you that I was not in a position to repay the outstanding amount in full and would be in a DMP for several years. 

The Information Commissioners Office guidelines state than an informal arrangement such as a DMP should not last for more than 6 months, after which either the account should be returned to normal or defaulted. 

I contest the account is incorrectly reported from April 2014. 

For your consideration all other creditors have defaulted my accounts with them prior to the date you have reported the default of 14th November 2014. Notably Barclaycard agreed after recent communication with them that the account with them should have been defaulted from January 2014 which they have now rectified. 

If the current reporting of the account remains, then this places me at a disadvantage to those debtors who do not repay any amount to the creditor and have their account defaulted at the earliest opportunity. 

I therefore propose it is against the Information Commissioner's Office guidelines for my debt not to have been defaulted on or before 1st April 2014.

I request that you place a default date on the account of 30th March 2014 with all of the credit reference agencies you report to.  This will bring it in line with my other debts. 

I look forward to your reply. 

Yours faithfully,

Thank you so much.
Not sure where I stand because the DMP is still active and therefore there is still a balance but either way the default is still dated incorrectly imo.

Thanks

ldhme

I had this with my Overdraft, that got moved by 2.5 years. So then tried it with all other debts and all but one have been moved to 3 to 6 months after DMP started. I had to escalate to the ombudsman service for 2 of them (one still awaiting outcome). My argument revolved around the point that I was being punished for doing the right thing by trying to pay. Where as if I'd have ignored the debt for 6 months then tried to pay I'd be better off down the line.

The above letter looks good, ICO guidelines found in this link, look at principle 4
http://www.scoronline.co.uk/sites/default/files/high_level_prinicples_document_final.pdf

bell2020

Thank you @ldhme. I'll give it a go!

ldhme

Only other advice I'll give is to be patient, it can take a long time. I started last November, 1 was sorted within 3 months. 3 within 6 months and I will probably be done with the last one this November (so a full year, thanks in part to Covid).
Is it still with Next? If so when it gets moved you'll be good. If it's not or it gets sold on in the meantime or at a later date then you may have to chase up the debt collection agency as they may use the original default date, which can add another few months on til your credit report is correct.
Hopefully they will just move it for you, if they don't get a copy of their final response and go straight to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Good Luck.

Dandytf

SC dmp since 2012.
latest Default applied since 2015 -due to drop Feb 2021.
I have never made a challenge to 'speed' up defaults, difficult enough to repay dmp in earlier years.

runforlife

It doesn’t matter if your still in a dmp. As ldhme has said give it time . There’s no rush. Mine took about 2 years by the time they were all sorted, though some of that was me not being bothered to chase it. However all did default early and recently I’ve been offered 70% discount to settle! 

bell2020

@runforlife its just affecting us getting a mortgage. The other defaults are 4 and 5 years old and coincide with our dmp. Its just this one thats only 2 years old. Did our annual review with Stepchange yesterday and upped our payments again, we now complete it 11 months earlier in January 2024