Mobile phone provider adding defaults after contract end.

Joe9t

I'll try and make this very simple.
I took out a 24 month contract in December 2017 with Vodafone. 
8 months into contract I disputed two call charges - my account was suspended and then terminated after I stood my ground. 
Mobile phone provider, without my consent, transfers my account to a Pay As You Go, which is still active today showing a debt. 
Mobile phone provider continues to add defaults to my credit file. 
I have asked them to stop doing this, as my contract with them was originally a 24 month contract ending December 2019.
I have been to CAB in the early stages. CAB contacted Vodafone on three occasions with no response. Three debt collection agancies were initially in contact with me, but nothing else since February 2019. 
I had offered Vodafone to reinstate contract, giving me back my free gift of Spotify, which they took away and I would pay call charges at the rate I should have been aware of ie 50p per minute. I had phoned Spain on two calls over 2 days and had been charged at £1.50 per minute amounting to charges of £150.
On my credit file I have a default date and I understand that the default will stay on my credit file for six years from that date and then get removed. 
What has annoyed me is that the mobile phone provider is continuing to add defaults every month, even after what would have been the contract end date, because they conveniently transferred my account to a PAYG. 
I have read from what appears a good source that later defaults don’t make your credit rating worse because lenders’ scoring systems only look at the first one. 
You might be asking why am I therefore worrying? 
My contract was for  24 months and I did not agree to a PAYG account, which is still in my name. Vodafone are not interested in chasing me for this supposed debt and no debt collectors are interested, so, as my original contract end date has passed I want this PAYG account closing, which Vodafone will not do for me. 
Have I a legal right to demand that Vodafone closes this account which I did not agree to. The original pay monthly contract has now ended and I strongly feel that this PAYG account can only run up to that end date period and if I wish it closing after that date, I have the right to have it closed. 
Vodafone are no longer chasing me for any debt - I made an offer to them that my pay monthly account be reinstated and they declined and any further defaults on my credit file don't mean anything anyway, so why keep this account open for infinitum?
Am I correct in my thinking that I have a right to this account, which I did not sign upto in the original pay monthly contract terms be closed? 
Any input or advice appreciated.

ceremony

Are the PAYG account and the contract account showing as two different things on your credit report?

Which credit files are you looking at (Experian/Equifax/Transunion)? They all report in different ways and sometimes it can be confusing what's happening. The account is defaulted, the new 'defaults' you're seeing are just confirmation that it's still defaulted. If you were to pay the default then that would change to 'satisfied' or 'settled' on your report. You're correct that the default will eventually drop off based on the date the account hit the defaulted status for the first time though.

I'd be wary of assuming that just because you haven't heard anything for a while they've "stopped chasing you". It's not uncommon for DCAs to wait for a very long time then restart collections and push for a CCJ just before the default expires. It's happened to me (oddly enough with a different mobile phone provider).

Joe9t

Thank you for your reply @ceremony

The account is showing as in default on all three credit reference agencies.
The account ends with the same digits as the original contract pay monthly account. They have simply migrated the original account to a PAYG, which I have never used and no longer have the original sim card from the original account that I signed up for.
I have over ten hours of audio recordings of my telephone conversations with Vodafone and the three debt collection agencies - I phoned every one of them when I initially was receiving letters from them. I have Citizens Advice letters also.

In my recent contact by phone to Collections at Vodafone, they told me they were not chasing me for the debt, as this could be considered 'harassment." I have this on recording. 

I have asked them to take court action, as this is the route anyone should do if they want back, money owing. 

This account is still 'live', but is not being used by myself as a PAYG account. I didn't sign up to this type of account and I doubt very much that transferring an account that is in debt to a PAYG, is in the terms and conditions of the original contact, if not paid or if it goes into default.

I have made a very reasonable offer to Vodafone for my contract to continue from the date of dispute for the conclusion of the contact period. This would have been a further 16 months at around £29.99 each month amounting to around £479 in payments. The amount they say I am in default, is around £570 and remember they took my free gift away, which was part of my contract that lured me into it. Spotify costs £9.99 a month - which I now pay separately, but 16 months at £9.99 equates to almost £160.
Were they legally correct to take my free gift from me?
I also was prepared to pay the call charges at the rate I should have realised. 

As far as I understand, the last debt collection agency sent the account back to Vodafone and Voda has said why they are no longer chasing me for this so called debt. 

The account is a dead account and any further defaults placed on my credit files have no effect on my credit score anyway.  So why keep it open? 

The originsl default date is the only important register, so it is pointless keeping this inactive account open and which could be open forever until they choose to close it. 

I feel I have a legal right to it being closed, as the account is now well over the original contract end date and Vodafone has clearly told me they are not chasing me for this so called debt. 

D3xt3r5L4b

PAYG accounts aren’t reported to credit files. 

By “stood your ground” do you mean stopped paying your bill?

Joe9t

@D3xt3r5L4b

I can assure you this is what is happening

The account is now a PAYG account and is still adding defaults, as the original pay monthly account number.

I stopped paying my direct debit payments after Vodafone suspended my account.

My dispute was with the two call charges, but they attempted to bully me into paying the charges by suspending my service.

I was quite happy to continue paying for my contract, but I most certainly wasn't going to be bullied by them into paying, by them suspending my service in the meantime. 

There was no need for that type of action by them, as I was disputing call charges on my account, not refusing to pay my contract.

I can assure you that the account is now a PAYG account defaulting to my credit file accounts. 

phillw

Joe9t said:

My dispute was with the two call charges, but they attempted to bully me into paying the charges by suspending my service. 

Did you complain to the ombudsman?

Joe9t

No, just CAB and they received no reply to their letters to Vodafone. CAB did receive responses from two debt collection agencies. 

I have negative views on the Ombudsman through experience. 
It is very time consuming and takes years and at the end, they can only make recommendations. 

I have fought this myself and recorded almost all calls I have made. 

I have made an offer to continue with my contract, but that has been declined. 

I believe Vodafone has no right to keep an account open in my name, which I did not sign up to, which is sending default notices to my credit files.

The PAYG account is a dead account - never used by me and I do not have a sim card for it either, which would have been the sim used with the original contract pay monthly account I signed up to. 

I think this is a little trick mobile phone companies do to extend an account beyond its contractual period, if the customer fails to pay them. 

They change the account to a PAYG, as it does not have an end date. 

I have demanded that they close this account, as I did not sign upto it and my original contract pay monthly account has now run its course. 

SpreadableToast

Joe9t said:

@D3xt3r5L4b
I can assure you that the account is now a PAYG account defaulting to my credit file accounts. 

It's not "defaulting" it has defaulted.  Adding a default status every month is the correct way of recording a default.  You may have an argument over what went on with the suspension, but not with the way the account is currently being recorded.

sourcrates

You are confusing the length of your mobile contract, with the length of time a default stays on your credit file, telecoms companies use standard terminology when reporting to credit files, that account will show for 6 years until the 6th anniversary of the default date, when it will vanish forever.

What you see on your credit file is just a monthly update of that default, accounts only default once.

Vodafone are a terrible company for customer service, i think you need to take a step back, get a shiney new sim for your phone, forget about this until the collector who eventually buys your debt writes to you, then just make an offer to settle the debt for good.

Joe9t

SpreadableToast said:

Joe9t said:

@D3xt3r5L4b
I can assure you that the account is now a PAYG account defaulting to my credit file accounts. 

It's not "defaulting" it has defaulted.  Adding a default status every month is the correct way of recording a default.  You may have an argument over what went on with the suspension, but not with the way the account is currently being recorded.

I'm arguing that the account has run its course and there is no need to continue placing monthly default notices.
There is an original default date on my credit files and that will stay for six years.
This account has ended and I did not sign upto a PAYG account now in my name.

Lenders’ scoring systems only look at the first default, so it is pointless adding further monthly defaults. 

I can see this PAYG running possibly indefinitely.

How can I possibly continue to default monthly on an account that ended in December 2019.

The date the original default occurred is recorded and any future defaults are meaningless. 

Vodafone has told me they are not chasing me for the so called debt and I do not utilise this PAYG account, which, again, I didn't sign up to. 

SpreadableToast

Joe9t said:

SpreadableToast said:

Joe9t said:

@D3xt3r5L4b
I can assure you that the account is now a PAYG account defaulting to my credit file accounts. 

It's not "defaulting" it has defaulted.  Adding a default status every month is the correct way of recording a default.  You may have an argument over what went on with the suspension, but not with the way the account is currently being recorded.

I'm arguing that the account has run its course and there is no need to continue placing monthly default notices.
There is an original default date on my credit files and that will stay for six years.
This account has ended and I did not sign upto a PAYG account now in my name.

Lenders’ scoring systems only look at the first default, so it is pointless adding further monthly defaults. 

I can see this PAYG running possibly indefinitely.

How can I possibly continue to default monthly on an account that ended in December 2019.

The date the original default occurred is recorded and any future defaults are meaningless. 

Vodafone has told me they are not chasing me for the so called debt and I do not utilise this PAYG account, which, again, I didn't sign up to. 

This is the way defaulted accounts are recorded.  It will be removed from your file 6 years from the date of default.  What is being reported monthly isn't dragging this out forever.