Default Notice 7 years into a payment arrangement

Robyn45

kaMelo said:

Surely the default date is almost irrelevant, the AP marker will be present until the final payment is made + 6 more years.

No it’s 6 years from default even if unpaid or still in an arrangement. The entire record gets deleted from date of default. 

adamp87

They don’t have to issue a default when they sell the debt but the debt buyer would struggle more to enforce in court for a CCJ if it hadn’t been defaulted.

Its best practice to give you a default notice at the time, but there’s no legal requirement. And they can get away with you already being informed of what could happen when you opened the account & were in a payment plan with them it’s expected.

They can’t default an account twice, send a SAR for everything on file & see what’s what. 

I think it’s worth asking them to backdate the default you never know.

PixelPound

Robyn45 said:

kaMelo said:

Surely the default date is almost irrelevant, the AP marker will be present until the final payment is made + 6 more years.

No it’s 6 years from default even if unpaid or still in an arrangement. The entire record gets deleted from date of default. 

The problem is, and many find this, that when they are unable to meet minimum payments they go into an "Arrangement to Pay", resulting on an AP marker. The account won't be defaulted even though they are unable to meet the minimum, and stays on your credit file. So if it is going to take more than 6 years to clear you are better off not paying initially until the account is defaulted and then coming to a payment arrangement, say with debt collectors.

Now that they have issued a Default Notice it will be on their six years from that date. As stated request a SAR to see if it has been defaulted previously, however you may need to consider the age of the account might mean some records are purged. You can then raise a complaint and if needs be escalate this to the ombudsman stating that the date of the default should be backdated to when the account defaulted on the agreement by not being able to maintain the minimum payment requirement. However you may need to resign yourself that you could still end up being stuck with the default date as is. It's unfair to default now and not before but technically not wrong.

Malkytheheed

SpreadableToast said:

They also don't need to send a default notice to sell a debt on, who told you that? Creditors are free to sell a debt on to anyone at any time.

Nonsense. By that reasoning anyone not paying the full amount on their credit card but still keeping their account in perfect standing and never missing a payment could suddenly have the amount randomly sold to another company. Not true. 

D3xt3r5L4b

They have to reason to default the account since you entered a payment arrangement.
If you then stopped making payments on that arrangement they would have defaulted you.

D3xt3r5L4b

DebtHurricane said:

I’m fighting them at the moment myself. I set up a payment arrangement after some missed payments and then realised it’s better for accounts to be defaulted. I cancelled the payment (had only made one payment) and have missed over 7 months of payments yet they still refuse to default. 

They say they’re reporting an accurate reflection, but it’s so unfair. I’m taking them to the ombudsman 

Why? To make yourself look better? You were in debt and on a payment arrangement and they are therefore accurately reporting the account status.

adamp87

Malkytheheed said:

SpreadableToast said:

They also don't need to send a default notice to sell a debt on, who told you that? Creditors are free to sell a debt on to anyone at any time.

Nonsense. By that reasoning anyone not paying the full amount on their credit card but still keeping their account in perfect standing and never missing a payment could suddenly have the amount randomly sold to another company. Not true. 

It is true.

And if they did that you could challenge it, & they wouldn’t because it’s against the agreement terms anyone signs.

JamoLew

Robyn45 said:

Yes, I offered a payment arrangement. They periodically wrote over the 7 years asking if i was in a position to increase and if so, contact them. I ignored them and continued to pay £20 each month. 

This may be the reason

Robyn45

JamoLew said:

Robyn45 said:

Yes, I offered a payment arrangement. They periodically wrote over the 7 years asking if i was in a position to increase and if so, contact them. I ignored them and continued to pay £20 each month. 

This may be the reason

Their letter stated to only contact if I was in a position to increase. I got these letters every 6 months for 7 years. It doesn’t explain why the sudden need to issue a default notice. I have researched further and under ICO guidelines, it states I can argue the fairness of filing a late default which should have been filed when the account was 3-6 months in arrears and not 7 years later. I could apparently argue the default must be backdated to when the default should reasonably have been made.

Robyn45

D3xt3r5L4b said:

They have to reason to default the account since you entered a payment arrangement.
If you then stopped making payments on that arrangement they would have defaulted you.

I didn’t stop making payments. I made every agreed payment and still do - over 10 years now. They had no fair reason to default 7 years later. Lowell who bought the debt had already agreed to continue with the payment arrangement as it stood and 3 years on, still accept the £20pm.