Help with Debenhams / NewDay

harveydog

Hi, back in January my father in law purchased some travel luggage from Debenhams. At the till, he was offered 10% off the purchase price if he took out a Debenhams credit card to which he agreed. Back in June he received a debt collection letter from Moorcroft Debt Recovery stating he owed £150 for an unpaid debt from Debenhams. He remembered the initial cost of the luggage to be £107, but had not received any correspondence at all from Debenhams or NewDay, their credit provider in the time that had passed, including statements, a credit card or account number. With Covid / lockdown having had such an effect on the country he had just thought that there was a delay in this info being sent out. After speaking with Moorcroft it became apparent that Debenhams/Newday had washed their hands of the debt, he explained the situation and on verifying security it became apparent that somewhere along the line a very similar, but different local address had somehow come into the equation. His postcode ends 0QW, and the address they had was 0QU. My father in law spoke to Newday to explain he believed all correspondence had been sent to the wrong address, they confirmed that it had all been returned to them, surely proving he had not had it, and they have marked his credit file as an unpaid debt where the debtor has moved address. This is not the case he has been at the address 33 years! We made a formal complaint to Newday asking for all previous correspondence to be resent to the correct address but have had nothing other than a letter from them asking for £150, saying if this is not paid in the next 30 days he will receive a default on his account. We have recently checked his credit report, and it looks as though it has took a big hit, with 5 missed payments showing on his account. We are really disappointed with the response from Newday, it seems to be like talking to a brick wall, and feel it is very very harsh for his credit rating to take a hit due to a clerical error and no fault of his own. Please can anyone advise us on how we can challenge or make a case with credit reference agencies, he had been hoping to take a loan out but this now looks totally out of the question after soft searches due to this issue.

D3xt3r5L4b

Raise a complaint with New Day and if unsuccessful go to the FOS and/or the ICO. 

Shakin_Steve

D3xt3r5L4b said:

Raise a complaint with New Day and if unsuccessful go to the FOS and/or the ICO. 

Are you feeling ok, mate? 'Pay yer bleedin debts' surely? 😂

D3xt3r5L4b

Shakin_Steve said:

D3xt3r5L4b said:

Raise a complaint with New Day and if unsuccessful go to the FOS and/or the ICO. 

Are you feeling ok, mate? 'Pay yer bleedin debts' surely? 😂

Well yes, obviously.

However get the admin issue sorted first. 

harveydog

Thanks for your help. He has now paid the debt off with Moorcroft although this amount was higher than the luggage at full price. We'd just love to prove that its not his fault, I was wondering if a freedom of information request to Newday could prove they had sent it to the wrong address and then would they have to correct his credit file? Thanks again!

phillw

harveydog said:

Thanks for your help. He has now paid the debt off with Moorcroft although this amount was higher than the luggage at full price. We'd just love to prove that its not his fault, I was wondering if a freedom of information request to Newday could prove they had sent it to the wrong address and then would they have to correct his credit file? Thanks again!

Complain to new day, escalate it to the ombudsman. If they didn't have the correct address then it's obvious they sent it to the wrong address. IIRC when you open a debenhams credit card they write the details down on a form, it probably got mistyped. 
They really should have figured that out when they credit checked him.
That would be the basis of my complaint. 

whitesmith

I once raised a complain with Newday and did not have much hope as there are many stories about their poor reputation. However I was pleasantly surprised in that they came back very quickly, nice apology, some small compensation and a happy customer.

msallen

phillw said:

harveydog said:

Thanks for your help. He has now paid the debt off with Moorcroft although this amount was higher than the luggage at full price. We'd just love to prove that its not his fault, I was wondering if a freedom of information request to Newday could prove they had sent it to the wrong address and then would they have to correct his credit file? Thanks again!

Complain to new day, escalate it to the ombudsman. If they didn't have the correct address then it's obvious they sent it to the wrong address. IIRC when you open a debenhams credit card they write the details down on a form, it probably got mistyped. 
They really should have figured that out when they credit checked him.
That would be the basis of my complaint. 

It seems to me there was transcription error AFTER the credit check. The check happens at the time of purchase, as a couple of years ago I was tempted by a similar offer but the credit was refused at the till (so I reverted to paying with an existing CC as originally planned). Despite being somewhat surprised I thought nothing much of it until a few weeks later when I started getting junk mail from New Day owned sub-prime CCs using my middle name instead of my surname (e.g. if I was called John Smith Jones, they were addressed to just John Smith) - a non-existent person with no credit history. If this is the case then the postcode error cannot have been made by the OP's father at time of application, but must have been introduced later.
I would be demanding a copy of the original application form that was filled in to prove you didn't make the error.

harveydog

Thanks very much for all your posts! Its definitely given me an idea of how to proceed forward and its good to hear some positive news regarding dealing with NewDay! Father in law is gutted he just didn't pay for them in full at the time as he usually does so hopefully we can help try to remedy the situation for him! Many thanks!