How are defaults reported on TransUnion reports?

[Deleted User]

Hi all,

My partner had an account with Anglian Water that defaulted in 2016, unbeknownst to him. He moved out, but they sent correspondence to his previous address, so he didn’t receive a notice of default.

He checked his credit report this year using Totally Money, which is powered by TransUnion. His credit report shows ‘missed payments’ for this default up until 2020 when he paid it off. It says ‘default’ every month since May 2016.

I was under the impression that an account is closed when it defaults, so his report would show a default in 2016 and that’s it. He called Anglian Water and they advised him that when they close an account, they open a new one and bring the default balance over. So could this be why it shows missed payments up until 2020? His credit file has about 4 Anglian Water accounts for some reason!

Are they allowed to do this? Surely this makes it look like my partner has missed payments EVERY month for 4 years? The only reason he paid it after 4 years and not straightaway is because they never told him he had an outstanding balance when he moved out.

We are at a total loss. Any insight would be massively appreciated.

D3xt3r5L4b

It’s correct to mark it as default for every month.

[Deleted User]

Thank you for the reply. Do lenders view this as 4 years’ worth of defaults then, rather than just when the account first defaulted in May 2016? And does this mean they won’t drop off until 6 years from now, as he settled it in May 2020?

DCFC79

Why did he not ask if there was anything else left to pay ?
Why was a direct debit not in place ?

[Deleted User]

DCFC79 said:

Why did he not ask if there was anything else left to pay ?
Why was a direct debit not in place ?

He did. This is the problem - he called to close the account, gave his card details to pay the remaining balance, and assumed it had been done. Of course, it’s his mistake for not checking the money left his account, he assumed it had. Anglian Water have admitted one of their representatives could’ve made a mistake and not registered the payment.

I’m not sure why he didn’t have a direct debit in place. This was years ago, his housemate moved out and left him with the rent and all bills, and he struggled financially.

[Deleted User]

It drops off 6 years from the initial default.

Lenders know what the monthly default updates mean.

[Deleted User]

Deleted_User said:

It drops off 6 years from the initial default.

Lenders know what the monthly default updates mean.

Thank you. So the default in 2016 will drop off in 2022 then. Do the default status updates go with it then? As these are showing as missed payments on the file currently, until this year when he satisfied the account.

Apologies if these are silly questions. We don’t know much about this, and I couldn’t see anything specific on Google or the sticky at the top of this forum that mentioned the missed payments recorded on a file as a result of default arrears/updates.

D3xt3r5L4b

bam94 said:

Deleted_User said:

It drops off 6 years from the initial default.

Lenders know what the monthly default updates mean.

Thank you. So the default in 2016 will drop off in 2022 then. Do the default status updates go with it then? As these are showing as missed payments on the file currently, until this year when he satisfied the account.

Apologies if these are silly questions. We don’t know much about this, and I couldn’t see anything specific on Google or the sticky at the top of this forum that mentioned the missed payments recorded on a file as a result of default arrears/updates.

Yes. The account in its entirety will “disappear”.