Score dropped from 950 to 550

CharlotteElizabeth

Hello,
I just need some advice on what to do - I had an old account with Studio that I hadn't used for 3+ years and it got hacked in April 2020, the hacker bought an item on my card which was then sent to my house and then subsequently returned. Studio closed my account and dealt with it and I thought it was all over. I specifically asked them if this would affect my credit record and they said no. 

Today, I receive an email from Experian telling me that I have a defaulted account for £0 from Studio and my score has gone from Very Good/Excellent to Very Poor overnight. I have been working so hard to get it up and to pay everything on time and this feels like a kick in the teeth and the anxiety of when I had to sort this out in the first place. I have tried contacting Studio customer services and they basically said that they couldn't access the account because it no longer existed and I don't know what to do to get rid of this. Do I contact Experian? How do I get this removed?

Any help would be appreciated

D3xt3r5L4b

Ask Studio to remove the fraudulent account.

Don't worry about the score - lenders don’t see it so how it goes up or down is irrelevant.

CharlotteElizabeth

I have tried to contact Studio but they informed me they can't access any details about me. I don't know who to contact in the company to get this sorted as I was shutdown by customer services saying they couldn't help me because an account didn't exist. 

[Deleted User]

Just dispute it with each of the CRAs where it appears.

sourcrates

Send a written complaint to studio, mark your letter FAO Compliance Officer, they deal with credit file related issues.

Its always best to do these things in writing, as the issues are complex and require investigation, its not something that can be resolved over the phone in ten minutes, what the call handler told you was a standard brush off responce as access to your account, at their level, was denied by their system.

Send the letter, they then have 8 weeks to investigate your complaint, after which they must issue a final responce to you, if you are not satisfied with that responce, then escalation to either the FOS or the ICO (as its a credit file issue) or possibly both, will be your next step.

penners324

I doubt they've deleted your account. Probably needs a different team to access these accounts. Just issue a written complaint to them.

DiamondLil

My credit score this morning has gone up by 22 points...to 999 which only goes to show how ridiculous and meaningless these numbers are.

floppydisk1

DiamondLil - score and made up number is meaningless. OP is asking something different in nature. Even though actual number on your credit score means diddly squat when it goes from "" very good / excellent  to " very bad / even your rocking horse can manage its credit better " it indicates something is not right.  OP might be overly worried about the actual meaningless number but spirit of the question is - how to remove bad mark, and  responses are valid and helpful. Your , mine and everyone else score moves as CRAs want us to pay for those " score improving added value " nonsense they are peddling out, 20 or 40 point up or down is they game plan how to lure some people in, on the other hand if your score ( as made up as it is ) goes from very good to very bad overnight - first thing you do is check every entry for discrepancies - exactly what OP did. Then as a novice, asked a valid question how to remove inaccuracies and got answered. Peddling that made up number means nothing all the time isn't going to help.

stephb0709

I’m having issues with studio too due to being hacked - have you had this sorted as we’re still waiting and my account was hacked back in may. And yes a default will stop you getting a mortgage with most lenders