Unjustified thread?

Libluvzsuzy

Hello
First time here and i’d sincerely appreciate some advise.
So i received a letter a few weeks ago from severn trent water, still have it, it says that i owe then £553.00, it doesn’t give much info other that stating that the debt had been sold to a debt collection agency but returned back to them, i presume as the agency were unable to trace/contact me.
Anyway, i already have an account with severn trent here at my current address, since Sept 2017. So i went online to chat with a representative about this letter and she explained that this debt was from 4 years ago & an old address.
I was genuinely shocked, it’s alot! Fair enough though, i said i’d pay in instalments and a plan was in place, already made my first payment.
So i’m wanting to buy my first house, hopefully next year, after being very stupid with credit in my past, i’ve been working hard to improve it.
To my horror, i checked my credit karma account yesterday & overnight my score plummeted 80 points & severn trent had put a default on, dated back to March 2017 with a huge ‘D’ on every month up until now.
So, alongside my current severn trent account, dated from when i moved in here, Sept 2027 to now, i have a ✔️ On every month, i now have this other one and i’m fuming!.
Can they do this? Put a default on my credit file 4 years after the fact? I read that a company needs to inform you if they are going to put a default on your credit file, which they didn’t. First i heard about this was 3 weeks ago, well only the debt, not the default on my file.
Also, the debt doesn’t make sence, how can i have defaulted all these years when i’ve been living here and paying monthly by direct debit.
I think they’ve f****d up, but do i have a leg to stand on regarding having this default removed?
Thanks so much in advance

Libby 😘 

molerat

Do you agree you owe the money, have you seen the account details ?

Did you give S&T your new address when you moved ?

They do not have to send you a default notice for a non CCA debt.

They don't know that Libby Smith at an address is the same Libby Smith from an old address until they spend time and money tracing you.

MattMattMattUK

Libluvzsuzy said:

To my horror, i checked my credit karma account yesterday & overnight my score plummeted 80 points & severn trent had put a default on, dated back to March 2017 with a huge ‘D’ on every month up until now.

Your credit score is a meaningless number, ignore it. The default may, or may not be an issue, depending on your potential lender, though likely one that can be overcome. Lenders will likely care about two things, the date of the original default, which was four years ago so not hugely significant, and if the amount is paid or not, so as long as it is paid by the time you apply it likely will be only a minor issue. 

Libluvzsuzy said:

Can they do this? Put a default on my credit file 4 years after the fact? I read that a company needs to inform you if they are going to put a default on your credit file, which they didn’t. First i heard about this was 3 weeks ago, well only the debt, not the default on my file.

Yes they can. They will have written to you at the old address. Do you remember how you dealt with things when you left the previous premises? 

Libluvzsuzy said:

Also, the debt doesn’t make sence, how can i have defaulted all these years when i’ve been living here and paying monthly by direct debit.

They are different debts, one is for Libluvsuzy @ OLD ADDRESS, the one for your current address is a different account. You can default one one account but not the other even if you have two accounts with the lender at the same address. 

Libluvzsuzy said:

I think they’ve f****d up, 

That depends, did you leave the Direct Debit live and inform them of your change of address when you left the previous premises?

Libluvzsuzy said:

but do i have a leg to stand on regarding having this default removed?

That will depend on your answer in regard to my previous question, if you did notify them and have evidence (email, to the correct email address for example) then they might, as a gesture of goodwill, remove the default marker. If you just left the property, bills unpaid, then no, you do not stand a chance of getting it removed. 

Thrugelmir

Rather to pay in installments. Settling the debt in full would have been the better option. If a mortgage next year is your plan. 

Libluvzsuzy

Thanks so much for responding everyone.
I believe that when i left any previous addressed, i paid off any outstanding utility bills at the time,
I did inform ST that i moved in here, back in Sept 2017 & set up a new direct debit to pay water bills for this property.
Unfortunately, i don't think i’ve any letters etc proving i informed them as it was years ago.
I’m certainly disuting the £553.00! It’s water, not bloody cocaine!
I don’t get why wait until now to put the Default on my report though.
I’ve been doing lots of research on credit files/scores since building it up, so know that really, the score is kinda irrelevant, but it just bothers me so much, i wasn’t even given the oppertunity to dispute it.

Libby 😘😘

sourcrates

Unfortunately, once a debt becomes overdue, the creditor can add a default to your credit file quite legitimately. 
They may have sent a few reminders, however its likely they went to an old address, and they do not take that into account, that`s what can happen with bad debts, whether you know about them or not.

2021BJ

Libluvzsuzy said:

I’m certainly disuting the £553.00! It’s water, not bloody cocaine!

Well, £553 wouldn't get you very much Cocaine, it can get you a reasonable amount water + the cost of getting rid of all that water too.

If you're disputing the bill why did you set up an instalment plan with them?

MaryNB

Libluvzsuzy said:

Thanks so much for responding everyone.
I believe that when i left any previous addressed, i paid off any outstanding utility bills at the time,
I did inform ST that i moved in here, back in Sept 2017 & set up a new direct debit to pay water bills for this property.
Unfortunately, i don't think i’ve any letters etc proving i informed them as it was years ago.
I’m certainly disuting the £553.00! It’s water, not bloody cocaine!
I don’t get why wait until now to put the Default on my report though.
I’ve been doing lots of research on credit files/scores since building it up, so know that really, the score is kinda irrelevant, but it just bothers me so much, i wasn’t even given the oppertunity to dispute it.

Libby 😘😘

Did you have an online account with Severn Trent? If so you might be still able to view the closing bill. £553 is a huge amount, for me that would be over two years' worth of bills. 

Libluvzsuzy

2021BJ said:

Libluvzsuzy said:

I’m certainly disuting the £553.00! It’s water, not bloody cocaine!

Well, £553 wouldn't get you very much Cocaine, it can get you a reasonable amount water + the cost of getting rid of all that water too.

If you're disputing the bill why did you set up an instalment plan with them?

Hi, the representative listed my previous addresses on the web chat, so in that moment, i simply accepted they were right, and i just don’t want any debt in my name, i have put in a formal complaint to severn trent water disputing the arrears/amount etc, if i do in fact owe it, fine, i’ll certainly pay, but i’ve asked them to remove the default from my credit file, i don’t understand why they waited four years to do this, plus, they have alway’s known where i live to send me letters etc to give me the opportunity to deal with it before it got escalated to a derogatory mark on my credit file xx  

2021BJ

Libluvzsuzy said:

2021BJ said:

Libluvzsuzy said:

I’m certainly disuting the £553.00! It’s water, not bloody cocaine!

Well, £553 wouldn't get you very much Cocaine, it can get you a reasonable amount water + the cost of getting rid of all that water too.

If you're disputing the bill why did you set up an instalment plan with them?

Hi, the representative listed my previous addresses on the web chat, so in that moment, i simply accepted they were right, and i just don’t want any debt in my name, i have put in a formal complaint to severn trent water disputing the arrears/amount etc, if i do in fact owe it, fine, i’ll certainly pay, but i’ve asked them to remove the default from my credit file, i don’t understand why they waited four years to do this, plus, they have alway’s known where i live to send me letters etc to give me the opportunity to deal with it before it got escalated to a derogatory mark on my credit file xx  

Well, they certainly have the right to report it as a default. Even four years later. After all, they have a legal responsibility to accurately report the status of your account under the GDPR.  If it was the other way around and they'd been incorrectly reporting it as a default for four years, would you be willing to accept them saying "well we've been reporting it as a default for fours years now so we're just going to carry on reporting it like that"?

I'm not commenting on whether the default is correct or not, there's nowhere near enough information to do that, but as a general principle correcting the record should be fine, regardless of how much time has passed and whether it's in your favour or not.

kaMelo

Did you ever become an ex-customer by moving to a different supply area or was your move within the same supply area so essentially you were always a customer just with a different address?
If you were always a customer did they know where you were living at all times?