Wrongly applied default? Moneyway

Meggarrod

Hi all.
I’d love someone’s opinion whether I’m fighting a losing battle or not. I have car finance through Moneyway and made regular payments for 2 years before changing my bank in September 2019 and my direct debit bounced, I wasn’t made aware this had bounced and I was non the wiser. Payments continued as normal from October 2019 - March 2020. In March 2020 I was made redundant due to COVID-19 (I worked in the healthcare sector) and I sent an email on the 14th March 2020 asking for a temporary payment holiday as I wouldn’t be able to make my payments for the foreseeable, I got a automated email back and again no contact from Moneyway, I wasn’t able to pay my bill at the end of March 2020 but I assumed as I hadn’t heard anything that Moneyway were actioning my payment holiday. Mid April I received an email from
Moneyway to process my payment holiday and I set one up. In November 2020 I could still no longer afford the car (I had been making small regular payments as per my payment holiday agreement from April - November 2020) I handed the car back under a voluntary termination and have been paying off the outstanding balance of £3500 every month since (my balance was £10,108 until I handed my car back and then it obviously went down as they had my car). 

Fast forward to today and I’ve been looking at mortgages after securing a new job in December 2020. I was shocked to discover on my credit report a default was registered in April 2020 from Moneyway for £10,108. When calling Moneyway they explained they sent a default notice letter in April 2020, but it went to my old address so I never received it. 

I have a lot of issues with this default being issued. Those are - I wasn’t contacted after the September 2019 payment bounced meaning I didn’t get the chance to clear the balance. When contacting Moneyway in March I made them fully aware of my financial situation, I didn’t hear anything back until the end of April and within that time they applied a default which I didn’t receive. I must have made contact with Moneyway 10-15 times from March - November 2020 and not once was it mentioned there was a default being applied/had been applied. I was under the impression it was 3-6 missed payments before a default is applied. And finally, my outstanding arrears are £450 for the 2 missed payments, it’s seems crazy they have logged a £10,108 balance on the default, surely that’s not correct.

I have reported the case to the FCA and complained to Moneyway. I just wondered whether anyone had any knowledge of this and could help? Having a £10,108 default on my account for another 5 years is honestly going to ruin my life. 

Many thanks
Megan 

[Deleted User]

It's been applied properly, so very unlikely to be removed.  

The FCA don't deal with customer complaints so will have binned your correspondence. You can complain to FOS, but not until you've exhausted Moneyway's complaints procedure, which you haven't yet done. However, there's no reason for FOS to overturn their actions.

The default certainly won't ruin your life. Settle the arrears and time will heal your files.

[Deleted User]

The default is correct as you didn't meet your contractually obliged payments.

MattMattMattUK

Meggarrod said:

Hi all.
I’d love someone’s opinion whether I’m fighting a losing battle or not. I have car finance through Moneyway and made regular payments for 2 years before changing my bank in September 2019 and my direct debit bounced, I wasn’t made aware this had bounced and I was non the wiser. Payments continued as normal from October 2019 - March 2020. In March 2020 I was made redundant due to COVID-19 (I worked in the healthcare sector) and I sent an email on the 14th March 2020 asking for a temporary payment holiday as I wouldn’t be able to make my payments for the foreseeable, I got a automated email back and again no contact from Moneyway, I wasn’t able to pay my bill at the end of March 2020 but I assumed as I hadn’t heard anything that Moneyway were actioning my payment holiday. Mid April I received an email from
Moneyway to process my payment holiday and I set one up. In November 2020 I could still no longer afford the car (I had been making small regular payments as per my payment holiday agreement from April - November 2020) I handed the car back under a voluntary termination and have been paying off the outstanding balance of £3500 every month since (my balance was £10,108 until I handed my car back and then it obviously went down as they had my car). 

Fast forward to today and I’ve been looking at mortgages after securing a new job in December 2020. I was shocked to discover on my credit report a default was registered in April 2020 from Moneyway for £10,108. When calling Moneyway they explained they sent a default notice letter in April 2020, but it went to my old address so I never received it. 

I have a lot of issues with this default being issued. Those are - I wasn’t contacted after the September 2019 payment bounced meaning I didn’t get the chance to clear the balance. When contacting Moneyway in March I made them fully aware of my financial situation, I didn’t hear anything back until the end of April and within that time they applied a default which I didn’t receive. I must have made contact with Moneyway 10-15 times from March - November 2020 and not once was it mentioned there was a default being applied/had been applied. I was under the impression it was 3-6 missed payments before a default is applied. And finally, my outstanding arrears are £450 for the 2 missed payments, it’s seems crazy they have logged a £10,108 balance on the default, surely that’s not correct.

I have reported the case to the FCA and complained to Moneyway. I just wondered whether anyone had any knowledge of this and could help? Having a £10,108 default on my account for another 5 years is honestly going to ruin my life. 

Many thanks
Megan 

No it is not, it is potentially going to make some things a little inconvenient for a year or so but that is far from ruining your life. If you had no savings to make the payments, then it is unlikely would would have a deposit for a mortgage any time soon. By the time you have a deposit the historical default will not matter as much, you might not be able to borrow straight off the high street banks, but a half decent broker will be able to get the mortgage, although it will probably involve a slightly higher rate of interest. 

Keep saving, make a budget and keep an eye on your accounts so that nothing defaults again, save as much as you can and in a year or two when you have the deposit ready you will be able to get a mortgage as well.

Jumblebumble

Meggarrod said:

 I wasn’t able to pay my bill at the end of March 2020 but I assumed as I hadn’t heard anything that Moneyway were actioning my payment holiday. 

So the man at Moneyway was sleeping and did not read/action your email and you were sleeping by not chasing it up.
I am not surprised you got the default

tboo

So was the address change mentioned at any point during your numerous dealings with the company?

and you have 2 threads asking the same thing.https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6247484/wrongly-applied-default-moneyway-secure-trust#latest

Meggarrod said:

Hi all.
I’d love someone’s opinion whether I’m fighting a losing battle or not. I have car finance through Moneyway and made regular payments for 2 years before changing my bank in September 2019 and my direct debit bounced, I wasn’t made aware this had bounced and I was non the wiser. Payments continued as normal from October 2019 - March 2020. In March 2020 I was made redundant due to COVID-19 (I worked in the healthcare sector) and I sent an email on the 14th March 2020 asking for a temporary payment holiday as I wouldn’t be able to make my payments for the foreseeable, I got a automated email back and again no contact from Moneyway, I wasn’t able to pay my bill at the end of March 2020 but I assumed as I hadn’t heard anything that Moneyway were actioning my payment holiday. Mid April I received an email from
Moneyway to process my payment holiday and I set one up. In November 2020 I could still no longer afford the car (I had been making small regular payments as per my payment holiday agreement from April - November 2020) I handed the car back under a voluntary termination and have been paying off the outstanding balance of £3500 every month since (my balance was £10,108 until I handed my car back and then it obviously went down as they had my car). 

Fast forward to today and I’ve been looking at mortgages after securing a new job in December 2020. I was shocked to discover on my credit report a default was registered in April 2020 from Moneyway for £10,108. When calling Moneyway they explained they sent a default notice letter in April 2020, but it went to my old address so I never received it. 

I have a lot of issues with this default being issued. Those are - I wasn’t contacted after the September 2019 payment bounced meaning I didn’t get the chance to clear the balance. When contacting Moneyway in March I made them fully aware of my financial situation, I didn’t hear anything back until the end of April and within that time they applied a default which I didn’t receive. I must have made contact with Moneyway 10-15 times from March - November 2020 and not once was it mentioned there was a default being applied/had been applied. I was under the impression it was 3-6 missed payments before a default is applied. And finally, my outstanding arrears are £450 for the 2 missed payments, it’s seems crazy they have logged a £10,108 balance on the default, surely that’s not correct.

I have reported the case to the FCA and complained to Moneyway. I just wondered whether anyone had any knowledge of this and could help? Having a £10,108 default on my account for another 5 years is honestly going to ruin my life. 

Many thanks
Megan