Tesco Bank Poor Conducl

Webb4698

• I’m very very upset with Tesco bank with regard to how they have treated me. Following my husbands heart attack in Aug 2020 I entered into a DMP with StepChange to ensure my creditors were being paid. My husband was off work 6 months only receiving SSP despite working for his employer for 21 years. We were not able to receive any
  benefits as I was working 4 days. It was a very very worrying and stressful time and this is continuing.   We would like to move home but an entry on my credit file from Tesco
  Bank is preventing the mortgage being accepted. Despite receiving regular payments from StepChange, Tesco have registered a default which seems very very unfair. All other creditors have been very understanding and sympathetic. I’ve been in touch with Tesco and they refuse to move the default despite paying off, in full, the whole of the DMP. Not only have they refused to move the default, after the end of the call the call handler did  not disconnect the call and I could her her discussing my case with two colleagues and they were all laughing and joking about my situation. This is appalling conduct. The call handler had shown no compassion to my devastating situation and finds it a complete joke. I’m not prepared to let this drop and will be taking the matter as far as needed to get the default removed and the call handler facing disciplinary action. We have our property on the market and a new house lined up. It was an exceptional year last year for us all and my personal circumstances were also exceptional with nearly losing my husband. Tesco’s conduct is despicable. Despite me sobbing on the phone, the call handler did not care. 

  Any advice greatly appreciated. 

Batesy1976

Sorry for what's happened but reporting the account as in default is the correct way of reporting this if you are not keeping to your contractual repayments.  The alternative, AP markers, wouldn't be any better when it comes to getting a mortgage.

[Deleted User]

The default is correct, as you defaulted on the payments. Unfortunately, that will not be removed.

But its impact will diminish with time. A lower LTV will also help with the remortgage.

yksi

Your DMP was the best option for you to try to meet some of your financial obligations. But a DMP does not mean you kept up your original agreement terms. You still broke them, that is to say, you defaulted. Even if it wasn't your fault, a default is what happened therefore it's correct that it is listed as such. Banks do have a certain obligation to report this correctly, because this is how they (and others) assess how risky you are to be lending money to in the future. The mortgage provider now has the truth about your financial history and sees that you are a risk, and has decided not to lend to you. That's their right and it's in their best interests. It doesn't make things very nice to you, but this is all factual stuff and life does sometimes give us lemons. Tesco Bank isn't the bad guy where it comes to the default itself.

I'm horrified by the behaviour of the call centre employees and would like to just point out to you that most of such employees are paid minimum wage and not actually employed by the company you think you're calling, but by huge call centre companies with despicable practices and an assembly-line mentality with untrained, temporary and often disinterested staff. So while I would back you 100% on making a formal complaint, keep in mind it might not have actually been Tesco. I went for an interview at one of these places and was even treated appallingly in my interview - four hours long and not offered even a glass of water - the company did not even supply its workers with tea and coffee, they were that nasty. The entire place was like an aircraft hangar of 18-year-olds who think that taking turns to buy the donuts is a workplace perk.

I hope your husband is doing better now.

User_101122

Sorry to hear about your husband hope he’s on the mend now.
Unfortunately with things like defaults etc it’s fairly black and white.  They have to report an accurate reflection of the payment history to the credit reference agencies.  Very few people default on their agreements intentionally and there is nearly always a very human side to the story which isn’t reported on your file.

If you are on a debt management plan you will probably find that more of your debts will eventually end up defaulting also.  That said if you’re struggling to pay you’ve done absolutely the right thing by getting help.

If you’re unhappy with the way it was dealt with by the call handler raise a complaint regarding this, they most likely have the call recorded and will investigate it. If upheld, its unlikely to get the default removed from your file but the situation should have been dealt with sympathetically.

eskbanker

Webb4698 said:
All other creditors have been very understanding and sympathetic.

Putting your Tesco experiences to one side, failing to service multiple debts is rarely a good starting point for a mortgage application, so probably best not to pin everything on just the one creditor who's defaulted you so far....

sourcrates

Where debt management is concerned, well any debt solution actually, whereby you don`t make the agreed contractual repayments, it will likely result in either an AP (arrangement to pay) marker, or a default.

The account must be marked in some way so as to show the accounts conduct, of the two options, the default is best, as it will be gone from your file 6 years from the date it was first registered, wear as an AP marker will remain 6 years from date of your last repayment, so a default is by far the better option.

As for the call centre staff, well, kids on minimum wage, although I sympathise greatly for your situation, the call handler would not have been able to help you as these decisions are taken at a level far above their pay grade, which is why its pointless ringing these companies for anything of a technical nature.

These things should ideally be dealt with in writing only, so you avoid the pitfalls of the nature that you describe.

Thrugelmir

Are you downsizing or upsizing your property?