Completed DRO. Need advice on credit record clean up.

Robbie64

Thanks to both StepChange and the help of posters here I applied for a DRO which was granted on 25 September 2019 and which completed on 25 September 2020. My credit file was something of a mess prior to the DRO completing (largely due to some debts still showing as defaulted with default dates after the date of DRO) and I always intended trying to get it cleaned up as much as possible but because of circumstances last year (my dad was seriously ill for most of 2020 before his death in October and I was a full time carer for him) I just never got around to it.

I would like to now get my credit record cleaned up. For some creditors I think it will be simply just sending them a copy of my DRO and asking that they change the default date to the date of my DRO (I think this is what I need to do). My whole file is a mess and I really don't know where to start. I have 6 creditors. Only one is showing a default date the same as my DRO. The other 5 show a default dateswithin 2 months maximum of my DRO date (i.e. all in either October or November 2019). Four show a satisfied marker with a status of "Settled", all dates for satisfied are from late 2020 (not 2019). All have current balances of £0. Two other creditors still show balances - Barclaycard (£8,806, by far the biggest debt that was on my DRO) and Argos / Home Retail Group (£697). Both accounts are showing as Default but nothing else. I really need advice on what to do next. I don't know where to start.

One further problem which has just occurred to me - on my DRO Argos was listed as simply Argos. Argos is part of Home Retail Group Card Services Ltd. Should this group name have been on the DRO? The account number will be the same. Also the address I provided to StepChange for Argos is not the same as the address the Home Retail Group have on the ICO site. Will this add to a problem? Do I therefore still owe them money? Argos are definitely on the DRO rather than Home Retail Group. I don't know what address the Insolvency Service will have sent the DRO to. Argos / Home Retail Group have several addresses - at least 7 from what I can see at present - scattered around their websites so I used the adresss that was linked to their card. Has this invalidated the DRO in respect of that debt?

Sorry for asking so many questions but I feel deflated after discovering what a mess my credit file still is and I am now worrying that some debts (Argos in particular, I guess Barclaycard may need a copy of the DRO sent to them?) have not been cleared and that I may still owe money. I've done so well over the past 18 months to get my finances in order and now I'm worrying again about money in a way I haven't since my DRO was granted.

sourcrates

No you don’t owe them money, as long as account number and creditors name correct, addresses don’t matter.

Common for credit file problems to appear after DRO.
 
Look on Debt Camel website for details on how to go about cleaning up your credit file.

MalMonroe

Hi, I'm really sorry to hear about your Dad. Please try not to be too hard on yourself, it sounds like you had a rough few years when your Dad was ill and you obviously had financial worries at the same time and then your Dad died and now you are back to worrying about your finances again. 

I had a DRO that ended at the beginning of 2019 and, even though it's discharged after a year, the DRO will be on your credit report for five years after the discharge date. And it stays on the Insolvency Register for three months after it ends. Yours should have dropped off the register now but it will still be on your credit report. 

Firstly, I don't think you should worry about Argos. If it was listed as Argos on the DRO, and you say it was, then it will have been included in the DRO. In fact, it's better if it just says Argos, rather than Argos with an address because if the address was incorrect that could have skewed things but I'm sure it is fine. 

StepChange say this : 

"Once your debt relief order (DRO) has been approved, the official receiver will contact each of the creditors included in your application, to let them know it's been approved. But, in some cases your creditors may still contact you."  

So neither Barclaycard nor Argos (or any of your creditors) could claim that they do not know about your DRO. 

StepChange go on to say:

"If this happens to you after your DRO is approved, don't worry. There are still steps you can take to ease the stress you may be dealing with, and your DRO provider is here to assist you should you have any concerns"

The link to that info is here : https://www.stepchange.org/debt-info/creditor-contact-on-dro.aspx#:~:text=Once your debt relief order,them know it's been approved.&text=You won't receive notification,date it was originally approved.

You could do a lot worse than give StepChange a call to have a chat with someone (your own adviser, maybe?) who can put your mind at ease because you have some concerns. Their involvement does not end just because your DRO has ended. 

Try not to worry, you've been through a really traumatic time and it sounds as if you have been doing really well, so don't be disheartened. Seems like you just need to have a chat with the StepChange people, they helped before and they can help again. 

Robbie64

Sourcrates, thanks for the answer. I'm still unsure if having Argos on the DRO when perhaps it should have been Home Retail Group Card Services Ltd means I may still owe the money. It was an Argos Card. Purchases (from Argos) are charged to the card and a statement is sent once a month. It's similar to a credit card in that respect. The account holder either clears the balance each month or interest is added. I'm worried that the creditor should have been listed as Home Retail Group Card Services Ltd and not Argos. On my credit report it says "Credit Card from HOME RETAIL GROUP CARD SERVICES LTD". On all the statements I used to get it said Argos Card and even then I just listed the name on my DRO application as Argos. Have I made an expensive error? My DRO simply lists the creditor as Argos which reflects what I wrote on my application. In your opinion do you think I may have a problem?

The account number is most likely correct as the last four numbers listed on the credit report match up with the last four numbers of my Argos Card account number.

MalMonroe, thanks for your reply and kind thoughts. It's not just my dad dying, I've also had a number of health issues of my own to deal with over the past year and which culminated in me having a heart attack last month and I ended up in hospital. This weekend is the first time since my DRO was granted back in September 2019 that I've felt able to sit down and try to sort out my credit file and I've immediately ran into problems which has left me feeling helpless.

sourcrates

Robbie64 said:

Sourcrates, thanks for the answer. I'm still unsure if having Argos on the DRO when perhaps it should have been Home Retail Group Card Services Ltd means I may still owe the money. It was an Argos Card. Purchases (from Argos) are charged to the card and a statement is sent once a month. It's similar to a credit card in that respect. The account holder either clears the balance each month or interest is added. I'm worried that the creditor should have been listed as Home Retail Group Card Services Ltd and not Argos. On my credit report it says "Credit Card from HOME RETAIL GROUP CARD SERVICES LTD". On all the statements I used to get it said Argos Card and even then I just listed the name on my DRO application as Argos. Have I made an expensive error? My DRO simply lists the creditor as Argos which reflects what I wrote on my application. In your opinion do you think I may have a problem?

The account number is most likely correct as the last four numbers listed on the credit report match up with the last four numbers of my Argos Card account number.

No, you do not have a problem.

As I said before, the account number is the important thing, a generic creditor name is all the insolvency service list creditors as anyway.

If Argos or their agents come looking for money, simply send them a copy of your DRO listing them as a creditor, and if they have any more questions they are to contact the DRO unit at the insolvency service.

You are worrying needlessly, and seriously overthinking things, your debt was covered by your DRO , that is the end of the matter, relax, take a step back, all will be fine.

Robbie64

Thanks sourcrates. I do have a habit of overthinking things but your reply has helped to reassure me. I appreciate your help.

Robbie64

An update: I phoned both creditors who stil had my account marked as open and in default (Argos and Barclaycard) and both agreed that the acounts should have been marked as settled and closed. Both have now done that and Argos have also changed the default date to the date of my DRO. Argos even send me a letter of apology. Interestingly the letter also said that Argos don't automatically mark a file as settled after a DRO moratorium date has been passed and that they wait for the customer to update them that it has passed.

All of my credit files are now marked as settled and closed and all bar one has the default date marked the same as the date of my DRO (25/09/19). One has the default date as 17/10/19, which is the date the company sent the termination of account letter. I'll give them a couple more weeks to see if the default date is changed and then send another letter but for the sake of 3 or so weeks is it worth ultimately contacting the ICO? Both the DRO and that particular account will drop off my credit file at almost the same time.

1977dave

For the sake of a couple of weeks I wouldn't worry about it, I've got one that's about 5 weeks difference and have just left it

Robbie64

Hi. With my credit files now cleaned up and reporting the correct information (other than one creditor still reporting a date of default almost two months after my DRO was granted) is there any need for me to keep all the paperwork from back then other than the DRO letter from the Insolvency Service?

I've literally kept everything from back then. Letters from creditors, written records of phone calls, letters from StepChange (these are scanned to my computer anyway) as well as the Insolvency Service DRO letter (also scanned). There's quite a pile of letters and if it's unlikely that I'll ever need them I may as well destroy the letters. I'll keep the Insolvency Service DRO letter but can anyone think of a reason to keep anything else? I don't want to throw anything out that I may need to access at some point in the future.

1977dave

I scanned everything and stored it on my google drive, so if anyone wants to see it, I can download it and email it, I got rid of my paperwork as soon as the DRO ended