Help Please..Late Payments on Credit File

Benny602320

Please be kind I am a newbie at posting on here & asking for advice..thanks
I am in a debt management plan with Stepchange & have been for several years & balances coming down nicely. I was paying £319 a month for several years & then unfortunately I lost my job..I arranged with Stepchange to decrease my monthly payment to £150 per month, all fine no problems with companies I owe money too. I have recently been looking at my credit file & all debts bar this one have dropped off my files. This one debt which was originally with Shop Direct was sold to NCO/Arrow who have over the last 6 months been recording late payments on my file even though payments have been made on time!  I contacted NCO & raised a complaint as at no point was I contacted to say they didn’t agree the lower payment, NCO told me because the payment was for a lower amount than initially agreed they were putting the difference down as a late payment. I have also requested a CCA from Arrow & they have said debt is unenforceable, but I have carried on paying monthly amount until I get the outcome of my complaint
My main question is if I could get the outstanding balance together & pay Arrow off in full would the late payments come off my credit file or is there a way to negotiate for them to remove them
One other question all my other debts have dropped off all my credit files but this one hasn’t.. just wondering why?

Sorry it’s so long and thanks to anyone who can help. I have been trying to contact Stepchange by phone for a couple of weeks but they say due to high volumes they are not taking calls. Thanks

[Deleted User]

If you're not making contractual payments, then it's correct that the payments are marked as late.

If you clear the debt, it will be closed and the whole account will drop off 6 years from closure or default, whichever is earlier. However, it sounds as if this account never defaulted, so you might want to ask them to do so for the appropriate date.

sparklep0ny

The other debts will have dropped off because they defaulted you.  You could ask NCO to do this too, but they may refuse.

They are reporting this correctly, if you're not making full contractual repayments you are "late." An AP marker might be more appropriate as there is an agreement on the lower repayments although in reality the difference between them would be negligible.

If you have enough to pay the debt off, I'd be negotiating a full repayment in return for defaulting you back when your DMP started.  That's realistically the best outcome you could hope for.

Benny602320

Thanks for your replies. When I can get through to Stepchange Il get the date when DMP started & then do a letter to NCO. I will post back how I get on as it might be useful info for others

Benny602320

Hi I’m back again. After your advice I contacted NCO & managed to speak with a Manager. I asked him if I agreed to pay the full outstanding balance would they be willing to default the debt back to when the DMP started with them which was in 2012. The Manager said that they were unable to backdate a default, I said that I had received advice that they could do this! They now want me to send a copy/information as to where it states that they can do this as he said he has never heard of it. Could anybody point me in the direction of where I could find anything in back & white the information so that I can send to them please?Thanks all 

Benny602320

Can anyone please help re my above post.  Thanks

[Deleted User]

Default should normally be within 3-6 months of arrears, if they haven't defaulted you then complain formally in writing then you can access the FOS if they continue to refuse.
https://debtcamel.co.uk/debt-default-date/
See examples e.g. case 117/13 where FOS told the lender to backdate the default. 
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/files/2868/issue117.pdf