Taking company to Court vs Backing down

sensation99

Eon energy, one year ago, there was a massive !!!!!!-up with my direct debits/payment plan.

Long story.

They defaulted me.

Three months ago, spoke to someone at Eon, and along with email evidence from them which I hold.

They stated if I pay off the outstanding £3,000 debt/Balance, they would remove the default.

I've paid it off. And now they refuse to remove the default. Stating 'Im sorry we misadvised you.

I've been fighting them for weeks. and their resolution is this.

''We can remove the default, and set the status to Arrangement to Pay Settled''

1. No Mortgages would touch me with the default.
2. Will the Arrangement to Pay Status - change that
3. Should I just take these scumballs to court, I have proof via email and phonecalls, saying if i pay debt, default comes off.

sensation99

Oh and, I used Credit Cards to pay off the debt, with has landed me in huge amounts of interest with CC companies.

I really need some advice on whether it's worth taking them to court.

mjm3346

Your evidence doesn't really matter as they are not denying they said it just that it was a mistake and they shouldn't have done 

sensation99

So is it worth taking them to court to try and get default removed, as i have evidence

kaMelo

sensation99 said:

Eon energy, one year ago, there was a massive !!!!!!-up with my direct debits/payment plan.

Long story.

They defaulted me.

Three months ago, spoke to someone at Eon, and along with email evidence from them which I hold.

They stated if I pay off the outstanding £3,000 debt/Balance, they would remove the default.

I've paid it off. And now they refuse to remove the default. Stating 'Im sorry we misadvised you.

I've been fighting them for weeks. and their resolution is this.

''We can remove the default, and set the status to Arrangement to Pay Settled''

1. No Mortgages would touch me with the default.
2. Will the Arrangement to Pay Status - change that
3. Should I just take these scumballs to court, I have proof via email and phonecalls, saying if i pay debt, default comes off.

An AP will have exactly the same effect as a default, both are viewed negatively but their impact diminishes over time especially when settled.

As for taking them to court, for what?
You have to prove a quantifiable loss, what loss have you suffered?
If you're talking about a possible loss going forward then you're going to need to prove that the default/AP marker was the only reason you couldn't get a better rate on a mortgage with details on how much worse the rate you have got compared to what you could have got. How do you propose to do that?


The lesson to learn here is not to give them the option of defaulting you, if you had a DD set up and they didn't take the money then that's on them not you. With that in mind how did it end up where it did with you owing so much?

[Deleted User]

The default alone won't mean you can't get a mortgage, people with far worse history will get them.

In your original post you talk about a payment plan (suggesting you owed a lot and had to agree to pay it off?). You also have run up credit card debt which you haven't cleared, that too will harm your credit rating.

Taking them to court to try and remove a default is a waste of money, they have factually reported a financial status i.e. you missed contractually agreed payments and courts won't force them to do that. You would do better taking them to the ombudsman which is free and provide your evidence and see if they will remove it that way.

sensation99

Ombudsman are a waste of time. They ruled in favour of EON last time, when they i tried to have the Default removed, on account of EON cocking up my direct debit.

If a company promises to remove a default, and a person takes out a credit card to remove said debt.

Then that company should be held accountable, and in the eyes of the law should remove said default.

None of you are lenders obviously, but i've read an arrangement payment, doesnt look anywhere near as bad as a default.

sensation99

I'm just decided on whether it's worth dedicating all this time taking them to court.

Several solicitors have advised me it's worth doing including brokers. But i'm here today, to really find out if an AP, is better in the eyes of lenders than a default

MrFrugalFever

A customer of mine took NPower to court for screwing his credit file, he got declined on prime finance and had to have sub-prime at 3 x the APR because they left a negative mark saying he hadn’t paid a bill, which he had.

You should exhaust all complaints routes first before the costly court proceedings. Remember, EON have considerably more collateral than you!

When are you likely to apply for a mortgage?

MattMattMattUK

If you want to waste more of you time and cost yourself money, then feel free to take them to court. 

The reality is even if they made a mistake with a direct debt, for the amount owed to reach £3,000 you would have to have been negligent with your finances as well. Without the whole story in detail and without you putting a spin on it, it is hard to judge. I strongly suspect you do not have a case, but I am sure you can find a solicitor willing to take your money.

kaMelo

sensation99 said:

Ombudsman are a waste of time. They ruled in favour of EON last time, when they i tried to have the Default removed, on account of EON cocking up my direct debit.

If a company promises to remove a default, and a person takes out a credit card to remove said debt.

Then that company should be held accountable, and in the eyes of the law should remove said default.

None of you are lenders obviously, but i've read an arrangement payment, doesnt look anywhere near as bad as a default.

Just saying "They cocked up my direct debit" is not enough information. As I said earlier if the direct debit is in place and they fail to take it then the onus is on them to correct their mistakes which you may have to remind them of. For your debt to reach three thousand pounds there is an awful lot more that has gone on (and you haven't told us) than a direct debit being cocked up. 

Regarding what they said they would do and what they actually did, there is no law being broken here. The FOS have already ruled in favour of the company so the only option available to you now is court. How much time and money you are prepared to throw at this, with little chance of any recompense for your costs, is up to you but it will be an uphill struggle. Pick your battle's wisely and think if this a hill you're prepared to die on?

Default or Arrangement to Pay (AP) markers are both negative markers, there isn't really a lot to choose other than a default will drop off your file sooner (usually) Whilst this will make obtaining credit more difficult it's not impossible given time, a broker should be able to help you..