Defaulted credit from account not in my name

tom_vickridge

Hi,

About 4 years ago my "friend" took out a new phone contract but couldn't pass a credit check, i being good friend said that i would use my credit to pass the check. The account was in his name, it was his bank that was set up to make the monthly payments and his home address on the account but my credit was used to get the account. It was a 30 second phone conversation with the phone provider and that was the last i heard of it until 2 years ago.

In 2021 i received a letter from Lowell that a certain value of debt had been purchased from EE and that i was liable to pay, i spoke with my "friend" that had the account to find out what had happened, after a long discussion he got in contact with Lowell and explain that it was his debt and that he would pay it off on a monthly basis. This default appeared on my Experian credit report but after my "friend" had spoken to them and taken responsibility it then left my credit file, i assumed it was sorted.

On Monday this week me and my partner applied for our first mortgage and to my surprise the mortgage was rejected due to a defaulted credit account, this does still not appear on my Experian credit report but when requested to generate a report using Equifax, the default is present. After many phone calls with Lowell and mortgage providers it seems to be impossible to get this removed even though it isnt my debt, the default is settled but still showing, i know in a normal situation the default would remain on the credit report for 6 years from the date of default but im just hoping that given my specific circumstance there may be a possibility of having it the default transferred to my "friend" or removed all together.

If anyone has any advice or has experienced anything similar in the past, any help would be massively appreciated, this has massively slowed down my life.

Thank you. 

CliveOfIndia

tom_vickridge said:

About 4 years ago my "friend" took out a new phone contract but couldn't pass a credit check, i being good friend said that i would use my credit to pass the check. The account was in his name, it was his bank that was set up to make the monthly payments and his home address on the account but my credit was used to get the account.

I'm not sure I understand how this would work.  How did you "Use your credit" to allow him to pass the credit check?  Any lender will perform a credit check on the person who is applying for the credit account, they can't just arbitrarily check someone else's credit file.

Is it the case that the account is actually in your name, albeit the payments are being taken from your friend's bank account?  That in itself is fine, most lenders don't care where the money comes from, as such - just as long as they get paid every month.  But if the account is indeed in your name, then yes you're liable for any missed payments.

tom_vickridge

Thanks for the reply, from what I remember he set up all the details over the phone, his name, address and what phone he wanted on the account, then during the credit check it failed, the woman on the phone then said do you have anyone that may be able to complete the check for you, he past me the phone, I gave my name and debit account details for a credit check, it passed and then I handed the phone back over for him to complete the contract. I never signed or knew any of the details of the account, nor so any money leave my account for the product. I understand I may be liable but I’m just wondering if there would be any way of having it removed or transferred since it has halted my whole life. Thanks 

CliveOfIndia

tom_vickridge said:

the woman on the phone then said do you have anyone that may be able to complete the check for you, he past me the phone, I gave my name and debit account details for a credit check, it passed and then I handed the phone back over for him to complete the contract.

Ah right.  Sounds like you could have been nominated as a Guarantor for his credit - would that be correct?  If that's the case then yes, unfortunately you are liable for the credit if your friend defaults.  That's what guarantor loans are all about - and why they're often such a bad idea.

You would normally have had to sign some paperwork initially though, to confirm that you were willing to act as guarantor.

tom_vickridge

That is what I was thinking with regards to a guarantor but as far as I remember I didn’t sign anything, it was a 30 second phone conversation and that was it, I am now thinking the account may have been in my name but all contact information like address and phone number were his details so effectively he would have received letter and emails addressed to me but with his address, that’s the only other thing I can think of which may explain why I had no idea of the default until I received a letter from Lowell. If this is the case am I stuck? Is there no possible way for him to admit fault and Lowell transferring the default to his credit file? 

CliveOfIndia

I will start by saying that what I've said in my previous posts is supposition, based on the information available - so please don't take it as gospel truth.

I think what you need to do initially is speak to your friend and look through the contract in detail, see if there's anything in there to indicate that you are his guarantor.  Failing that, speak directly to EE and get them to confirm one way or another.

Ultimately, if you are the guarantor then I'm afraid there's little that you can do in terms of getting the default removed - it's a true reflection of the facts.

However - I'm a little concerned that you didn't sign anything to agree to be his guarantor.  I'm no lawyer, but my understanding is that being a guarantor is a legally binding contract, and you must have had to sign something - or at least, given your consent in some legally-recognised way.

So look through the contract, speak to EE - but if you draw a blank, a chat with CAB may be able to point you in the right direction.

Sorry I can't be of more help - but the last thing I want is to give you any authoritative directions without being in full possession of all the facts.  Helpful (hopefully!) guidance is all I'm qualified to give

tom_vickridge

Thank you for the advice, I will follow up on your suggestions and see what I can find out, I understand that it is unlikely anything can be done but I’m just desperate, I have checked all emails back to the date and I have no record of receiving it signing anything, I think it is more likely the account with EE was in my name but all other details were my friends. I suppose being nice gets you nowhere nowdays!

sourcrates

What you describe is not possible, the account cannot have been opened in anyone's name but yours, its always been in your name, hence why the default is on your credit file, and not your friends.

So I`m afraid whatever you were told was rubbish, and you have been liable all along.

CliveOfIndia

sourcrates said:

What you describe is not possible, the account cannot have been opened in anyone's name but yours, its always been in your name, hence why the default is on your credit file, and not your friends.

Is the "guarantor" scenario not possible?  So the account was in the friend's name, but the OP is ultimately liable?  Though that still doesn't explain why the OP didn't have to sign anything to agree to be the guarantor.

To be clear, I'm not disagreeing with you, it's a genuine question - and I apologise if I've given any misleading information.

tom_vickridge

I haven’t been told anything that I would call “rubbish” as I stated above I had no knowledge of the account being registered to me until I received the default letter and if I did I would be asking questions on a forum, I agree the decision to help my friend was naive and stupid but all I was stating was my understanding of the situation and asking what could possibly be done. Regardless if the account was in my name or not, I didn’t know it was, I never received any form of billing, goods or a service and I didn’t intended on ever doing so, I simply asked given this situation, that my friend has admitted it was for him and would take responsibility, would it be possible to have the default transferred. All advice I have been given on this forum thus far has been helpful. Thanks 

sourcrates

tom_vickridge said:

I haven’t been told anything that I would call “rubbish” as I stated above I had no knowledge of the account being registered to me until I received the default letter and if I did I would be asking questions on a forum, I agree the decision to help my friend was naive and stupid but all I was stating was my understanding of the situation and asking what could possibly be done. Regardless if the account was in my name or not, I didn’t know it was, I never received any form of billing, goods or a service and I didn’t intended on ever doing so, I simply asked given this situation, that my friend has admitted it was for him and would take responsibility, would it be possible to have the default transferred. All advice I have been given on this forum thus far has been helpful. Thanks 

Sorry, wrote that in a hurry, wasn`t meant to sound brusk or condemning.

If your friend defaulted on the payments, then either way, if the account was in your name, or if your details were used as guarantor, whatever the scenario was, you would become liable for the outstanding debt.

So it could be both of you were defaulted, or just you depending on the situation as they have it recorded on file.

Unfortunatly whichever way you spin it, you remain liable, so there is nothing you can do about default removal, once its registered, its there for 6 years.

Only in very limited specific circumstances can defaults be removed, and is usually only applicable to payday loan complaints that have been to the FOS and upheld.
Account/default removal from your credit file was sometimes included as part of the redress offered.

Not what you wanted to hear, I know, you can still complain if you remain unhappy, but don`t expect too much.