Default account: what shall I do?

Caterpillar22

Hello

my wife was a subject to a racial attack by our landlord in October 2019 just before the pandemic and we move out of our property on a very short notice. As I worked remotely at the time, we went visiting my wife's birth country to give her some support, exactly when borders were shut. I continued to work remotely from abroad for about a full year. We then had a baby abroad and did not return back to the UK until September 2021.

We managed to sort out most bills from the curtailed tenancy period remotely, namely the electricity and council tax. We had issues with the internet (Virgin) and water (Northumberland water). I want to ask for an advise regarding the former in this thread.

All this time (2019-2021), Virgin was sending letters to my employment address, which I did not pick until 09/2021 and upon my return. I contacted Virgin a number of times via web-form but never received a response. In 2021, I spoke to Virgin and was informed that a cancellation fee applies, plus the remainder of the contract is outstanding under our contract. I raised a complaint to propose an amicable solution given the pandemic difficulties and the reason for why we curtailed contract. I have not heard since about that complaint resolution. I was never sent correspondence providing us with a timeline to pay or face consequences.

In June 2023, when my employer was subject to a hack attack, I was provided with an access to a paid version of Experian and I learned that Virgin defaulted my account in October 2019. I wrote to Virgin complaints team to take into consideration all circumstances, namely the pandemic and the fact that I did not receive a response to a complaint regarding the final bill resolution, either way.  I received a response from Virgin informing that the has sold the debt and that they can do nothing. I also see that the debt is now 'assigned to CAIS member' but no specific date is given, although the last update is in August 2023.

We are shortly applying for mortgage and I think we are thoroughly fcked. I have two interlinked questions

1. Is waiting for statute barred date my only solution?
2. Is paying off the bill going to make it any better?

Thanks 



 

MorningcoffeeIV

2 would absolutely be the better course of action if you're looking for a mortgage.

Disregard all the pandemic content. It's not relevant.

Caterpillar22

MorningcoffeeIV said:

2 would absolutely be the better course of action if you're looking for a mortgage.

Disregard all the pandemic content. It's not relevant.

Would it be correct that if I pay it now it will break statute barred period and would trigger another 6 years for it to disappear from my record?

Please don't get me wrong, I would like to pay it off if I was sent a clear communication 'pay or your account will go into default' letter. Any merit in taking the matter to Communications Ombudsman / Financial Services Ombudsman?

Thanks 

kaMelo

Caterpillar22 said:

MorningcoffeeIV said:

2 would absolutely be the better course of action if you're looking for a mortgage.

Disregard all the pandemic content. It's not relevant.

Would it be correct that if I pay it now it will break statute barred period and would trigger another 6 years for it to disappear from my record?

Please don't get me wrong, I would like to pay it off if I was sent a clear communication 'pay or your account will go into default' letter. Any merit in taking the matter to Communications Ombudsman / Financial Services Ombudsman?

Thanks 

No, you're confusing two things.
Paying towards the debt does reset the six year time clock with regard to a debt becoming statute barred however it doesn't increase the time the data shows on your credit file. It is there for six years regardless of how you deal with it (with the exception of an AP marker which may last longer)

If you're looking for a mortgage then a default that shows as settled will definitely be looked upon more favourably by a lender. With regard to Virgin not sending notice of intention to place a default, they don't need to as the debt is not CCA regulated.

As to whether it's worth following up on your complaint and maybe taking the complaint through to the ombudsman if not found in your favour, that's your call but you need to bear in mind the following: You have stated you didn't pay what you owe therefore a notice of default is correct.  You where not notified of the default but they don't need to notify you of their intention to place it on your credit file.

Given that, what exactly would the basis of your complaint be?

sourcrates

The post above nicely explains your position for you, people tend to have short memories, the pandemic really threw a spanner in the works for a lot of people, we were being told we had to comply, when with hindsight not everyone did.
Whether or not any complaint is upheld, its doesn't cost you anything to find out, I very much doubt the default will be removed, but its your statutory right to complain if you are unhappy, and I would always advise you to do just that.

Caterpillar22

Thank you everyone!

I reached out to Northumberland water and we identified that they failed to issue a final bill to the new forwarding address. They acknowledged to have been sending correspondence to the old address and have removed the late payment charge. However....

They kept account open all these years and it currently has a status of 'missing payments for the past 3 months'. I am not sure I follow their logic

I asked them to notify credit agencies as part of the resolution caused by their clerical error, e.g. payment of the outstanding balance.

If they agree, what do I expect them to do, how quickly can this information be removed, etc. 

Thanks

eskbanker

Caterpillar22 said:

I learned that Virgin defaulted my account in October 2019. I wrote to Virgin complaints team to take into consideration all circumstances, namely the pandemic...

If Virgin defaulted your account in October 2019, the Covid pandemic won't have had anything to do with that?

Caterpillar22

eskbanker said:

Caterpillar22 said:

I learned that Virgin defaulted my account in October 2019. I wrote to Virgin complaints team to take into consideration all circumstances, namely the pandemic...

If Virgin defaulted your account in October 2019, the Covid pandemic won't have had anything to do with that?

Hi, sorry, you might want to re-read the original message. Thanks

eskbanker

Caterpillar22 said:

eskbanker said:

Caterpillar22 said:

I learned that Virgin defaulted my account in October 2019. I wrote to Virgin complaints team to take into consideration all circumstances, namely the pandemic...

If Virgin defaulted your account in October 2019, the Covid pandemic won't have had anything to do with that?

Hi, sorry, you might want to re-read the original message. Thanks

Your original post covered events after October 2019 but my point was that if your Virgin account was already sufficiently in arrears to be defaulted by then, it doesn't seem likely that they'd be sympathetic to attempts to blame the pandemic which started the following year?

Caterpillar22

eskbanker said:

Your original post covered events after October 2019 but my point was that if your Virgin account was already sufficiently in arrears to be defaulted by then, it doesn't seem likely that they'd be sympathetic to attempts to blame the pandemic which started the following year?

yes, my account was sufficiently in arrears for exactly £33. Yes, Virgin kept on sending reminders to my work place which was not the forwarding address nor was the address provided to them and was probably grabbed off the web contrary to many provisions of GDPR. Yes, I first became aware of the debt in 2021 upon which I made a contact with Virgin and by which point they defaulted my account for the entire balance of 33 quid.

pushpull

Caterpillar22 said:

eskbanker said:

Your original post covered events after October 2019 but my point was that if your Virgin account was already sufficiently in arrears to be defaulted by then, it doesn't seem likely that they'd be sympathetic to attempts to blame the pandemic which started the following year?

yes, my account was sufficiently in arrears for exactly £33. Yes, Virgin kept on sending reminders to my work place which was not the forwarding address nor was the address provided to them and was probably grabbed off the web contrary to many provisions of GDPR. Yes, I first became aware of the debt in 2021 upon which I made a contact with Virgin and by which point they defaulted my account for the entire balance of 33 quid.

So where did they get the address from then? And you don't deny that the address they were sending it who was a valid contact address?