02 - Letter from debt collection agency for 02 mistake on mobile bill now Credit score down 24 pts

jlg1

Hi,

I was wondering the effect of a mistake made by 02.

I had to take a SIM with 02 when taking Virgin Broadband as part of the "deal"  I cancelled virgin and also cancelled the aim last August.

I received a letter from a debt collection agency and 02 saying I owed £181.81 on this same SIM.

I told 02 I cancelled the SIM last August and they agreed it had been cancelled but said it wasn't "cancelled properly"?

My credit score has dropped 24 points because of this, and our mortgage is up in May.  I'm worried about how this will affect our options.

Is there a way I can get my credit score back up again?

It seems 02 reported this to the credit agencies, even though they made the mistake and now I'm left to try and sort this.

Ive written to 02 but in 3 weeks heard nothing back yet.

Thanks for any help,

la531983

The only help you need is that the 3 digit "credit score" is a number only you see, isnt used by lenders as they dont see it. It is merely used to try and sell you other products. It could go down 50 tomorrow for no reason whatsoever.

What have o2 actually reported? Ignote the score, get that out of your head. 

Nasqueron

Ignore the score
Lodge a complaint with virgin about the debt - they will potentially be reporting an outstanding debt / missed payments / default which will actually cause a risk to your credit application, unlike the fake score

jlg1

Nasqueron said:

Ignore the score
Lodge a complaint with virgin about the debt - they will potentially be reporting an outstanding debt / missed payments / default which will actually cause a risk to your credit application, unlike the fake score

Thanks,

I think it was actually 02 that reported the outstanding debt without even contacting me first.

I have written to them and its nearly 4 weeks with no reply yet?

Very hard to get talking to anyone from the debt collection side of 02 and very frustrating.

jlg1

la531983 said:

The only help you need is that the 3 digit "credit score" is a number only you see, isnt used by lenders as they dont see it. It is merely used to try and sell you other products. It could go down 50 tomorrow for no reason whatsoever.

What have o2 actually reported? Ignote the score, get that out of your head. 

I cant get anything back from 02 to find out what they did or didnt do - on a call nearly 4 weeks ago I was told they would "have a word" with the credit agency about my score implying they did in fact report me.

Given its nearly 4 weeks since I wrote to 02 maybe I should take it a bit further..?

MorningcoffeeIV

jlg1 said:

la531983 said:

The only help you need is that the 3 digit "credit score" is a number only you see, isnt used by lenders as they dont see it. It is merely used to try and sell you other products. It could go down 50 tomorrow for no reason whatsoever.

What have o2 actually reported? Ignote the score, get that out of your head. 

I cant get anything back from 02 to find out what they did or didnt do - on a call nearly 4 weeks ago I was told they would "have a word" with the credit agency about my score implying they did in fact report me.

Given its nearly 4 weeks since I wrote to 02 maybe I should take it a bit further..?

That just implies they want you to go away. It's like saying "we'll speak to them about getting rid of the unicorns in your garden'".  Makes you feel like your unicorn infestation may be resolved, but requires no action.

It doesn't sound as if you have actually checked any of your files yet. Is that correct?

You need to know what, if anything, appears on each.  It will take you 5 minutes but is the most important thing you need to do.

jlg1

I checked my credit score again and O2 have reported me again on 18th Feb probably for the same thing I dont even have anything else to do with O2.  Its getting a bit ridiculous now - are they the only ones that can get this lifted from my credit score.  I'm not down a further 5 points to -29 because of this.

I found this out by using Clearscore - Experian were asking me to sign up for monthly fee.

I have contacted o2 via Twitter to see if I get any movement there.

MorningcoffeeIV

jlg1 said:

I'm not down a further 5 points to -29 because of this.

That's good, as 5 is an odd number. It's when it drops by an even number of points that it's a problem, or by a number divisible by 7.

So what exactly HAVE they reported to your credit files?