Help – credit file arrears

reptiliak

Hello, I'm looking to get a mortgage soon and have just signed up to check my credit report (stupid I know!) and have discovered some very old arrears.

Basically, I had a 12-month SIM only contract with Vodafone that ended in October 2018. Apparently, I cancelled the direct debit after the 12 months but didn't formally close the account. (As the account is so old I cannot remember if I did ask Vodafone to close the account). Vodafone put my account into debt but made no efforts to contact me until July 2019, when they issued a letter (I have a vague memory of receiving such a letter, but ignoring it as phishing because I had no account with Vodafone at that time). The debt was sold to a DCA in October 2019. I got all this info from Vodafone customer service but they refused to engage with me further, saying they had sold the debt and it was no longer anything to do with them.

The DCA has been marking my credit report every month since July 2019. TransUnion says the account is "in arrears" and Equifax says "delinquent", so I don't think the DCA ever marked the account as defaulted.

What are my chances of contacting the credit reference agencies or the DCA and telling them that this debt began in Oct 2018, therefore I should've been marked as defaulted 3-6 months later and this should no longer be on my credit file as it is over 6yrs old?

The debt is only £50 and I'd happily settle this with the DCA to speed this up and fix my credit rating ASAP, but is there any danger in me "recognising" the debt and therefore resetting the 6yr clock?

sourcrates

The limitation period runs from the cause of action date, which will be the date of default, as its not yet defaulted, you can`t re-set something that hasn't yet started.

The CRA only display information that they are provided with from the lender, if you have a dispute go direct to the organ grinder, not the monkey.

reptiliak

sourcrates said:

The limitation period runs from the cause of action date, which will be the date of default, as its not yet defaulted, you can`t re-set something that hasn't yet started.

The CRA only display information that they are provided with from the lender, if you have a dispute go direct to the organ grinder, not the monkey.

The thing I don’t understand is how it can not be marked as defaulted when Vodafone closed the account and sold the debt.

I can keep pursuing Vodafone but they are infamously terrible to deal with. It’s impossible to speak to anyone on the phone so I ended up with one of those stupid chat discussions that took over 2 hours and the end result was “we sold the debt and we’re not the ones updating your credit file; there’s nothing we can do”.

Nasqueron

reptiliak said:

sourcrates said:

The limitation period runs from the cause of action date, which will be the date of default, as its not yet defaulted, you can`t re-set something that hasn't yet started.

The CRA only display information that they are provided with from the lender, if you have a dispute go direct to the organ grinder, not the monkey.

The thing I don’t understand is how it can not be marked as defaulted when Vodafone closed the account and sold the debt.

I can keep pursuing Vodafone but they are infamously terrible to deal with. It’s impossible to speak to anyone on the phone so I ended up with one of those stupid chat discussions that took over 2 hours and the end result was “we sold the debt and we’re not the ones updating your credit file; there’s nothing we can do”.

An account is defaulted when you don't meet the contractually agreed payments, typically for 2-3 payments in a row

If they sold the debt, why are you chasing Vodafone?

Regardless it'll be cleared next month, paying it doesn't extend that, the 6 year rule is set in stone. Paying / acknowledging the debt can extend the time you can be chased for but the credit file will still be clean 6 years after

reptiliak

Nasqueron said:

reptiliak said:

sourcrates said:

The limitation period runs from the cause of action date, which will be the date of default, as its not yet defaulted, you can`t re-set something that hasn't yet started.

The CRA only display information that they are provided with from the lender, if you have a dispute go direct to the organ grinder, not the monkey.

The thing I don’t understand is how it can not be marked as defaulted when Vodafone closed the account and sold the debt.

I can keep pursuing Vodafone but they are infamously terrible to deal with. It’s impossible to speak to anyone on the phone so I ended up with one of those stupid chat discussions that took over 2 hours and the end result was “we sold the debt and we’re not the ones updating your credit file; there’s nothing we can do”.

An account is defaulted when you don't meet the contractually agreed payments, typically for 2-3 payments in a row

If they sold the debt, why are you chasing Vodafone?

Regardless it'll be cleared next month, paying it doesn't extend that, the 6 year rule is set in stone. Paying / acknowledging the debt can extend the time you can be chased for but the credit file will still be clean 6 years after

I don’t think it will be cleared next month because Vodafone have never flagged the account as defaulted. They say I was in arrears from November 2018 but didn’t do anything about that until July 2019, when they started putting arrears on my credit file. But every month they just keep adding arrears, they have never marked the account as defaulted so I don’t think it will disappear from my credit file.

Basically, rather than having one default 6 years ago I have 6 years’ worth of an account in arrears.

I managed to speak to someone at Vodafone today and I asked them to mark the account as defaulted from January 2018 (3 months after they claim I entered arrears) and delete the 6 years’ worth of arrears notices, so that it will disappear from my credit file.

The woman said that they are willing to remove the entry on my credit file entirely if I pay the outstanding balance, despite someone else from Vodafone saying yesterday that I can’t settle the debt with them as they’ve sold it to a CRA. I told them this on the phone but they said I could settle the account with them. I am a little suspicious of this but paid, as it was only £50 and I want this sorted ASAP for my mortgage application.

reptiliak

Probably could have refused to pay the £50 and said if they don’t mark my account as defaulted in Jan 2018 I’ll go to the ombudsman. But then I’d risk jeopardising my mortgage application while I wait for the ombudsman to do something, so needs must.