Old bank account on credit file

Liam2594

I have an old Barclays account showing on my credit file. It shows that it's overdrawn by £62 which has been on there for as long as I can remember having any account showing a credit report. Not quite sure how it has an overdraft showing as the account is that old is was a Childs account for me originally opened in 2008. It shows up to date on all records, I haven't had any correspondence regarding it and the address listed on the account I moved out of around 10 years ago. Is there a way to get it removed or do I risk opening a can of worms getting it gone?

marcia_

Liam2594 said:

I have an old Barclays account showing on my credit file. It shows that it's overdrawn by £62 which has been on there for as long as I can remember having any account showing a credit report. Not quite sure how it has an overdraft showing as the account is that old is was a Childs account for me originally opened in 2008. It shows up to date on all records, I haven't had any correspondence regarding it and the address listed on the account I moved out of around 10 years ago. Is there a way to get it removed or do I risk opening a can of worms getting it gone?

 Do you want to pay the £62 off? 

fatbelly

Contact Barclays.

Were you aware there was an overdraft facility on it? You may be able to get this removed and written off

Enquiry first, followed by formal complaint

Woodstok2000

I think there are two possibilities:

1) A payment went out from your child account which couldn't be stopped, resulting in the overdraft with no fees/interest accruing.

2) The account matured into a regular account when you turned 18 and an overdraft facility became available then.

Either way, if it was me for the sake of £60 and s clean fie, I'd contact Barclays about writing it off or paying it.

Liam2594

Wasn’t aware there was any overdraft facility on it. In all honesty the account is that old, I don’t ever remember using it or having access to it. For the sake of £62 I have no issue paying it, was just having a good look through my credit report yesterday evening and would like it removed. Was just concerned if there were fees which have been added how that’d pan out. 

Woodstok2000

Liam2594 said:

Wasn’t aware there was any overdraft facility on it. In all honesty the account is that old, I don’t ever remember using it or having access to it. For the sake of £62 I have no issue paying it, was just having a good look through my credit report yesterday evening and would like it removed. Was just concerned if there were fees which have been added how that’d pan out. 

There's no official overdraft facility on a children's account, but if a payment comes out that can't be cancelled and takes the balance below zero you would be liable.  If the credit report says £62, I would think thats the total amount due...maybe try giving them a call and see what they say?

sourcrates

I`d go down the complaint route first, child accounts cannot have overdraft facilities as you must be 18 in order to enter a credit agreement, there may also be a question over the limitation period, its well over 6 years old, and it should have defaulted in line with guidance a long time ago.

It looks as though the account has been left to go dormant, and just been forgotten about.

Use those arguments to get Barclays to write the debt off and clear the information from your credit report.

ProcessMatters

The key thing to watch here is whether Barclays are actively updating this account, or whether it’s just being displayed by the CRA as historic data.

If it’s genuinely showing as “up to date” with a balance still outstanding, then it means Barclays are treating it as an open account, which is unusual for something that old — especially a Childs account.

You’re right to be cautious about poking it, but the sensible first step isn’t a dispute, it’s asking Barclays for:

• confirmation of the account’s closure status

• when (if ever) it was overdrawn

• when it was last actively updated by them

That lets you establish whether this is live reporting or stale data before doing anything that could wake it up.

If it turns out they can’t evidence active reporting, it’s much easier to get corrected without opening a can of worms.

Liam2594

The account shows up to date on my credit file. It looks like it’s an active account on there as it’s no different to any other account I have showing. As said it hasn’t been touched in that long I genuinely can’t remember when it was last used, well over 10 years as absolute minimum. 

ProcessMatters

If it’s showing as actively “up to date”, then Barclays are effectively treating it as a live account, which they shouldn’t be able to do without evidence of ongoing activity.

At this point it’s reasonable to go back to Barclays (not the CRA) and ask them to explain:

• why the account is still open

• when it was last genuinely used

• on what basis they are continuing to report it as active

Don’t dispute it with the CRA yet — that just bounces it back to Barclays anyway. You want Barclays to either evidence current activity or confirm it should have been closed years ago.

Once that’s established, correction is usually straightforward. The risk only comes from disputing blind, which you’ve sensibly avoided.

Nasqueron

sourcrates said:

I`d go down the complaint route first, child accounts cannot have overdraft facilities as you must be 18 in order to enter a credit agreement, there may also be a question over the limitation period, its well over 6 years old, and it should have defaulted in line with guidance a long time ago.

It looks as though the account has been left to go dormant, and just been forgotten about.

Use those arguments to get Barclays to write the debt off and clear the information from your credit report.

To be a pedant, credit agreements against children are unenforceable hence why lenders won't do it but they could technically be entered into. I wonder if an account could in theory go into negative if they had a low balance and a couple of offline transactions went in which were delayed in reporting - the bank wouldn't simply ignore it and it would be an unauthorised one rather than a credit account being offered.

Irrelevant to this case, my friend at uni was terrible with money and regularly had a maxed overdraft and would sometimes pay a certain pub we went to because they never seemed to check in real time and could go over his limit.