Query re Credit Report Fault

Sammy_Girl

Good afternoon all :hello:

Would any of you kind people know of a template letter that I can use to send to a DCA/lender/Credit reference agency to query information held.

To cut a long story short, I have been making regular monthly payments to a DCA debt, but they have listed every month on my credit report since then as defaulted . We agreed that they would take payment from my debit card on the 2nd of every month just after I got paid. I have bank statements to show that I had money in my account to pay, but they never took payments on time. When I called them a couple of weeks ago, they said that the card kept declining, that's why payments were coming out late, therefore they were recording them as defaulted (not even late). But there was no way the card would have declined, and I have statements to show money in my account.

If someone knows of a polite but firm letter, I would very very much appreciate it.

Sammy x

PS I have now cancelled my debit card, and set up a standing order instead so that no future payments will be "late"

Sammy_Girl

Any advice would be gratefully received

Sammy x

Donedoingdebt

Just bumping up for the experts.
I thought that an account could only be defaulted once & a default notice issued.

bank_of_slate

Hi sammy,
can't offer anything particularly constructive myself but hang around, it'll get busier soon
welcome to the forum
...Linda xx

Sammy_Girl

Donedoingdebt wrote: »

Just bumping up for the experts.
I thought that an account could only be defaulted once & a default notice issued.

That's what I thought. But when I checked my credit report it had a default notice issued for every month since November. When I called the DCA, they said it was because I had defaulted every month, but I hadn't. I don't know why they didn't take the payment on time, becasue they had the card details and the money was available in my account. Very frustrating!!!!

Sammy x

fermi

What is the date listed for the default?

i.e. "Defaulted dd/mm/yyyy" rather than the "file updated for the period to dd/mm/yyyy".

Once the account is in default, the monthly status code will stay as that even if you are making agreed monthly payments. What is important is that the original default date should not change.

In the example below, it is the highlighted date that is important.

Sammy_Girl

fermi wrote: »

What is the date listed fro the default?

i.e. "Defaulted dd/mm/yyyy" rather than the "file updated for the period to dd/mm/yyyy".

Once the account is in default, the monthly status code will stay as that even if you are making agreed monthly payments. What is important is that the original default date should not change.

Hi Fermi,

On the Callcredit report it has the default symbol on every month since November 2007, so 6 default symbols altogether. On the Experian report it has the default symbol on November and nothing since. But I have been making payments every single month since November, when it was passed to a DCA.

Sammy x

fermi

On the Experian report, has the date highlighted here remained as November?



If it has, then I believe what the Experian report says is just fine.

Call credit do things a little differently, but I think it is correct for them to show the default symbol every month until the account has been settled.

Remember, once an account in "in default" it stays that way. The status indicators reflect this.

Just because you are afterwards making agreed payments does not mean that the account isn't defaulted.

You will keep getting a row off these.

Sammy_Girl

Hi Fermi,

Thank you. Basically, the debt was with HSBC and they sold it to First Revenue. On the HSBC part of the credit report is stated defaulted on Sep or Oct, and nothing since, and I understand that this will stay defaulted until it is settled. However, the company that they sold it to (the parent company of 1st Rev, I forget their name) produced their own report section on the credit file, starting from November 2007. So in theory if this is seen as a new lender as they created a new profile, it should show each payment from November as being paid. But it doesn't. It just has those horrible D signs next to each month from Nove onwards. If that makes sense??????

I have had 3 accounts with DCAs, 1 was settled in Sep 2007, and shows as settled on October 2007. The second I settled today, so hopefully that will show next month, and the third is the current one.

What worries me is that it takes 6 years for each default to drop off. So if my most recent default is shown as May 2008, then it won't drop off until May 2014. Whereas if it showed as defaulted by HSBC in Sep 2007 then it will drop off in Sep 2013?

I hope this makes sense.

Thank you x

fermi

On Experian the account will fall off the report six years after the account was first defaulted.

So it is the date I highlighted with the red ring that is important. As long as that hasn't changed on the Experian report, then it is OK.

The same is true for callcredit. Updating with a D every month doesn't change the date that the original default was issued. The account will still disappear 6 years after that original default date, no matter how many Ds are recorded afterwards.

The DCA is entitled to create a new profile, but they shouldn't have changed the original default date.

But they are entitled to update the new profile with the default every month to show it's default status, and update the balance to reflect any payments.

If the DCA has taken over the record (bought the debt), then the records from the original creditor should have been taken off I think.

The ICO has this to say:

From: Technical Guidance Note - Filing defaults with credit reference agencies

The ‘sale’ or assignment of debts on defaulted accounts

52 When the rights to a debt are sold to a third party, the lender has to make sure the records with the credit reference agency are accurate, up to date and adequate. If they want information about the debts to continue on the credit reference file they will need to come to an agreement with the purchaser about who is to be responsible for this.

53 If the purchaser agrees to take control of the record, the customer should be informed that the debt has been sold or assigned and to whom. The credit reference agency file should be changed to show the name of the purchaser and that the rights to the debt have been sold or assigned.

The purchaser should then make sure the record is kept up to date including changes to the amount still owed. The purchase should not affect how long the record is kept. It should be removed six years after the default.

fermi

I'd swear they make this stuff deliberately confusing. :rolleyes::rolleyes: