Defaults

[Tim1963]

In 2001 I fell in to large debt and used a debt management company to sort out my difficulties ending in me gaining 6 defaults I owed in the region of 35000 pounds on various cards loans etc, I gradually paid it back with the aid of my debt management co , I noticed after 6 yrs 4 of the defaults dropped off my credit file although I still hadn't finished paying them back , leaving me with 2 from RBs Both credit cards they both defaulted again after 6 yrs even though it was paying them what they had agreed although far short of the minimum payment , I've finished paying them both now but both defaults still remain on my file until the end of February 2014 and sept 2014 is this right what they have done , I rang one of the cards up today and she confirmed that the default was originally dealt to me in 2001 , if this is wrong who do I contact to get the sept 2014 taken off my credit file ?

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Defaults

Hi and welcome to LB!

In 2001 I fell in to large debt and used a debt management company to sort out my difficulties ending in me gaining 6 defaults I owed in the region of 35000 pounds on various cards loans etc, I gradually paid it back with the aid of my debt management co , I noticed after 6 yrs 4 of the defaults dropped off my credit file although I still hadn't finished paying them back ,

That's right, defaults drop off after 6 years, regardless of whether you've made any payments into them or not.

leaving me with 2 from RBs Both credit cards they both defaulted again after 6 yrs even though it was paying them what they had agreed although far short of the minimum payment , I've finished paying them both now but both defaults still remain on my file until the end of February 2014 and sept 2014 is this right what they have done , I rang one of the cards up today and she confirmed that the default was originally dealt to me in 2001 , if this is wrong who do I contact to get the sept 2014 taken off my credit file ?

That is totally outrageous! :scared: :scared:

Those defaults should have disappeared in 2007! That's a problem you often find with DMPs, where they record 'AP' instead of defaulting the account. In the first instance, you'd contact RBS. You should do so in writing, :typing: and you may wish to quote the relevant bits of the ICO Technical Guidance as below. If they refuse to amend the records, you can then complain to the ICO. :thumb:

21 An ‘arrangement to pay’

This involves a temporary, short-term (up to six months) arrangement where the lender agrees to accept reduced payments.

• The original payment terms will still be shown on the credit reference file and arrears will accrue which will be shown on the monthly status record.
• The account will be marked by an ‘arrangement to pay’ marker (which distinguishes the account from one where the customer has behaved less responsibly).
• Where such an ‘arrangement to pay’ breaks down, a default may be filed when the total value of the arrears is equivalent to three monthly payments under the original terms. However, this should not result in the customer being placed in a worse position than someone who has made no effort to pay whatsoever.
• If a customer fails to return to contractual payments after an ‘arrangement to pay’ has expired, then the lender can file a default immediately, as long as this would not place the customer in a worse position than they would have been in, had they not made the arrangement.

Examples
1. If a customer makes an ‘arrangement to pay’ at a reduced rate but breaks that arrangement by making no payments for three months, the lender should only automatically file a default if

• the total value of the arrears is equivalent to three monthly payments under the original terms, and
• the lender would normally file a default at this stage in the arrears process.

So no default should be filed if the lender normally records defaults when accounts are six monthly payments in arrears and the customer has not yet reached that level of indebtedness, even though he may have missed payments under the ‘arrangement to pay’.
2. If a lender accepts an ‘arrangement to pay’ as an alternative to filing a default, and the customer fails to make any of the agreed repayments, then a default can be filed straight away.