No Default on Credit File, despite default being issued by Debt Collection Agency

[inthewind]

After a CCA request to Barclaycard showing that they didn't have an enforceable credit agreement I stopped paying them around 2009. Although I was still in contact with them (via a solicitors) to dispute the debt until early 2010.

I've checked my credit file and the debt is shown, but with no default date. I have dug through the old paperwork and found a default issued in April 2004 by Mercers Debt Collections.

Should this default have been applied to my credit file (which whilst sounding like a bad thing) would mean that the default is now over 6 years old and all records of the debt should be removed from my credit file.

Can I request that due to the Default, they remove everything from my credit file, or should I wait until the debt is Statue Barred (not sure what the criteria for that is though) and then ask them to remove all trace from my credit file and confirm that the debt is Statue Barred making it all pretty much dead & buried?

[nemesis45]

Re: No Default on Credit File, despite default being issued by Debt Collection Agency

Hi,
I think you may be the victim of a very common misconception if what you have found is a "Default Notice " it does not necessarily mean that a default was placed at the time the DN was issued.
If you were in discussions with them as you say it is highly like no default was registered.If discussions were taking place until 2010 it's likely that this will not be statute barred until sometime in 2016.

This is not an unusual situation with BC.

Mecers is BC in house collections btw.

You route is two fold a Subject Access Request to BC under the Data Protection Act 1998 to get all the personal data that BC hold this should show if a default was placed if it was and not registered with the CRA's you have the basis for a complaint.

The SAR has a statutory fee of £10.00 and BC has 40 days to comply. this is what I recommend as the first and best way to go.

The other is to make a formal complaint now to BC then they have 56 days to investigate and respond, after their response is made you can involve the regulatory bodies if it is unacceptable.

nem

[inthewind]

Re: No Default on Credit File, despite default being issued by Debt Collection Agency

I did a SAR back in July 2009 and just looked through it.

There is a copy of the Default Notice that Mercers sent me but on Barclaycard headed paper.

Not sure if it's a proper default or not. Although it does read like one (hopefully the image attaches properly to this post)

[nemesis45]

Re: No Default on Credit File, despite default being issued by Debt Collection Agency

That is a proper default notice- BUT- is not a default.
As explained in post 2#

Mercers are Barclays in house collections department.

[inthewind]

Re: No Default on Credit File, despite default being issued by Debt Collection Agency

So I guess I should keep quiet until this is Statute Barred? As they may well default me now, leaving me with the default for 6 years.

The solicitor stopped dealing with the case due to the implications of Carey v HSBC.

I've not paid them since late 2009, and I've not received any letters from Barclaycard or Mercers since June 2010.

Does it become Statue Barred 6 years since I stopped paying? Once it's Statute Barred, is there a way to get the details of the debt removed entirely from my credit file?

[nemesis45]

Re: No Default on Credit File, despite default being issued by Debt Collection Agency

For clarification:

Statute Barred in England and Wales: Can be calculated from: The date a contractual payment was due and no made after which no further payment or unequivocal written acknowledgment was made in 6 clear years. (5 years in Scotland)

nem

[inthewind]

Re: No Default on Credit File, despite default being issued by Debt Collection Agency

Thanks, so once the 6 years is up, is there any way of forcing them to remove the info from my credit file?

[nemesis45]

Re: No Default on Credit File, despite default being issued by Debt Collection Agency

You would have to contact Barclays to remove the entries from the file as there is no default placed.
The scenario is once a debt becomes statute barred in England & Wales it cannot be pursued in court but it still exists and remains collectable until " the debtor informs the creditor in writing that the debt is statute barred and they will not be paying.
nem

[inthewind]

Re: No Default on Credit File, despite default being issued by Debt Collection Agency

Thanks.

So once Statute Barred, and I write to them to make them confirm this, and request they remove all the information from my credit file.

Are they obliged to do so though?

Also, I have a number of other creditors who's default have all now expired and are no longer showing on my credit file. Many of them are Statue Barred. Is there any benefit in writing to them to confirm that the accounts are Statute Barred?

[Nibbler]

Re: No Default on Credit File, despite default being issued by Debt Collection Agency

Backdating a default so that it drops off anyway is more likely.

If it is to become statute barred soon then it's without much doubt that they should have recorded a default on your credit files at some point. As said, not necessarily contemporaneous with the original s87 DN, but certainly at some point that would mean it would now be over 6 years old or may not have too long to go until that point,

The guidelines on 'indicators' of a default and when one should be filed, and timescales, that applied back then can be found here:

http://www.experian.co.uk/www/pages/...n_defaults.pdf

I would read through that to try to work out given your history of the account what seems to be the latest point that they should have filed a default.

Then once you are sure it is statute barred complain stating you will take them to the ICO and FOS if they don't correct it.

Should they agree and any default is backdated to over 6 years ago, the CRAs will then drop the account from your file. If a little less than 6 years then it won't be long until they drop it.

[inthewind]

Re: No Default on Credit File, despite default being issued by Debt Collection Agency

A bit confused now.

If I wait for it to become Statute Barred, am I not just better off arguing that it's Statute Barred, never going to be paid and request it be removed from my credit file anyway?

But, I understand your point about backdated default and why I should Wait until it's definitely Statute Barred before trying to challenge them on it. I've downloaded the PDF from you link and will have a read though.

Many thanks!

[nemesis45]

Re: No Default on Credit File, despite default being issued by Debt Collection Agency

Could please post up a redacted copy of the credit file entry (screen print)?

[Nibbler]

Re: No Default on Credit File, despite default being issued by Debt Collection Agency

The fact that it is statute barred is not grounds for it to be removed from your credit file in itself, except when you are arguing when the default date should have been in relation to that.

In other words the usual reason that statute barred debts often don't appear on credit reports it not because they shouldn't. There is no legal rule where statute barred = must not appear on credit report. It's because they were rightly also defaulted over 6 years ago and have been dropped by the CRAs. In some cases, depending on the conduct of the account, a statute barred debt can legitimately remain on your report for some months after it is technically statute barred.

[inthewind]

Re: No Default on Credit File, despite default being issued by Debt Collection Agency

Could please post up a redacted copy of the credit file entry (screen print)?

Here you go. On another credit file, I think it said arrangement to pay.........

[Nibbler]

Re: No Default on Credit File, despite default being issued by Debt Collection Agency

An "I" on insight means an arrangement to pay if I remember correctly.

As already said, once you are sure it is statute barred you will need to complain that what you have is not an accurate record of the account history, and that it should have been recorded as a default by whatever date seems acceptable under the guidelines. That you require them to remove or backdate the record, otherwise you will be taking the matter to both the ICO and the FOS.