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Hello everyone, I'm hoping you can help me please as I'm not sure what to write to the financial ombudsman and ico, and who else/what else I should write to or do. This has been ongoing since 2009 and I'd really appreciate some help to close the matter once and for all. Please forgive the spelling mistakes, I am typing on my phone whilst feeding the baby!! :-)
Here is my story....
In 2006 (newly graduated) I took out a graduate loan with Barclays for £6000, repayable in installments of £217(ish) over a period of time. I also held my current account with Barclays since 2000, andat this time I had an overdraft of £3000, pretty much to the limit (my wages went in and I was still in overdraft).
In march 2009, with 9 installments left to pay, I contacted them to explain that I was due to give birth and had realised that of I continued to make these instalments it would take half my maternity pay, and after paying off my other commitments, I would haw nothing left. They were not sympathetic or helpful, suggesting that I should have thought about this when I fell pregnant and reconsidered my pregnancy, that there was nothing they could do, and that in order to seek a reduced payment I should not pay, and then collections would contact me. I was furious, as felt they should come to an agreement to help me as per the code of conduct. I also raised a compliant about the 'advice' I was given. As I had also moved, I provided them with my new address. I also no longer wanted to bank with them after their attitude, and changed my bank.
I had my daughter at the end of may 2009, and was in hospital for a week, I thought nothing more of it as I was obviously consumed with new baby and recovering from surgery. In September I was contacted by phone regarding the debt, and I again queried the advice, the fact of not heard from my complaint, and again told them I couldn't pay. I was told that it looked like an error had been made on my account and that it had in fact been closed. I was confused but didn't argue the point, I presumed they had closed it as I couldn't pay.
I heard nothing further from them regarding my loan, although I continued to receive my current account statements at my new address. The loan also did not appear on my credit file (I signed up with experian) so I presumed all was done.
In jan 2011, I got a letter saying I had failed to pay my installments of £62, and had to repay the entire amount immediately or 'my credit tying may be affected'. I contacted them immediately, querying where this new payment term had come from, why I hadn't received notice of it, and that I had been told it was closed the old complaint was resurrected and I received a final response from them saying I had exhausted complaints procedure and to complain to ombudsman. So I did. I also did a SAR. Throughout the numerous calls I made to sort this out, I found out that they had continued sending letters to my old address, despite having my new one.
My complaint with the FO was about their conduct and administration of my account, and that they still would not come to a payment arrangement with me (they said after income and expenditure that I couldn't afford it), and that I was concerned about my credit file, which was immaculate (I had met every other repayment, and paid £30-£40 per month into my current account with Barclays to prevent it going over the agreed overdraft). I asked that they write off the debt as they will not come to an agreement with me, and that they did not mark my credit file (at this time the loan still did not appear on my file).
The FO determined that they were right to pursue the debt, and if they wanted to mark my credit file, but that I would receive £100 compensation for distress and inconvenience caused by sending letters to the wrong address. I argued the default point on the basis that I would not have defaulted if they had come to an agreement with me in the first place (I would never have risked my credit file being marked), and again told them that Barclays will not come to a payment arrangement, but the FO said they still would not uphold my complaint and suggest writing off remainder or removing defaults that may have been placed. They also made the assumption that I would not have been able to make repayments anyway, so it would have been defaulted at some point anyway.
After escalating this to manager of person dealing with my complaint, the manager said the same, and on checking my file again (some months later by the time all this correspondence had gone through) I found that there was still no mention of the loan on my credit report anyway, and accepted their compensation. I also said that I would be waiting for the bank to contact me with a repayment plan.
Compensation was paid into my current account with Barclays (which I left in there, and did not attempt to take), and I still heard nothing from Barclays. I probably should have contacted them again, but I fell pregnant again an was preoccupied with myself!
This year, I received another letter about owing the money, again saying it needed to be paid or 'my credit file may be affected'. I contacted them immediately, and we agreed a full and final settlement of £1000, the loan at this point was about £2400 after interest. I was also told that my current account had gone to collections as I was closing my loan. I was told to wait for someone to contact me about this, so I contained making my payments into this account for interest and charges.
I paid my full and final settlement for the graduate loan on 20th march but had to chase the letter confirming receipt. I finally received the letter to confirm all settled, balance £0, no further action for the remainder (as it had been written off) and no further adverse information on my credit file. This letter is dated 26th April.
I also received a termination notice for my current account, on the back pf the graduate loan issue, asking for full and immediate payment. There is no mention of default being placed on credit file, just their 'intention to register details of the account with credit reference agencies'. Theysaid that a termination notice means they can automatically register a default with cr agencies. Termination notice dated 17th feb, effective from 2nd march (when account would be considered closed). I contacted them immediately, and agreed another full and final of £1000. In this time, I was still receiving statement for my current account, as well as a letter sent end of march, stating that my current account had gone over the agreed overdraft limit of £10. I contacted them again and was told to ignore the letter and make payment. Payment was made sometime between 17th april (letter confirming acceptance) and 24th april (letter received confirming receipt and that no further money was owed, balance £0, etc).
In April, I had a notification for a change in my credit file, and saw that they had put loan account as defaulted this year, 1/3/2012, on payment agreement of £62 x 36 months. Firstly, there is no agreement in place for this amount or term. Secondly it appears they have placed this after the account was closed. Thirdly, and importantly? NO DEFAULT NOTICE WAS EVER SENT. I contacted Barclays and raised a complaint as i never received a default notice, and felt i would not have defaulted if i had known in 2009 that there was a new agreement (which i didnt as they were sending correspondence to the wrong address). They have now written their final response to say that a default notice should have been sent before collections action, but 'regrettably' it wasn't, so they are upholding my complaint. I'm not sure what they are doing to 'uphold my complaint' (I presumed remove the default) but then in the next paragraph she has said that they didn't send one before, so here is a new one! And they have sent me a default notice for the remaining balance, effective if not repaid in full by 11th June. If repaid in full they will remove the default. My issue here is that surely they cannot send a new notice to rectify the mistake of not sending the first one? And also, the account is closed with a balance of £0, further to full and final settlement letter received? So they have resurrected the closed account to issue a default for the money that would have been owe after the full and final payment. Surely at worst, it should show default date in 2009 (when they were sending letters to wrong address) and not 2012? This will remain on file until 2018, when I have worked hard the past few years to repay pretty much every single debt I have! It just seems very unfair.
Another entry has been added in may, which just says 'bank' with a default date of 17/2/2012 (date termination letter was sent). No start date, no 'history of account' just an 8 in red, and a status of default, balance satisfied. My current account is still showing on my credit file, started in 2000, overdraft limit of £10, end date of November 2009! I do not feel that they should have this as 'default' as I always kept to the terms of my overdraft and started negotiations with them as soon as I received the termination notice. Furthermore, had they of dealt with my grad loan correctly and not sent letters to the wrong address, this account would still remain open and I would have paid it back eventually. I complained again, and received my final response (which I can't find anywhere!!!), which basically says the bank do not need to issue default on current account/overdraft and that they will automatically lodge a default when termination notice is sent out.
FURTHER SUPPORTING INFO I HAVE
1) Address details from SAR showing correct address in 2009 on Barclays systems
2) statement of account (for loan) showing account closed entry in 2008, which could be the source of confusion for the person who told me there was an error and that it had been closed.
3) Another entry on SAR showing that account had been dormant in collections for unknown reasons since 2009-2011. This I'd rather not submit as it also states (inaccurately) that in a phone call I told them I won't be payig anything back.
4) bank statements of current account showing regular payments into account and within its limits.
5) copy of credit file showing I am a responsible borrower, having met all payments for all other lenders before, during and since, this loan with Barclays (I am hoping this will prove my intention to pay had I of known the debt still existed or that it would go into default).
6) SAR showing a database error caused my account details to be mixed up with my brothers at some stage in all of this.
I am do sorry for how long this is, if you have got this far then thank you!!!
Does anyone have any advice/thoughts/suggestions on how/of I can get these defaults removed.
Here is my story....
In 2006 (newly graduated) I took out a graduate loan with Barclays for £6000, repayable in installments of £217(ish) over a period of time. I also held my current account with Barclays since 2000, andat this time I had an overdraft of £3000, pretty much to the limit (my wages went in and I was still in overdraft).
In march 2009, with 9 installments left to pay, I contacted them to explain that I was due to give birth and had realised that of I continued to make these instalments it would take half my maternity pay, and after paying off my other commitments, I would haw nothing left. They were not sympathetic or helpful, suggesting that I should have thought about this when I fell pregnant and reconsidered my pregnancy, that there was nothing they could do, and that in order to seek a reduced payment I should not pay, and then collections would contact me. I was furious, as felt they should come to an agreement to help me as per the code of conduct. I also raised a compliant about the 'advice' I was given. As I had also moved, I provided them with my new address. I also no longer wanted to bank with them after their attitude, and changed my bank.
I had my daughter at the end of may 2009, and was in hospital for a week, I thought nothing more of it as I was obviously consumed with new baby and recovering from surgery. In September I was contacted by phone regarding the debt, and I again queried the advice, the fact of not heard from my complaint, and again told them I couldn't pay. I was told that it looked like an error had been made on my account and that it had in fact been closed. I was confused but didn't argue the point, I presumed they had closed it as I couldn't pay.
I heard nothing further from them regarding my loan, although I continued to receive my current account statements at my new address. The loan also did not appear on my credit file (I signed up with experian) so I presumed all was done.
In jan 2011, I got a letter saying I had failed to pay my installments of £62, and had to repay the entire amount immediately or 'my credit tying may be affected'. I contacted them immediately, querying where this new payment term had come from, why I hadn't received notice of it, and that I had been told it was closed the old complaint was resurrected and I received a final response from them saying I had exhausted complaints procedure and to complain to ombudsman. So I did. I also did a SAR. Throughout the numerous calls I made to sort this out, I found out that they had continued sending letters to my old address, despite having my new one.
My complaint with the FO was about their conduct and administration of my account, and that they still would not come to a payment arrangement with me (they said after income and expenditure that I couldn't afford it), and that I was concerned about my credit file, which was immaculate (I had met every other repayment, and paid £30-£40 per month into my current account with Barclays to prevent it going over the agreed overdraft). I asked that they write off the debt as they will not come to an agreement with me, and that they did not mark my credit file (at this time the loan still did not appear on my file).
The FO determined that they were right to pursue the debt, and if they wanted to mark my credit file, but that I would receive £100 compensation for distress and inconvenience caused by sending letters to the wrong address. I argued the default point on the basis that I would not have defaulted if they had come to an agreement with me in the first place (I would never have risked my credit file being marked), and again told them that Barclays will not come to a payment arrangement, but the FO said they still would not uphold my complaint and suggest writing off remainder or removing defaults that may have been placed. They also made the assumption that I would not have been able to make repayments anyway, so it would have been defaulted at some point anyway.
After escalating this to manager of person dealing with my complaint, the manager said the same, and on checking my file again (some months later by the time all this correspondence had gone through) I found that there was still no mention of the loan on my credit report anyway, and accepted their compensation. I also said that I would be waiting for the bank to contact me with a repayment plan.
Compensation was paid into my current account with Barclays (which I left in there, and did not attempt to take), and I still heard nothing from Barclays. I probably should have contacted them again, but I fell pregnant again an was preoccupied with myself!
This year, I received another letter about owing the money, again saying it needed to be paid or 'my credit file may be affected'. I contacted them immediately, and we agreed a full and final settlement of £1000, the loan at this point was about £2400 after interest. I was also told that my current account had gone to collections as I was closing my loan. I was told to wait for someone to contact me about this, so I contained making my payments into this account for interest and charges.
I paid my full and final settlement for the graduate loan on 20th march but had to chase the letter confirming receipt. I finally received the letter to confirm all settled, balance £0, no further action for the remainder (as it had been written off) and no further adverse information on my credit file. This letter is dated 26th April.
I also received a termination notice for my current account, on the back pf the graduate loan issue, asking for full and immediate payment. There is no mention of default being placed on credit file, just their 'intention to register details of the account with credit reference agencies'. Theysaid that a termination notice means they can automatically register a default with cr agencies. Termination notice dated 17th feb, effective from 2nd march (when account would be considered closed). I contacted them immediately, and agreed another full and final of £1000. In this time, I was still receiving statement for my current account, as well as a letter sent end of march, stating that my current account had gone over the agreed overdraft limit of £10. I contacted them again and was told to ignore the letter and make payment. Payment was made sometime between 17th april (letter confirming acceptance) and 24th april (letter received confirming receipt and that no further money was owed, balance £0, etc).
In April, I had a notification for a change in my credit file, and saw that they had put loan account as defaulted this year, 1/3/2012, on payment agreement of £62 x 36 months. Firstly, there is no agreement in place for this amount or term. Secondly it appears they have placed this after the account was closed. Thirdly, and importantly? NO DEFAULT NOTICE WAS EVER SENT. I contacted Barclays and raised a complaint as i never received a default notice, and felt i would not have defaulted if i had known in 2009 that there was a new agreement (which i didnt as they were sending correspondence to the wrong address). They have now written their final response to say that a default notice should have been sent before collections action, but 'regrettably' it wasn't, so they are upholding my complaint. I'm not sure what they are doing to 'uphold my complaint' (I presumed remove the default) but then in the next paragraph she has said that they didn't send one before, so here is a new one! And they have sent me a default notice for the remaining balance, effective if not repaid in full by 11th June. If repaid in full they will remove the default. My issue here is that surely they cannot send a new notice to rectify the mistake of not sending the first one? And also, the account is closed with a balance of £0, further to full and final settlement letter received? So they have resurrected the closed account to issue a default for the money that would have been owe after the full and final payment. Surely at worst, it should show default date in 2009 (when they were sending letters to wrong address) and not 2012? This will remain on file until 2018, when I have worked hard the past few years to repay pretty much every single debt I have! It just seems very unfair.
Another entry has been added in may, which just says 'bank' with a default date of 17/2/2012 (date termination letter was sent). No start date, no 'history of account' just an 8 in red, and a status of default, balance satisfied. My current account is still showing on my credit file, started in 2000, overdraft limit of £10, end date of November 2009! I do not feel that they should have this as 'default' as I always kept to the terms of my overdraft and started negotiations with them as soon as I received the termination notice. Furthermore, had they of dealt with my grad loan correctly and not sent letters to the wrong address, this account would still remain open and I would have paid it back eventually. I complained again, and received my final response (which I can't find anywhere!!!), which basically says the bank do not need to issue default on current account/overdraft and that they will automatically lodge a default when termination notice is sent out.
FURTHER SUPPORTING INFO I HAVE
1) Address details from SAR showing correct address in 2009 on Barclays systems
2) statement of account (for loan) showing account closed entry in 2008, which could be the source of confusion for the person who told me there was an error and that it had been closed.
3) Another entry on SAR showing that account had been dormant in collections for unknown reasons since 2009-2011. This I'd rather not submit as it also states (inaccurately) that in a phone call I told them I won't be payig anything back.
4) bank statements of current account showing regular payments into account and within its limits.
5) copy of credit file showing I am a responsible borrower, having met all payments for all other lenders before, during and since, this loan with Barclays (I am hoping this will prove my intention to pay had I of known the debt still existed or that it would go into default).
6) SAR showing a database error caused my account details to be mixed up with my brothers at some stage in all of this.
I am do sorry for how long this is, if you have got this far then thank you!!!
Does anyone have any advice/thoughts/suggestions on how/of I can get these defaults removed.
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