Default advice

[schnyder]

I sent a letter to the bank last week asking them to remove a default from my credit file. I have paid off the debt about 6 months ago and the default was placed on my credit file in May 2013. I stated in the letter that I'd not recalled seeing a notice of default and asked if they could kindly remove it. I had missed a payment on the account, through no fault of my own, the direct debit did not come out, and upon noticing I paid the amount due.

The account had been in arrears for a number of years and my credit file stated '6' for a number of those. I received a telephone call from the bank this morning apologising for the inconvenience. They stated that they had made a mistake and the default should have been put on my credit file in 2011 and it was their intension to apply it from then with immediate affect. By way of apology they offered me £50 compensation. They were very quick to ask if I would consider the case now closed, which made me wonder if something was amiss.

Could anyone shed any light on whether I have grounds to get the default removed? They are going to forward me the notice of default from 2011 in the post.

[Kati]

Re: Default advice

It is my understanding that a default will stay on your file for six years. If the bank has said they are treating the default as being put on your file in 2011, it will vanish in 2017 (rather than 2021 if it started this year).
Unless you have a very good reason for appealing the default, I can't see a way of you getting it removed earlier :sorry:
K x

[schnyder]

Re: Default advice

Yeah, it's better having a couple of years knocked off it. I was wondering if there were any legal grounds for when the default must appear on a credit file after the notice has been issued?

[Kati]

Re: Default advice

I think most defaults are put on your credit file after a few missed payments ... one late/missed payment shouldn't make that much difference (IMO) but three or four would

[mystery1]

Re: Default advice

I sent a letter to the bank last week asking them to remove a default from my credit file. I have paid off the debt about 6 months ago and the default was placed on my credit file in May 2013. I stated in the letter that I'd not recalled seeing a notice of default and asked if they could kindly remove it. I had missed a payment on the account, through no fault of my own, the direct debit did not come out, and upon noticing I paid the amount due.

The account had been in arrears for a number of years and my credit file stated '6' for a number of those. I received a telephone call from the bank this morning apologising for the inconvenience. They stated that they had made a mistake and the default should have been put on my credit file in 2011 and it was their intension to apply it from then with immediate affect. By way of apology they offered me £50 compensation. They were very quick to ask if I would consider the case now closed, which made me wonder if something was amiss.

Could anyone shed any light on whether I have grounds to get the default removed? They are going to forward me the notice of default from 2011 in the post.

Essentially they won't remove a default.

What they are trying to do is stop you taking action against them for putting inaccurate information on your cra record. £50 is an insult, in all honesty. Taking £50 i'd want all records expunged. Failing that i'd be looking for compensation nearer 4 figures.

Read Durkin and Grace.

M1

[schnyder]

Re: Default advice

M1,
How is it any different from asking for a correction which is what all cra advice says to do? They make no mention of asking for compensation. In both studies the clients were out of pocket as a result of marks on their credit files. I'm not out of pocket from it. The only difference is that the default will fall off two years earlier than expected.

[mystery1]

Re: Default advice

http://www.shweb.pwp.blueyonder.co.u...20woolwich.pdf

You may not be out of pocket but your reputation has been besmirched. Of course you might be out of pocket and not know. Rate jacked for instance.

The bank didn't offer £50 for fun. Negotiate hard

M1

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Default advice

Yeah, it's better having a couple of years knocked off it. I was wondering if there were any legal grounds for when the default must appear on a credit file after the notice has been issued?

See below:

The date of default recorded on the file would normally be the date on which a decision to file a default becomes effective, e.g. 28 days from the date of the default notice.

I think most defaults are put on your credit file after a few missed payments ... one late/missed payment shouldn't make that much difference (IMO) but three or four would

One late or missed payment can still be reported to the CRAs:

If you do not make your regular expected payment by the agreed time and/or for the agreed amount according to your terms and conditions, the account may be reported to the CRAs as being in arrears. If this continues over time, the level of reported arrears will increase, which may result in the lender taking some form of action. This could include notification of their intention to report the account as "defaulted"

If you continue to miss payments, it will indicate that you are in financial difficulty as seen below, even before the account is defaulted.

In general, the reporting of arrears is designed to indicate that the expected payment, whether a fixed sum (as in the case of many products) or required minimum (in the case of credit and store cards), has not been paid according to the terms and by the due date. The purpose of reporting arrears is to indicate at the earliest reasonable opportunity that a customer is showing signs of potential financial difficulty. Arrears are reported as missed payments through status codes such as 1, 2 etc which are based on the number of months missed. Generally by the time the account is 3 months in arrears, the lender may be taking further action such as reporting the account as defaulted (see Principle 4). Missed payments may continue to rise and be reported up to a maximum of 6. On some products this may continue to show as 6 until the lender takes action and reports the account as being in default.

4. If you fall into arrears on your account, or you do not keep to the revised terms of an arrangement, a default may be recorded to show that the relationship has broken down.

As a general guide, this may occur when you are 3 months in arrears, and normally by the time you are 6 months in arrears. There are exceptions to this which may result in a default being recorded at a later stage, such as secured or long term loans e.g. mortgages, or if the product operates in a more flexible way e.g. current accounts, student loans, home credit.

The are various things that get reported to the CRAs, other than just defaults. The above quotes are extracts from the updated Principles for the Reporting of Arrears, Arrangements and Defaults at Credit Reference Agencies published by the ICO: http://www.scoronline.co.uk/files/sc...ment_final.pdf

They also publish a useful guide to credit reporting: http://ico.org.uk/for_the_public/top...p-guidance.pdf

[mystery1]

Re: Default advice

The data was/is inaccurate and Grace makes it crystal clear, accurate info only and don't be guessing and making shit up either.

"

1. As for the second submission, I have not been persuaded that the shortcomings in the CRAs' registration systems can excuse a registration which is in substance inaccurate because of an omission (namely that the 'default' related to an unenforceable agreement). If an accurate registration cannot be accommodated, then the answer is for the industry to change its registration systems, and in the meantime for inaccurate registrations not to be made."

M1

[mark andrew]

Re: Default advice

Hi schydner,

I concer with m1 the info is inaccurate in the fact it was added two years late and would push for the defaults to be removed and more compensation.
Somebody cocked up by not adding the data to the credit file when they should of