Hello. for the past couple of years my credit score has not been very good.a thing that annoys me is this. i still have 2 defaults showing to "british gas" one for £180 another for £259.the debt for £180 was sent to "avantis" i contacted avantis after receiving a letter they said if i paid it on that day they would half the amount so i said ok.and i paid £90 with my debit card. and never heard from them again. though the £180 still shows on my credit report - owed to british gas. some time ago i received another letter from avantis, asking me for the £259 british gas had sent this to them also. i said to avantis i would not pay anything to them,and i would contact british gas and pay them back direct to them. when i spoke to british gas,they told me i did not owe them anything as they had sent it to avantis, and they had no record of my accounts with them anymore. since then i have never heard back from avantis after telling them i was going to pay british gas not them as i also said to him at avantis "take me to court" i didnt care. the £259 still shows on my credit score as a default to british gas even though they have now washed there hands of it i would like to know how i am able to take these defaults from my credit score ? any help would be much appreciated.

Hi all, Although this is my first post I have spent the last 3 month reading advise givien to other members on this forum. On 20/02/09 I sent CCA requests to 12 creditors (11 creditcards & 1 unsecured loan). So far I have recieved 1 signed agreement form Liverpool Victoria. The responses from the others so far are listed below. Abbey: None Halifax: Returned request as Postal order didn't have a Payee Name on it. Barclaycard: Sent me a photocopied leaflet of Barclacards Conditions. Mint: None RBS: None Tesco: None HSBC: None Egg: Refused to issue as my letter was not signed. MBNA: None Capital One: Sent me a leaflet of Terms & Conditions. Post Office: None I am under the impression that as 12+2 days has now passed I can dispute the debt. I have a standard letter to send those who have not responded or have sent T&C's. However can anybody give me advice on how to deal those creditors who have refused to process my CCA request (Egg & Halifax)? thanks. Me against them!

This is the first time I have used the site so please bare with me. I have searched and read through a lot of succesful cases on here but unfortunately I have not been so lucky and I'm looking for any advice that might help me turn this around. I have 3 Negative markers against my credit report. 2 defaults and an arrangement to pay marker. My first default is by Hutchison 3G for £12.00. I had problems from day 1 with 3G. I had taken out one of those internet dongles back in 2008 and it was basically useless, it was replaced countless times by 3 and resulted in me refusing to pay for a service I wasnt receiving for a small period of time. Although I didnt want to I did continue paying as I didnt want to end up with bad credit but having thought the account was closed and settled, I find the default for just £12.00 registered against me. I have written a polite and apologetic letter to 3G explaining I'm looking to apply for a mortgage, financial problems it is causing for my family, that it's such a small amount and the adverse effect it is having etc. 3G have written back a tiny 1 paragraph letter basically saying it is a true reflection of how the account was managed and they wont be removing the default. My second default is with T-Mobile. I moved home and did not realise I had one final payment left on my contract. The outstanding balance was £57.17. This appeared on my credit report, I contacted T-Mobile who advised the debt had been passed to a DCA and they could not accept payment but passed me the DCA details. I contacted the DCA who advised the settlement figure was £45 which I paid immediately. I then find a default registered against me by T-Mobile for £7.17! I called T-Mobile who said they don't know why I was told to only pay £45 and this time they were prepared to accept the remaining £7.17 directly. Similar letter (as the 3G one) to T-Mobile who have responded advising as the DCA told me to pay £45, despite the default being registered by T-Mobile, to take my issue up direct with the DCA, who can't do anything as they didnt register the default. T-Mobile are just advising there is nothing they can do. Finally, HFC bank have registered an "arrangement to pay" marker against me. I never needed an arrangement to pay for the account and never agreed to one. My payments remained the same every month apart from 1 late payment until I settled the account early. Again, similar letter to HFC but they just flat out dont respond. Sorry it is a bit of a rant I just wanted to be clear about my situation. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Just a quickie (sorry, I should probably know the answer to this but have forgotten). I have the same account on my credit file from both Barclays and Lowell, although they have slightly different reference numbers, default dates and amounts they are in fact the same account. Who should I contact to challenge these, Barclays, Lowell, or both? If it is one or the other rather than both, is that organisation responsible for informing the other organisation to correct their records or do I have to do this? Thanks again, Andrew

Should a company reduce the balance showing on your credit file even if it is defaulted? I have one company that is reducing the balance after each payment but another which seems to be refusing to do so. It's been defaulted since Feb 2013 and hasn't gone to a DCA yet.

Hi guys, I have been attempting to deal with this but getting nowhere fast! I'm sure that these DCAs drag their feet deliberately, hoping people will pay up to clean their records up. There are two issues here but I figured they're so similar that I may as well keep them in one thread. Since I got my credit files for the first time ever in May, there has been a default registered in my name by Cabot Financial at a previous address. The account was opened after I left the address and it's for around £250 for a JD Williams group debt. I've sent address history proof back in May and have brought this up with Equifax and Experian more than once (Cabot just come back and say it's correct). I've written several letters, getting nowhere. They've written to me this week asking for my address history so they can complete their investigation (AGAIN). They've also moved the default from my previous address to my current address. I know for a fact that they have no CCA as I never signed one (obvs). - Are they allowed to move the default to my current address? - What are the implications of them doing so? - What next steps would folk advise? - Does anyone have experience of reaching a satisfactory resolution in a similar instance? Secondly, three weeks ago, another default appeared on my credit files for the first time. Its for £300 to Littlewoods and is held by Arrow Global. This is in a slightly different name to mine and has a different date of birth. Weirdly, the address is a uni hall of residence that I lived in in 2005/2006 and the date is 2008! I've sent a copy of my driving licence and proof that I lived elsewhere in 2008 but they're dragging their feet too! - Any advice on this one? - Surely they're breaking some law by reporting this as mine? I've sent off a CCA request to both of these this week, and have demanded the removal of both accounts. I'm not hopeful though. Any thoughts?

Hello All, I was wondering if someone could help me. I have a number of Defaults on my file of which are now satisfied. I understand that these can possibly be removed by the company involved but they usually would not do this or would charge a fee. I was wondering if anyone may have a template of a letter I could send the companies concerned. Also if someone could possibly tell me the legal aspects surrounding satisfied defaults and removal. I understand that they are supposed to stay on my file for 6 years. However when I have paid off some of my debts the company have removed the default and marked as satisfied. I am a little confused! Thanks in advance! S

Hi im just wondering if any one could help me or give me some advise, i recently checked my credit report (because i was going to apply for a mortgage). I noticed that British Gas have issued 2 defaults onto my account 1 for electric and 1 for Gas. These defaults have been issued on a property i used to live at, The defaults were issued 14/05/2011 and the accounts were started on 20/01/2009.. My wife and i separated and i left the family home late 2008 and i notified British Gas of this. I have had no letters from them and i certainly didn't receive and letters stating they was issuing defaults (which by law they have to 'Consumer Credit Act 1974') I have emailed British gas regarding this matter requesting the removal of these defaults and they replied by asking for the account numbers to the accounts, because they couldn't find no accounts under my name and address. I emailed them back stating the accounts were not mine so i would not have the account numbers, i sent them a copy of my credit report to show the defaults. So far they have not replied. If anymore has been in this situation and has any advise on how i can get these defeats removed i would be grateful

Apologies in advance if my post is not in correct forum. My question is a general one in regards to default notices. Everytime a DCA transfers or sells my unsecured debts on will a new default appear on my credit file? Will these default run for 6 years? Having recently checked my credit rating on Noddle my debts have all had default notices registered in the names of the new DCA's. The debts are 4 years old mainly credit cards. Despite trying to do the right thing and pay off my debts, feel like throwing in the towel. Any advice will be gratefully received. Graham B

Hello; I am hoping that someone will be able to help us here as i am currently getting mixed replies from various other websites. My Wife and I have just started applying for mortgages. When we retrieved our credit reports from Credit Expert and Noddle we notice a large number of Defaults (6) and 1 CCJ on my wifes report. there are 4 related to Lowell that were for: 1. £571 - has been passed to fredericksons and we believe is now the CCJ, as the CCJ is for the same amount. Lowell have refused to talk to me about this and have told me to speak directly to Fredericksons 2. £159.84 for Littlewoods, £718 for Great Universal. 3. £26.27 for Orange. I paid this today just to get rid of it. The points raised at number 2 seemed odd to my wife and I. I requested a copy of the Original default Notice but lowell said they do not have that and that we should contact Shop Direct who they told us where the originators of the debt. My wife contact them and they said they had no record of my Wife's details. My wife then contacted Great Universal who were able to locate my wifes details. They have said they have no details on their system regarding the accounts. My wife asked them for the original default notices and they have referred my wife to their debt collection department, but they will not be open until Monday. We have set up payment agreements with Lowell for these for now for £30 a month (£15 on each account). I need advice regarding: a. Should we be paying this if the original creditor has no information? b. Can we get these defaults removed from her credit history? :???::???::???::???::???:

Hi CAG, I have been a lurker for some time now and seen some great threads on here and great advice, seems like Brigadier is the man :_ Anyway I need some major help, the girlfriend is dropping hints to live together and get a place. My credit is terrible I cannot even get an Aqua, Vanquis card or even that Smile card formerly known as Rise, so I need some major help so I can get things sorted. I am in a strange position that I earn a very good wage now, however this makes no difference as my credit is awful due to mishandling of finances when young or in and out of work. I know I have no one but to blame but myself, however I am now in a much better place financially and want to stop my past ruining my future. My credit score on the credit expert site is 96! Yes 96! I know the score means jack, but regardless that is shocking. I have 3 defaults and 4 ccjs. BCW Group PLC Account Type: Home Credit Started: 21/05/2010 Current Balance: £620 Default Date: 14/02/2011 Default Balance: £620 Everything Everywhere Account Type: Communications FCS Flag: FCS Disconnected Started: 29/05/2009 Current Balance: £128 Default Date: 24/01/2010 Default Balance: £128 Motormile Finance UK Ltd Account Type: Mail order Started: 12/09/2008 Current Balance: £195 Default Date: 01/12/2012 Default Balance: £195 So annoying that the amounts for these defaults are pretty low, but its only been recently that my financial position has changed. What can I do to get myself in a better position, I can’t get credit to show that I can keep up with repayments. Any help would be greatly received.

Hi guys, I am looking for some advice on defaults on your credit file: 1. If you have a default on your credit file with an outstanding balance, even if you are paying this monthly, will a lender be able to see that you are maintaining monthly payments while there is an outstanding balance? And even after the balance has been brought to zero, do they just look at the fack that it is a defaulted credit agreement? is it better to try and clear the balance as quickly as possible if i can while in default, or will the fact that I have maintained monthly payments during the default help my rating any? 2. I am aware that a default drops off your credit file after 6 years, but is this 6 years from the date the default was logged, or 6 years after the balance has been paid off? 3. Are the answers to both questions above the same for a CCJ? 4. If I have a debt on my credit file and i'm offered a settlement figure, and this is logged as part satisfied, how badly will this affect my credit rating? Am i better to pay the full balance so that it shows as satisfied?? Thanks.

Hi, this is my first post so please feel free to correct me if I am following the correct etiquette. A long term relationship ended in 2008 which left me with a large amount of debt, some of this debt was ignored until it caught up with me over the last two years, I have now paid off all these debts but the defaults are still hanging over me, they are dated Sep 2008 and 2 of them for Dec 2008. I understand they will be removed from my credit report next year. Other than these items my credit report shows no late payments. I have no CCJs. After my relationship ended, I moved away and left no forwarding address, I am sure the companies concerned would have served default notices, but I never received them. Is there anything I can do to legally get these defaults removed. I have written to Cabot and Lowell (the DCAs) but they have ignored my letters. I am applying for a mortgage soon, but feel it is a pointless exercise until 2015. Thanks for your help

Sorry if in the wrong place. I checked my credit file today as for some reason i had an email from Equifax even though I cancelled my account with them last month. I noticed a new default showing as added in May with a default date of January 2012 from MacKenzie Hall, the date of birth is slightly wrong. Just underneath is a default from Studio with the same date of birth, the amount differs by £1 and the default date was December 2007. This was never paid as I was not 100% certain it was my debt, I don't recall owing studio anything when the account was closed and they ignored any correspondence asking them for any proof. I was not overly bothered as I do have a default that was due to drop in June this year and another in April next year, but now it looks like this one will drag on. I'm pretty sure that these are the same debt, what can I do to get the MacKenzie Hall one removed? Thanks for your help.

Good afternoon everyone, I have come here seeking advice to guide me for the future. I've just, very recently, come to the decision that I want to save for a house. I'm now saving, and hope to have enough money for a deposit in 6-8 years time. However, my past haunts me, and I'm lost as to what the best options would be to go about accomplishing my dream. I have obtained my credit rating from Experian, which at the present time is 712 (poor). I have many defaults against my name. This was due to not being able to meet my financial obligations because of losing my job and illness (resulting in me not being able to secure a new job for a while). I have an overview of my history, but I'm not allowed to insert an image, or post a link yet, which is unfortunate because I believe it would help no end. i.imgur.com/WAltepx.png I want to know if it's best for me to leave these be, or start paying them back???? I, foolishly, contacted 4 of them yesterday, via email, without seeking guidance first .... still yet to hear back from them. I will be extremely greatful for any, and all, help that's offered. Kind regards, Matt.

Hi all I have a friend that has a problem with the initial default date from MBNA and when I looked at my own CRA files I have a similar problem. When he looked at his CRA file MBNA did not apply a default to his CRA file until 12 months after his last payment. So in January 2014 his MBNA account will be statute barred (no acknowledgement or payment since December 2007) but the default date still has 12 months to run before the CRA file will be dropped from his CRA files. I have something similar MBNA put default on my CRA files in June 2008 my last payment/Acknowledgement was May 2007, thus my CRA file will have MBNA default on until June 2014 and will not drop off until June 2014 when it is already statute barred now. For myself I am not worried the default date entered by MBNA is the date they accepted that the debt was unenforceable and I will not be applying for any credit. For my friend it is a bit more difficult his debt is not unenforceable and he is keeping his head down until his debt is statute barred. dpick

Apologies for the length of email in advance. In 2004 I found myself in very difficult financial circumstances due to business failure. Since that time I have managed to turn my life around and am now on a sound financial footing once more. As documented on here I had a couple of run ins with Robinson Way which were successfully defended in no small part to the assistance provided on here. Prior to my financial woes I had a fairly substantial mortgage which I always managed to pay and have done so for over 10 years without fail. I am now looking to move home and now the problems have started once more. My mortgage,old private overdraft and credit card are all with the Lloyds Banking Group. The overdraft was CCJ'd in 2005 and I didn't defend. Since that time I have paid £100 each month as directed by the Court and have never missed a payment. There is still £18k outstanding but I am aware that LBG would struggle to enforce as more than 6 years have passed since judgment. Initially in 2004 I paid only token payments on the credit card of £10 per month & these "payment plans" were regularly rolled over until mid 2010. At this point as my circumstances had improved appreciably I offered to up the payments to £100 per month & this was accepted in writing and I have never missed a payment. Unfortunately despite this all having being agreed LBG issued a DN & followed it up with a solicitors letter in late 2010. The upshot of this is that i now have a Default registered in 11/10 for over £20k relating to a debt that actually defaulted in 2004. The punch line is that LBG are insisting that these debts amounting to £40k are repaid in full and in return they will rollover the mortgage onto the new property which provides far more security so it's a win/win for them. For my part I have endeavoured to settle both accounts at around 50% but have been rebuffed presumably as they are aware of my improved financial standing (they also have by business account). I did a s78 request and they were unable to locate the original agreement for the credit card. My feeling is that they need my goodwill to cooperate with them and they should make a commercial decision so that all parties can move on & I think they are being unreasonable. Rather than make increased offers to repay the very old and potentially legally unenforceable debt I think I should now go elsewhere with my mortgage and business & go on the attack regarding the very late registration of the credit card Default which is the only blemish on my credit report with everything else either settled or having fallen off. If this is a good plan I'd welcome advice on the wording required for getting the default removed which presumably requires me to fire off a letter to LBG. Many thanks.

I went into a debt management program in 2007. Today I have looked at my credit report onlt to find that some of the debts weren't defaulted until much later. For example HBOS current acount august 08 Asda credit card sold to CL not until may 2011 MBNA not until may 2011 when they sold it. There are others. Overall it will make no difference as I have a few legit defaults from 2011 and 2012. I would like to know if it is right and fair to wait so long.

I apologise if this is a dumb question but it's been making me wonder for some time now and I wonder if anyone has the answer... Apologies if this has been answered elsewhere on here... So, a default lasts on your credit file for 6 years. Is that from the date the default was issued? Or does the 6 years start from the date the debt was paid in full? If I have missed 3 consecutive payments, do these class as 3 defaults for one debt or can they only default me once? I'm not planning on getting any defaults, just to be clear. Unfortunately they're already there after stupidly getting myself into debt but, even though I know it's going to take at least 6 yrs, I really want to try to clean up my report so would like to know how it works, so to speak. Thanks in advance for your replies

Hi There. I was just wondering if anyone could help me with this. I have just recently obtained my credit reports and have a number of defaults on them, i am planning to pay these off. However for example i have one for £119 from 2009 now im happy to pay this but will it then be 6 years from the date i pay it before it is removed from my report? Or will it remain 6 years from when the account defaulted? Also how do people go about contacting these companies i have my name, address & the company who has defaulted the account, is this enough for them to find the defaulted debt? Sorry for all the questions help would be very much appreciated. P.s Can i also ask how long do searches stay on my report for? & do they just get removed after a certain time or do i have to ask for them to be removed? P.p.s Some of these defaulted accounts im being chased by comapnies that have brought the debt from the original lender, should i be contacting the lender whom i originally had the credit from?

Hello, Im hoping I can get some advice on this situation as it's crippling me! Not used CAG for a while so please accept my apologies if I'm in the wrong area. I had/have a Halifax One credit card which I ran perfectly until late 2011. My finances took a huge turn for the worse, something had to give and I was unable to pay the bill for two months. In the third month I contacted Halifax, went through a statement of means and was offered an arrangement to pay totalling £40 a month. I made the first payment by debit card and set up a DD for the others, which have been paid religiously every month since. My account (without my knowledge) was immediately passed to Apex Credit management, and since March 2012 has had a default code 8 registered every month since. I've tried looking at the ICO guidelines on defaults and as far as I can make out the definition of a default is 'a breakdown in communication', which seems odd to me as the first 8 was recorded two months after I'd made contact and a month after I'd made the first payment. It also states that the standard practice time lapse for the application of a default is six months? At no point did I receive notice of any default action and at no point was it explained to me that my account would be moved to a third party. It was defined as an 'arrangement to pay', and that's subsequently what I thought it was until I looked at my credit file three days ago. What I'd like to know is; Should an arrangement to pay notice not have been logged on my credit file and should I not have received notification that my account would be defaulted? I'd NEVER have entered into the agreement if I'd known - I'd have begged or borrowed to get myself out of the situation but this was offered to me under the guise of a way to help then seemingly thrown out of the back door to a debt collection agency.... It's hugely frustrating as I'm in the process of trying to get a mortgage and every other aspect of my file looks great. It's as if I'm being held to ransom by this one issue. I've contacted Apex, who told me that they only administer the account and pass information back to Halifax, who in turn update my credit file. Twice I've been promised a phone call back which has never materialised, so I thought it might be worth trying to get some advice on here. Surely this can't be standard practice? Is there nothing I can do about it? Many thanks for reading

During 2012 I discovered by visiting CreditExpert's Experian website that NatWest had issued a default against me in February 2011. I had no idea / had never received any communication from them to say they had taken such action. I complainted to NatWest and got nowhere - they wouldn't confirm or even explain: so I complained to the ICO Information Commissioners Office and the Financial Ombudsman Service. To cut a VERY long story short (I now have THREE thick files ...) the ICO found in my favour: "In this case we have decided that it is unlikely that NatWest have complied with the requirements of the DPA. “This is because they accept that your current account should not have been marked as in default.” “… the “breakdown in relationship” which precedes registering a default only occurred due to an error on the banks behalf, rather than as a true “breakdown in relationship” between borrower and lender. “NatWest have confirmed that they submitted instructions on 22 January 2013 to have the default removed. Good news, you may think. When I checked NatWest had indeed REMOVED the default from Experian - my credit rating is now excellent. But - on16 February 2013 - they CREATED a new default on EQUIFAX!!! The ICO say they have completed their investigation. Now what should I do? Where do I stand re redress / damages etc? For the past two years I have been unable to get credit /re-organise mortgages etc; and was turned down for a bank job because of this alleged "default"

Hi there. I don't know if I am posting in the right forum, hopefully a moderator can help me if not. This is bit of a long story so please bear with me. I got made redundant through no fault of my own September last year and have been on Jobseekers Allowance since then. Everyone knows that when you have a job you have a better lifestyle, and when you lose that job, the lifestyle dramatically changes and you cannot afford the little luxuries anymore, this is where defaults start happening on your credit file and start to get harassed by the DCAs. Anyway, I was placed on a 2 week course with a provider called Working Links. I was told that if I completed the course to their satisfaction, I would be guaranteed a job interview whether in person or phone with the Student Loans Company. Apparently they do CRB checks, person checks and credit checks even though it is a temporary admin job. (talk about paranoia and the snoopers charter). I have an Enhanced CRB which is clean so that isn't a problem. I mentioned in the first instance on the course that we, as unemployed people who had lost their jobs recently would not have squeaky clean or positively glowing credit histories and if their selection process was so rigourous, why on earth are they recruiting this way. I was told as long as debts were being paid, everything will be fine. Now this is the gist of my problem. I have defaults and a CCJ, all but two are being addressed, the two I am in dispute with consist of:- One is a mobile phone where a DCA added an extra £300 to the balance, I have requested all paper work and everything associated with it but they will not give me this information. Secondly, a credit card to Vanquis Bank. The card had payment protection on it (or whatever version of payment protection they call it) and have refused to acknowlege it and have sent Moorcroft after me, I said to them that I would not pay anything to them when payments were supposed to be protected for 2 years. So the course finished, got glowing reports and going forward to next stage. However, the course manager phoned me today and the subject of the credit check came up. he said don't mention your defaults on the phone as they will turn you down flat. I said what the hell, I told you about my defaults and my situation, why on earth did you let me finish this course if I had no chance of the end result. Heres my quandary, should I just make the creditors I am in dispute with a token offer and hope for the best as this is not a guaranteed job offer, just an interview, or just totally forget about the interview and carry on being in dispute with those two creditors. And explain to the JC+ that my credit record prevented me. Otherwise I could be admitting to these debts and still have no job. So sorry for the long post. Has anyone out there on CAG been in the same position and can help me out? Many thanks jb000

I have recently been turned down for a mortgage as I have two old defaults on my credit file. One is with NEXT directory for the sum of £295. I have emailed them however they have responded saying they cannot remove it even though it was settled in full 4 years ago. The other is with 1st Credit who acted on behalf of Barclaycard. Again, this was settled in full in February 2009. Any way to have them removed, especially the NEXT one as it will stay on my file until July 2015???

QuickQuid say this about their rollovers: "How QuickQuid Loan Extensions Work By extending your loan, you will only owe a finance charge on your next pay date, not the principal of your payday loan. The principal of your existing loan will be 'rolled over' into a new loan and you will be charged an additional finance charge. This will allow for you to wait until your next payday to pay off the full amount due on your loan. If you have a one-period loan, you will be able to extend your loan a maximum of five times. If you have a two-period loan, you may extend your loan a maximum of four times." This means that if somebody uses the maximum five extensions on a one-period loan, they could get six defaults without borrowing any more money than what they borrowed in the initial loan! All they have done is extended the time they need to pay it back. Indeed, on another site I post on somebody has posted and has received two defaults when they only took out one loan; one for the initial debt and one for the rollover. Surely this can't be legal? Is it just a way for them to add lots of default fee charges to the debt? Thank you in advance for any comments.