@vodafoneuk Vodafone Default on credit file

[gordonhutchison]

After obtaining an Equifax credit report in May last year I found out I had an £18 default notice placed under my name in January 2010 from Vodafone that was generated after I finished my contract and moved to another provider.

I immediatly called Vodafone to pay it off and explained to them that when cancelling my contract in September 2009 I was never made aware of any outstanding debt;

 

I also queried this defaul through Equifax and received this response:

 

The £18 default recorded on this customers account is as a result of the account being transferred to Fredprime debt collecting agency for non payment of the September 2008 invoices. The default was satisfied with a zero balance outstanding as Payment for the overdue debt was finally received in full on 17th March 2011. We received the customer’s cancellation notice on 6th August 2009 and the account was cancelled on 4th September 2009. Customer was liable for all charges up to this date. The default and adverse information recorded on the customers credit file for this account has been recorded correctly and is valid information that remains recorded on the customer credit file for 6 years from the date of default as the account was transferred to a debt collecting agency for non payment. We are obliged by Equifax, Experian and Callcredit credit reference agencies to show a true reflection of our customer’s payment history with Vodafone. It is required to be held on the customers credit file for 6 years for the purpose of credit referencing and will not be removed.

 

Yet when checking my Vodafone account on Equifax every single payment for the duration of the contract was a green box (which means paid on time)!?!?!?!

 

Proof of all payments made on time below:

 

Screenshot of my equifax report showing Vodafone account always paid on time and defaulting after contract cancel date, then the payment I made in 2011 after finding out this default existed

 

I have obscured my name and date of birth for obvious reasons

 

 

 

However after settling the outstanding £18 in May 2011 I though no more about it for over a year until I applied for a mortgage at the beginning of this month; needless to say every lender I have applied to has refused my application due to this tiny default amount of £18 that Vodafone or their debt recovery associates never made me aware of!!!!!

 

As this contract was cancelled in September 2009 I do not have any of my old paperwork and whenever I have tried to call vodafone to plead for this default notice to be REMOVED from my credit file not just marked as Settled, I have hit a brick wall because I have no account numbers or paperwork left.

 

Is there anything more I can do, or anyone on the forum who can assist as I cannot buy my first house due to this three year old default for the tiny sum of £18 that I was never made aware of

 

I have been advised by a friend of the family who runs his own accountancy firm to contact Citizens advice and perhaps the small claims court to resolve the issue, is this correct?

 

 

Thank you

Edited March 30, 2012 by gordonhutchison

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

The statement is correct a default notice would have been sent

and if you did not act on that then the default is entered.

We have a VF rep on CAG I''l flag this for his attention.

The only chance you have of getting this removed is a gesture

of good will from VF as the amount is small and has been paid.

[BankFodder]

This was tweeted by Vodafone:-

Vodafone UK ‏ @VodafoneUK

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@Real_CAG Thanks, Lee will be on hand on CAG as soon as possible to help. ^SK

Retweeted by ConsumerActionGroup

[gordonhutchison]

Thank you for your input Brigadier; however I can say with 100% certainty that I never received any correspondance indicating that I had an outstanding debt balance, nor was I made aware of this when cancelling my Vodafone contract.

 

I have always been very conscientious when dealing with my finances, which is why as soon as I found out this default existed I immediatly called Vodafone to pay it off.

 

If Vodafone were willing to remove this default as a gesture of goodwill it would make such a massive difference to my problems trying to buy my first house....it was only for £18. I would never have risked adverse credit for such a small ammount

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

I've flagged it for Lees attentio.

[gordonhutchison]

I've flagged it for Lees attentio.

 

 

Thank you very much, your help is appreciated

 

Hopefully Lee can help, if not I'll follow the information priveded on the forum and contract the Information Commisioners Office regarding the issue

Edited March 30, 2012 by gordonhutchison

[locutus]

Also follow this advice

Hi CAG members,

We thought it would be nice to introduce ourselves and to assure you all that our presence on CAG is with the very best of intentions.

vodafone UK has recently introduced a dedicated Web Relations Team which is keen to seek out customers who’re having difficulties with their accounts and feel that they have no other place to turn to than CAG and other consumer forums and blogs.

Naturally, it’s not possible for us to help directly with account specific queries on CAG and as such we would encourage those members who feel we can help them to contact us privately at customer.care@help.vodafone.co.uk quoting ‘WRT135 – CAG Forum’ in the subject line to ensure that it reaches the Web Relations Team.

When emailing us we would also ask that you either provide us with a link to your post or thread – if you’ve posted in another member’s thread please also provide your CAG username so that we can check what your query is.

 

and when you get an automated reply, it will have a 7 digit reference number. Post that here then Lee can match your details.

[gordonhutchison]

Also follow this advice

 

 

and when you get an automated reply, it will have a 7 digit reference number. Post that here then Lee can match your details.

 

Thank you for that; email sent.

 

I will update thread with reference no. when I receive a reply

[gordonhutchison]

Also follow this advice

 

 

and when you get an automated reply, it will have a 7 digit reference number. Post that here then Lee can match your details.

 

Thank you for that; email sent.

 

I will update thread with ref no. when I receive a reply

[gordonhutchison]

Thank you; email sent

[gordonhutchison]

Thank you; email sent

[gordonhutchison]

Vodafone Web relations team email response number: #8733706

Edited March 30, 2012 by gordonhutchison

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Hi gordonhutchison,

 

Thanks for raising your concerns and for following the guidance provided while I was away.

 

I can confirm that I've received your email and as such will get back to you as soon as possible.

I've flagged it for Lees attentio.

 

Thanks for the PM Brig - it's appreciated as ever.

 

This was tweeted by Vodafone:-

Vodafone UK ‏ @VodafoneUK

 

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@Real_CAG Thanks, Lee will be on hand on CAG as soon as possible to help. ^SK

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Thanks for retweeting us BankFodder and for making the OP aware that we'd seen their thread.

 

Kind regards to you all.

 

Lee

 

Web Relations Team

 

Vodafone UK

[gordonhutchison]

Hi all,

 

Quick update to my original post to say that the mystery default has been removed from my credit file by Vodafone.

 

My thanks to Lee for his assistance in this matter, also thanks to the other contributers on the CAG forum for all their assistance.

 

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Hi gordonhutchison,

 

Thanks for updating your thread to confirm that this has been resolved.

 

Best wishes,

 

Lee

 

Web Relations Team

 

Vodafone UK