Default Registered 2 years late

[callahan]

Hi,

 

I am struggling to get Marbles Credit Card to change the default date they report to CRA's to a more accurate date.

 

June 2002 - Get a new Marbles credit card.

May 2009 - I lost my job. After 7 years of paying my credit card on time i am now struggling. The world financial crisis does not

seem to be a temporary one so I write to Marbles explaining my financial hardship.

June 2009 - I write to Marbles again. I have not used my card since i lost my job. I cut and return my card. I am advised by

Marbles to seek advice from the CCCS.

July 2009 - I report my financial situation to Marbles via the CCCS. I am unable to make my contractual obligations.

Sept 2009 - Following the advice of the CCCS i make token payments of £1 to Marbles. However Marbles continue to add £200

interest and charges per month to my account.

Aug 2010 - Marbles agree to stop adding interest and charges to the account after many plea's from myself.

Sept 2011 - I am still making token payments. Marbles decide to sell my debt to a DCA.

Sept 2011 - Marbles report a default with CRA. My other credit cards did this in 2009.

Nov 2011 - My financial situation improves and my monthly payments improve to the DCA.

Sept 2012 - I discover that the Marbles default is registered 2 years after i had stop making payments. I write to Marbles asking

for the default date to be corrected to within 6 mths of when i stopped making payments in 2009.

Aug 2013 - After being ignored for almost 6 moths a dialogue begins and eventually ends in August with their final response of

rejection.

Aug 2013 - I contact the Financial Ombudsman.

 

Today: I receive a letter from the Ombudsman rejecting my complaint on the basis that a default is registered whenever Marbles decides the financial relationship has broken down. They decided this in Sept 2011.

 

I have been working full time now for 2 years and have almost paid off my old credit cards. However i am unable to apply for any credit or get a mortgage because of the defaults. The defaults are all going to disappear in a year and a half. However the Marbles one will stay on my file for a further 3.5 years because they registered it 2 years after i stopped making my payments.

 

I am being punished for paying my debts. Had i ignored them i would be financially better off and the default would have been registered in 2009.

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Guest]

did you complain also to the ICO?

their default guide if not seen already http://www.ico.org.uk/for_organisations/guidance_index/~/media/documents/library/Data_Protection/Detailed_specialist_guides/default_tgn_version_v3%20%20doc.ashx

was it an adjudicator or ombudsman decision from the fos?

Edited December 6, 2013 by Ford

[renegadeimp]

Get the FOS to escalate it. It seems that they are getting the adjudicators to find in favour of the lender purely to get the 'queues' down as they are swamped with complaints.

[callahan]

I do want to escalate it as it seems ridiculous that i am being punished for paying my debts and would have been far better off not paying them. ie. Financially & credit file wise.

 

I have complained that the ICO guidelines state a default should be registered within 6 months of when it happens not 2 years and 4 months later. I have also complained that the decision to register the default so late has left me worse off than someone who made no effort to pay their debt at all.

 

However my complaints seem to have fallen on deaf ears.

 

The letter, with the decision to side with Marbles, quotes the following from ICO guidelines;

 

The term ‘default’, when recorded on a credit reference file should be used to refer to a situation when “the lender in a standard business relationship with the individual decides the relationship has broken down"

 

In my instance the lender 'decided' this had happened when they sold the debt in Sept 2011.

[silverfox1961]

Hi

The decision was made by an adjudicator at the FOS. I think this needs to be escalated to the Ombudsman.

 

The OFT debt collection guidance states that where token payments are being made (and yours most definitely was) the lender should place an immediate default.

 

There may also be a case to complain using C.O.B.S (loads of research for you there)

 

Basically, financial companies have a duty to treat consumers fairly.

[silverfox1961]

This article may shed some light on this.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19511542

[renegadeimp]

Key word there being GUIDANCE. DCA's know this and think they do not have to follow it as its merely a guideline. One day someone in government will have the balls to make it statutory legislation.

[callahan]

Thanks for the advice and the great article.

[callahan]

Hi,

 

I have a default with Marbles Credit Card which i feel is incorrect. Should i pursue my complaint with the aim of;

 

1. backdating the default to the correct default date? This would mean it drops of my file in 1.5 years time instead of 3.5.

2. Or do i have grounds for it to be removed altogether? 50% of the debt is still outstanding.

 

 

Timeline.

 

2002. Received my new Marbles credit card. For 7 years i never miss a payment.

 

May 2009. Lost my job. Informed Marbles i was no longer able to make the repayments.

June 2009. I cut and return my Marbles credit card. I request all charges stop.

Sept 2009. Following the advice of the CCCS i set up a token £1 payment to Marbles per month. I again request that the debt is not made larger by adding interest and charges.

 

July 2010. Marbles finally freeze all charges and interest after many more pleas and £2,200 added to my debt.

 

Sept 2011. Marbles register a default date of Sept 2011 and sell the debt to a debt collector.

 

 

I have sent numerous letters to Marbles asking them to change the default date to when the default happened in 2009. They refuse.

 

 

Evidence to support my case that the default date is incorrect:

 

 

According to the ICO Data protection technical guidance to filling defaults with credit reference agencies;

 

1. Guidance note 9 suggests that my default occurred as soon as I failed to meet my contractual obligations in 2009. “A default is said to occur as soon as a borrower fails to meet the terms of their credit agreement”

 

2. Marbles delayed the default of the account for over 2 years and benefited in this decision by adding £2000 plus interest charges to my account.

 

3. Guidance note 11 suggests the account should have been defaulted no later than six months after May 2009. “Accounts should normally be filed as being in default where those payments due have not been received for six months.”

 

4. Marbles filed the default when they decided to write off the debt and sell it to an external debt collection agency in Sept 2011. This action shows;

 

- inconsistency with the rest of the industry

- The decision to write off the debt is an internal policy and should not the determining factor when registering a default.

 

Guidance note 6: “It is now recognised within the credit industry that information placed on a credit reference file should meet consistent standards and, therefore, that defaults should be filed in similar circumstances to each other. As far as possible these circumstances should be defined objectively. This guidance does not relate to lenders’ internal policies regarding collection activities or decisions to write off debts, and so on. It is concerned solely with the filing of information for credit referencing purposes. Such internal policies and practices should not be the determining factor in when and how a default is filed.”

 

5. Marbles have argued that they registered the default when they decided the relationship had broken down in Sept 2011. The fact is the relationship had not changed since 2009 and i was still making token payments. Furthermore the ICO gives the following indications in guidance note 10 of when a relationship has broken down.

 

- “The lender takes or has taken steps to cut off the service provided”

 

I was told that my card would be stopped. I was told to refrain from attempting to use the card. I was told to cut the card and return it, which i did. I never used the service again from May 2009 when I also informed Marbles that I had lost my job.

 

- “The customer has not made satisfactory proposals in response to a demand for repayment”

 

Since losing my job in May 2009 I was unable to make satisfactory proposals to Marbles in response to their demands for payment. My token £1 payments from Oct 2009 were understandably unsatisfactory as this would lead to an over 100 years repayment schedule.

 

- “The customer has given clear indication that they do not intend to meet their contractual obligations.”

 

In May/June 2009 I returned my credit card and informed Marbles that I will not meet my contractual obligations. I gave Marbles further clear indications that I will not meet my contractual obligations on numerous occasions before making token £1 payment starting Oct 2009.

 

- “Lenders should not file a default where there is a genuine and agreed variation in the payment schedule. (The only exception to this is where a debt management programme is put in place where the level of repayment represents only a token sum which is only accepted by the lender because the customer cannot afford to pay more.”

 

This suggests that the default should have been registered no later than five months after I lost my job and made my first £1 token payment in Oct 2009. This would also be inline with the 3 - 6 month guideline.

 

6. I would have been better of financially and credit score wise had I not made the efforts I did to honour my debt. This is against guidance note 19 on informal rescheduling of the agreement.

 

“Where a rescheduling of this type breaks down, a default may be filed when the total value of the arrears is equivalent to three monthly payments under the original terms. However, this should not result in the customer being placed in a worse position than someone who has made no effort to pay whatsoever. “

 

7. The £1 token payment started in Oct 2009 is considered a low repayment level. It is all that I could afford at the time. As such a default should have been registered immediately according to guideline 24.

 

“If the payment set out in the DMP is at a level that represents only a token sum in repayment, because that is all the customer can afford, the account should be recorded as a default.”

 

 

I have asked the data controller for a copy of the default and awaiting a response. I have also asked for a signed copy of the credit agreement.

 

I feel there is good evidence to suggest the default date of Sept 2011 is unreliable. If i do have grounds for the default to be removed then that would be my first choice.

 

...but. Could they register one now and start the 6 year clock rolling?

 

My next best option will be to proceed in having the default backdated to the correct date in 2009.

 

Hope someone out there can help.

[dx100uk]

new thread merged with the existing one on this subject

 

please keep to one thread

 

dx

[dx100uk]

so....have you written back to the FOS wanting it escalated ?

 

dx

[callahan]

I haven't just yet as i need to clarify what resolution i require.

 

Request that the default is backdated? Or do i have grounds for it to be removed altogether?

 

PS: Sorry. I was trying to find a way to end the previous thread which was solely to do with backdating.

[dx100uk]

under ICO guidance you should be able to get it moved

 

I doubt removal will ever be a reality.

 

unless the debt gets sold to a DCA

 

then often the dca will remove a default under a settlement agreement.

 

dx

[callahan]

Thanks.

 

It has been sold to a DCA however the default is registered by Marbles and only Marbles can alter or delete it. (So i have been led to believe)

 

Are there examples of DCA removing original creditors defaults as part of a settlement?

[renegadeimp]

The default will be transferred to the new owners name if its been sold on.

[callahan]

Many thanks

[dx100uk]

and yes they do remove them!

 

dx