Hi all,

Don't know whether this is the right place or if anyone can help but here goes.

I am repaying an overdraft on a Halifax bank account and have agreed monthly repayments with their collections department and have just renewed for another six months.

I have not missed any payments.

I have looked at my credit file and noticed that my Halifax account has an AR marker on it but is also showing as being up to date.

I have checked and this means "arrangement to pay"

I also note that it could affect my credit, even though it is showing as up to date and no payments have been missed.

I have the same decreasing overdraft agreement with Co-Operative Bank and note that there is no AR marker with them.

The only difference is that Halifax have frozen interest and charges at zero,

the Co-Op overdraft is so small that interest is charged but over the eight months it will take to clear, it is negligible.

I don't know if Halifax are within their rights to do this,

can someone more knowledgeable please advise?

Also, the overdraft will not be cleared in six months

so I will have to contact them again and request an extension to the repayments.

If they say they will refer (sell) the debt to a collections agency,

what rights do I have,

I would prefer to deal with Halifax directly, can I request this?

Thanks

Hi Wilsp and Welcome to CAG

Im afraid creditors are allowed to assign a debt at any time or pass it on to a DCA to act on their behalf.

Regards

Andy

you could certainly complain about the AP markers

ideally they should not be used 'forever'

as they stay forever [can be seem upto 12yrs later as they never vanish

unlike a default which makes the whole account vanish on its 6th birthday.

there has been good successes with getting the creditor to register a post dated default on the third AP marker

type AP marker in the search CAG box of the red toolbar up top.

as for the certificate.

it wont make a monkies diff to you credit file

SOME brokers will give a better deal with one IF that is you ONLY negative part on your CRA file.

I had a look and the AP search showed up mainly people who had or should have a default marker placed on their file.

My file is showing as up to date with Hfx (green with AR)

my aim is to clear the overdraft in twelve months,

I have agreed an interest and charges freeze until June,

a month before then I need to call back and see what they say.

I have seen many threads that say DCA's have no powers and can be ignored,

my concern is that although I am still dealing with Halifax directly until June,

they may "sell" the overdraft to a DCA,

I would certainly prefer to keep dealing directly with Halifax until it is repaid.

I cannot understand why they have put an AR marker on my file and the Co-Op have not,

when I have sorted all this out I would like to look at getting a mortgage but if the AR marker stays on for six years then I may have difficulty, is that right??

yes AR will kill a mortgage but so will that satisfied CCJ.

when do these AR markers start?

They started when I agreed to the repayments, June last year.

I don't have any CCJ's, the rest of my file has no issues.

sorry another user like you with a CCJ.

well if its june 2016 no a default wont help you no as such.

dunno appeal to Halifax's better nature? re the AP

so as andy said, notsure what you can do.

unless they sell it

you can ignore any dca

What annoys me is that even though I contacted them to make an arrangement to pay, I am treated as though I have defaulted.

Yes, I know I shouldn't have run up such a high overdraft,

but I want to get on top of things and ensure it doesn't happen again.

That there is no standard across the banking industry for repayments and getting out of financial difficulty needs addressing.

they don't care

they expect you to seek advice from the organisations that they point too in their attachment documentation.

they should, and are obliged too....

point you toward debt management help orgs