Trouble with o2 defaults

[rodenal]

Im a bit confused and increadibly annoyed at o2 mobiles just now.

Recently upon requesting a copy of my credit report i noticed there are 2 defaults against my name by o2 online.

Obviously never having had any letters or phonecalls about this i am slightly miffed, so i wrote to them using one of the templates available to request information for a bank/loan default.

The reply i got states that 'as per the terms and conditions of your contract you received when taking out your phone, payment o invoices is due on the date stated on the bill, if an invoice is not cleared within the 14 day period, llate payments leading eventually to a default will load. As such o2 do not offer differed payment terms so this aspect of the consumer credit act 1974 does not apply.'

Now to me this sounds like b*llocks but obviously i'm not in the know.

How can o2 possibly place a default on my file without contacting me(i've also only ever paid 1 bill late in about 5 years of o2 phone contracts), and refuse to provide proof that they at least tried to send me the default notice?

Also if they are not regulated by the 1974 credit act then surely the defaults are illegal?

[rodenal]

Reading through these forums it would appear that these defaults from mobile phone companies will not have a serious effect on my credit file, is this correct? I'm not too fussed about it if this is the case, and obviously my standing with o2 hasnt been affected as they have given me a renewed contract since the last one was placed.

It doesnt seem to appear any differently on my experian report.

[buzby]

No the defaults are not 'illegal', as the term itself is not exclusive to a CCJ or CCA contract. Any firm who complains about the way you do business with them can hold you in 'default' and tell their pals at a CRA. A mobile phone contract is for telephone service, NOT consumer credit, so there's no requirement for it to be regulated under the act. It is simply a late or missed payment, nothing more - and does not have the severity of scoring that 'real' defaults will have (although if there are lots, the cumulative points will build up).

I'll try to get a Sticky placed in this sub-forum to warn folk that filling out CCA templates for service contracts are wrong and should not be sent, as it makes those applying look foolish, especially when they may well have legitimate claims of penalty charges or non-DDM fees that CAN be reclaimed, but are not CCA issues.

[rodenal]

Yeah to be honest even when sending the letter i questioned whether they were regulated by a credit act as they werent technically issuing credit.

Am i best not to attempt to take this further (as there are only 2 of these late payment defaults)?

Still annoyed that o2 can place these marks on my file but arent required to tell me they're expecting a payment they havent got, after all its in their interest

[buzby]

The trouble is, when taking on the contract you agreed to them telling anyone they liked about your dealings with them (mind you, you're doing the same here, so it's a pity it doesn;t have as much clout!).

They would probably argue that if you're billed monthly you should expect a black mark if you don't pay them in time. On balance, your tardyness in paying will be made more difficult for you because of the additions to your credit record, so faced with the inconvenience of asking you nicely to pay, they can automaticcally stuff you with a late payment flag. Makes you wonder whether it's worth doing business with them. If nobody did, the practice would stop!

[ian cognito]

Are you sure these are defaults and not just late payment markers? Your post claims you have only paid one bill late, if this is the case there is no way you should have a default on your file, send an S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) to them to see exactly what the default is for and how many payments were late or missed. The SAR info will also include any default notice they will have sent you, or indeed, show if they haven't. Athough the contract won't be covered by the CCA, if the account wasn't in default, the notice should be removed and compensation paid.

[rodenal]

Well on my experian report there are two seperate o2 items with status of 8(i.e default) which also have the default balance noted on them.

The only difference i can see between these entries and any others is that in the type of agreement it has telecomms rather than loan etc.

I'm going to request the information from them today and see what they say.

[bazak1]

sorry for jumping in folks, but when you say the item has a status of 8, the numbers used are configured to how late you actually are up to a fixed point. if you have only missed one payment, i dont quite understand how it could have an 8 on it. anyone explain ??

[ian cognito]

Baz, thats why I suggested the S.A.R - (Subject Access Request), this will show a statement of account and so the degree of late payments, if there's an error it can be corrected.

[bazak1]

thanks Ian. was i correct in thinking the above, and that if you miss a payment by one month, they mark it as a one etc on your credit rating, just as all on-time payments are marked as a zero. that is how i have always taken it, and yes the S A R will confirm one way or the other.

[rodenal]

Yeah thats what i thought, and as a result of this i didnt understand how i could have a default listed after one payment, i'll be sending a S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) to them tomorrow