The money was provided by the lender as a sort of internal consolidation loan... He had another loan , big overdraft, and credit card that I think we're slightly in Arrears or similar so they closed his cc, removed his od, and put it in one place but no contracts exchanged hands when this happened. Surely the lender have an obligation to prove s.87 was followed and that a valid, correctly executed agreement exists? If not, what would you recommend as a defence? Any suggestions welcome

I haven't had sight of it yet, I'm going to see my friend on Thursday to give him a hand but from what he said it is recent as apparently he has until 16th June to respond? I think they mean if he doesn't make contact by 16th June the will "un-suspend" the AOE order? Would that make the order less than 30 days old perhaps issued on 16th May? Will know for sure on Thursday but that's what I'm assuming for now

... Just done a bit more research and I would say that perhaps the best way to approach this is write to the court stating "I" wish to apply for the judgement to be set aside on the grounds that: "I" had been unaware of the proceedings due to the creditor not corresponding with me at my current residence "I" have a real defense and potential success in winning the case as I have no recollection of said alleged debt existing and believe that no valid agreement under S 78(1) of the consumer credit act exists, and that S.87 was not followed in sending a default notice prior to termination of the account / commencement of action. You think that'd do?

Hi All! Wondering if you can help. A friend of mine recently received a "Suspended attachment of earnings" order which an old creditor he had forgotten about obtained in his absence at an address he has not resided at for a year now. He has never seen sight of any paperwork until after the judgement was obtained and the solicitors ran a trace finding his current location. Obviously he would like to apply for this to be set aside due to his never having sight of the court summons or other pre-court papers from the creditor and their solicitor. I've had a look around and seen that there's a chance (but not particularly massive one) that this could be grounds for the order to be set aside, but I've been trying to search / navigate this site to find thorough details / letter templates / guidance / etc but it's all a minefield to me and can't find what I'm looking for... probably doesn't help that I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking for... Any advice as how best to proceed? Thanks in advance

Experian and Equifax report Arrangements to Pay differently. It has a more detrimental effect to your Equifax score than your Experian score, because Equifax consider an arrangement to pay as akin to a late payment, but experian don't. If shouldn't matter though because the account should be marked as settled with all three credit reference agencies (Equifax, Call Credit, Experian). If it shows as outstanding with any of the three, you should raise a Notice of Dispute direct with that CRA to have the data corrected

I remember when I applied for an MBNA card many years ago and they turned me down because my cards were too close to their limits. I can see their point though, if you have a card with a small limit, you should be able to clear most of it each month. Keep in mind MBNA / Virgin normally accept people with whom they feel comfortable handing out £2500+ limits to. It might be worth considering an RBS Group card like the Tesco credit card as they can be more lenient and have a rate for risk policy so they may just give you a higher interest rate (still WAAAAY lower than Crapital 1) rather than saying no. I'd wait a few months before applying though as two credit card applications in quick succession mighn't look great. RE: Vodafone, thanks for any input you can offer - I suppose I should SAR them to try and find as many discrepancies as possible and pull them up on every single one. As it stands I've sent their compliance team a letter demanding removal of the default on the basis that 1) a final reminder / paper default notice was never issued and 2) the DCA agreed to remove the default notice altogether if the balance was cleared in full (which it was). Just waiting to see what they come back with... ... Good luck with Tesco when you decide to re-apply (as I say, try to wait for as long as you can bear to) ...

Also do you mind sharing a little about the default removal with Vodafone? As I'm trying to get the same done for my other half at the moment

DON'T trust the credit score figures you get from Experian. They are nothing more than a marketing gimick. The same can be said for Call Credit. Every creditor has a different score sheet and will give you a different score based on the same information, depending on what their score sheet weights the most / least. I (others may disagree) have found the Equifax score to be very useful. Not because the score itself is accurate, but because it gives very useful guidelines in regard to what is positively and negatively affecting your score. If you've had missed payments / arrangements to pay in the last three years you'll have great difficulty getting a card like Virgin / MBNA. Check to see what Equifax say and go from there

Were you short of the minimum payment because the PPI hadn't been cancelled as agreed, or because of an error in judgement? You could possibly argue the following points (IN WRITING): 1. The account was not 30 days overdue, and as such the information they have reported to the credit reference agencies is incorrect. The [1] on your credit files suggest "One month in arrears". You did not fall this late. 2. The account was not underpaid, but paid in line with what you were told would fall due as a result of your cancelling the PPI. The error in payment amount was not yours, but Halifax's. You should also mention that as the error(s) fall solely with Halifax, that they are under legal obligation under the Data Protection Act 1998 to correct the errors with all three credit reference agencies within 30 days as the data is misrepresentative of the truth, unfair, and inaccurate. You could also say in your letter that failure to rectify the issue within the prescribed time frame may result in action being brought upon them for defamation of character and enforcement made through the regulatory body (Information Commissioners Office). Good luck, and keep us posted P.S: The address to write to should be the one on your Experian report under "Profile Information"

I couldn't see whether this question had been covered before so I'd better ask. My other half has three satisfied defaults on his credit report, from Three, O2, and Vodafone. I've SARed all of them and none of them ever issued a paper default notice, three and O2 never even sent a reminder or final notice. It has been suggested elsewhere that it is illegal to record a default marker against an account that is not subject to the Consumer Credit Act, however I doubt the reliability of this suggestion. However, what regulations are there surrounding Telecommunications providers and Defaults? They aren't regulated by the Consumer Credit Act therefore are under no obligation to comply with it. They are merely regulated by OFCOM and the ICO in regard to the way they handle data. I ask, because my other half has never defaulted on a credit agreement. He's come close, but always rectified the issue when he gets a reminder or final notice. He's not missed a payment or been late on anything on over three years now and the only thing stopping his credit file from being immaculate is the defaults from mobile providers. He owes very little (just one credit card about £900) and doesn't have many accounts open (just enough to keep a decent history of paying on time). As soon as we noticed the defaults on his credit report, he called them to satisfy the accounts straight away - there was never intention to withhold payment, he just forgot how many concurrent contracts he'd (stupidly) taken out and they never reminded him to pay! Any advice you could offer would be muchly appreciated!!

There have, yes. The account defaulted in Jan 2003. Has been paying bits & pieces on and off since. Not a lot. Here's the first letter we sent: In response to the letter from Barclays I've sent this one to RMA: And this one to Barclays: Is this all OK? Doing the right thing? Hints & Tips appreciated!!

Helping a friend. Has old Barclays default consisting of Barclayloan and Overdraft, defaulted over six years ago so no longer affecting credit rating but still large outstanding balance. CCA'd DCA (RMA) and they forwarded the request to Barclays. Had a letter from Barclays today saying "We are unable to proceed with the request as the sort code and account number are invalid, please provide correct" blah blah blah RMA just wrote an account number and sort code on the CCA request we sent them and forwarded it to Barclays. What do you think is the best way forward? It seems to me that RMA bought the debt from barclays a few years ago but messed up by sending the request to Barlclays when they should have sent a deed of assignment and their copy of the original credit agreement? Any letter templates? I don't think the generic one applies in this instance, does it?

Credit score of 85? I presume that is a typo? I have a credit score of 450 and I have only just been discharged from bankruptcy. Anything under 560 is considered "Very Poor" I think you might want to check that. Also if you have been approved for a mortgage, and your credit score is now acceptable, you should close your vanquis account and open a credit card account with a respectable card company. Vanquis will keep increasing your limit and offer lower APRs and "Upgrade" you to "Gold Status", earning your trust and respect, so you go out and make a large purchase because they offer you a lower apr, and BANG! They increase the APR exponentially and you are paying nearly £100 a month in interest alone. I've had first hand experience of this with my OH, who was started on £250. Credit limit increases and APR decreases kept coming and coming until it looked like a good deal, so he spent a bit, and WHAP! 69.9% APR thank you sir! Like I say, play with fire you will get burned, make sure you have a DD set up to pay the full balance on your Vanquis card until you get a better deal elsewhere. Oh, and CONGRATULATIONS ON THE MORTGAGE! GOOD LUCK! :)

Thanks Randee. Unfortunately as my OH still has one outstanding default getting credit from elsewhere is nigh on impossible. Black Horse recently said NO to a Personal Loan, Capital One said YES but not with a big enough limit to transfer the balance, and Aqua Card said NO. That's three credit searches in six months so we'll give it a rest for now until there have been no searches in six months. That's another important tip to note also Randee - NEVER apply for credit more than twice in any six month period or your credit score will be seriously damaged. It can be more than halved with excessive applications. Anyway, I hope someone can provide some tips for dealing with Vanquis and getting the APR down / interest refunded!!

Can you guys help? OH has a Vanquis card has done since Dec 2007. Has £2,000 credit limit and £1,200 balance. They increased the APR to 69.9% for a few months and after complaining it is back down to 59.9% APR however the interest is still excessive and I witnessed a phone call back in Febuary wherupon my OH was told by Vanquis that the APR would be reduced to 39.9% APR along with a "Gold" card and the higher, £2,000, credit limit. The credit agreement states the APR is variable between 19.9% APR and 59.9% APR. In increasing the APR to 69.9% they breached the credit agreement, correct? Am I also correct in assuming that whilst they have not refunded the overcharged interest, they remain in default of the credit agreement? Or does lowering the APR back to 59.9% alone resolve the default? What can we do to clear the balance without paying so much interest? The account has been run flawlessly and stopping paying is not an option as my OH has worked very hard to improve his credit rating exponentially over the last couple of years and we don't want to put that effort to waste. Transferring the balance away is unfortunately not viable either as although his credit score is much better than it used to be, he still can't get a better deal, because of one last outstanding default and it's swings and roundabouts as to whether to plough the money into clearing Vanquis or the Default. Cap One offered a classic at 34.9% but only a £500 limit so not enough to transfer the balance, so we cancelled the application. I'd offer to transfer it myself but with my poor credit history I'm not eligible for a better deal, either. Any letter templates or regulations you could point me to would be very much appreciated. All we want to do is clear the balance in a respectable manner in line with the 39.9% APR that they promised when they upgraded the accuont in February. Thanx in advance!

I definitely think Vanquis have a place in the market, whilst I also conceed that their company is an appauling shower of preverbial. I was discharged from my Bankruptcy in March of this year, and where I was unable to obtain a Capital One Classic, Aqua Mastercard, or Monment Card, I was able to obtain a Vanquis card at the typical 39.9% APR no more. I am using the Vanquis card to build positive repayment history, clearning the balance in full every month. With their help my Experian score has risen by over 100 points since I opened the account at the beginning of May. Very helpful. However I now know never ever to use them if I want to repay something over a longer period as my OH also has a Vanquis card. He was given a £250 credit limit with a 59.9% at the end of 2007, outstanding defaults and CCJs all over the shop. Over the last two years he has worked hard to clear all the other arrears, CCJs, and all the defaults from other creditors, bar one default which is still outstanding, taking a little while to clear. During these two years he has run the Vanquis account admirably, they increased the credit limit to £2,000, sent out a "Gold" card and advised that they would be reducing the APR to 29.9% variable. He used the card to make some large purchases and has been paying off big chuncks of the £1,750 balance, about £150 to £400 a month for the last couple of months. At the beginning of August they increased the APR on his account to 69.9% APR. Now although his credit score is significantly better than it was two years ago, the one last default with an outstanding balance is preventing him from transferring the balance elsewhere, and Vanquis know this. I've written to them, very clearly stating regulations that they have breached, not providing an option to opt out, etc. The complaint is nearing the eight-week timeout and I can see this having to go to the Financial Ombudsman Service to get the supurflous interest refunded. Obviously he has to keep paying, because any non payment would ruin his credit score and we want to keep the possibility of getting the balance transferred away from Vanquis as high as possible. Currently the balance is £1,170 and the estimated interest next month is almost £60. He can afford to pay £150 a month and is doing so. I won't rest until I have seen a huge reduction in APR along with a sizeable refund in light of the overcharged interest so far. And no, he has never missed a payment, never been overlimit, and always paid over and above the minimum due. So, Vanquis are great if you want a way to build positive credit history but only go with them if you are prepared to have a DD set up for the full amount until your credit score is good enough to go elsewhere because you will get burned!!!

Right I see, that clarifies that one then thank you very much! Now I just have to wait and see if they want me to cancel my education because it isn't considered "essential"... ...That would be one for the papers I can tell you!

So in Bankruptcy the provisions of the Social Security Act 1992 and Tax Benefits Act 2002 don't apply? Are you sure about this? It was my understanding that these benefits are considered by the government as "required to live" and this is why the Social Security Act and Tax Benefits Act prohibit a charge being made on such benefits? Anyway I've just moved out of my parents house into rented accommodation and even with these benefits I have a nearly-zero surplus, unless the official receiver tells me that I am not allowed to be a student and pay course fees... Can he do that?

They have said that whilst they can ask nicely and report arrears / default notice to the credit reference agencies in respect of not paying the account, they also recognise that they can't enforce the debt through the court. So they might send letters to say payment is late and pay please but that's as far as it would ever go. They would, however, put your mum in a position where she has a very poor credit rating and may use right of offsett to clear the account from her Natwest current account, as they do not need a court order to do these things.

Yes an IPA was set up at the time I declared myself bankrupt, which was then stopped because I lost my job. I am now working again but only part time. I only have surplus income because of means tested benefits, if they are not included then there is a several hundred pound monthly deficit. Should I be stolid and stand my ground that they shouldn't be taking these benefits into consideration, or should I be concerned that they are allowed to under certain circumstances? Help appreciated.

Hi! I was discharged from my bankruptcy March this year and received a letter from my Trustee demanding £70 a month. Questions - Should I be including Tax Credits and Disability living allowance in my income and expenditure sheet? Is the Trustee allowed to set up an IPA after discharge? He has written that I should pay for the next 36 months - but surely they are only allowed to set up an IPA during my bankruptcy and it cannot be fore more than 36 months after the date of discharge? The way he has written his letter suggests that I will be paying into an IPA for nearly five years after my original date of bankruptcy. Here is what he wrote:

Surely if she was not of sound mind and body when the credit agreements were signed then their enforcability can be argued? I'm no savvy bod on this, but does anyone know about this?

Offer them 1% of the balance per month, in writing, along with a budget sheet showing that this is all your mum can afford. Advise that the payment is non-negotiable, and say that they can avoid having to issue a DN by accepting the offer and freezing the interest. My mother has been paying £50 a month to Barclaycard for the last six years and not been charged a penny interest; balance has come down from over £8000 to about £4500. No default, and no arrears marked on her credit report, "Good" credit score, the account is in an "Arrangment" and the status of the account is still marked as "Paid up on time" on her credit file. They tried increasing her payment to £100 a month, but I CCA'd them and they backed down Other than that not a great deal, other than not paying for three to six months, after which time the account will default and interest will stop being applied.

I've tried this with my dear mother and believe me... if she is anything like mine, you can try and explain and help and make aware as much as you can tolorate without going totally mad and it still won't make any difference. My mother has quite happily, left herself in a position where she cannot afford to do anything except eat, watch TV, and drive to the shops, to save from defaulting on any credit agreements. I've even proven that one of her biggests debts is unenforcable by doing a CCA and DPA request and finding that the only thing they have with her signiature on it is a tear-off slip from the application form with no T&C, but her opinion is that "Paying the debt is much easier to cope with than dealing with what I'd have to deal with should I try to get out of it" It may be easy for you and I to do all this stuff with letter writing, legal threats, etc etc, but some people just find the whole process stressful in a way you and I can't appreciate. I wish you the best of luck but I fear your effort may be wasted...

Why don't you sign up with creditexpert from experian and buy your score for a fiver? It tells you where you stand, what you are doing right, and what you can do better. E.G: