Should I do this via equifax or letter? They did not inform me that it was passed onto a dca and they did not take this money. How do I prove they didn't do something? I have bank statements and their statements, but this is all. I heard somebody on here say that vanquished are notorious for being unable to provide original credit agreements. Should I take the cca route? Any idea of what sort of argument I should start with would be good. Thanks,

To be honest Chris, no I wouldn't. Vanquis told me on the phone they'd take a setllement payment, they never did. And defaulted me I've just discovered. I'm trying to work out how to challenge this. Don't trust them. Get it in writing.

The plot thickens with this.... This default only showed on experian. As I was preparing to write to them, out of the blue, they whacked a default onto equifax! The weird thing is....its raised my credit score 65 points to fair!! Whats going on? Now I'm worried about disputing it, in case my score drops to poor. Why on earth would this happen?? It's madness. What would people advise?

Anybody have any ideas about things I could include in my complaint letter? Have they breached anything? Or have they just been incompetent?

No they never confirmed anything, they said they would take payment on Jan 3rd.

Not sure, ill have to check paperwork, but it was basically useless as I remember, which was perhaps why the person mentioned he'd take payment of 96 quid because of charges. Which was precisely why I gave them my details to pay it!

If it helps, I think I was paying £3 a month ppi for a while too on that account before I stopped it.

I think that they ignored any offers for payment or did not log them and instead I was passed into the ether and got a default. This is a massive deal for me as my other defaults are from 2008/9 and I'm only just getting my credit file clean. Then they come out of nowhere, and pass me to a dca. though strangely, the default only appears on callcrefit and experian. Equifax shows it as ap. I'm worried if I challenge it, they'll update equifax too and make it worse ( ive worked hard to claw myself up to'fair' on there)

Yes, 2012.

Vanquis it says. But the date is April from, I assume, when cars were dealing with it.

Sorry, I've never actually received any correspondence from this firatcredit, ever. Cars started sending me crappy hysterical letters about doorstep agents in April may time and I have no idea who placed the default. Vanquis won't discuss my account as its with dca.

Hi sorry. The deafault is dated April. I have 4 statements from Dec-April. My statement is issued on the 4th of each month. Dec statement no mention of first credit, only of late payment and arrears. This is when I call. they agree to pay it off with my card ( there are my notes in pen on my statement regarding this call so I know exactly what happened). January 4 statement comes, no mention of first credit. I think well obviously my payment wasn't put on as it happened that day..February 1st credit become involved. Vanquis no longer will deal with me. I'm really mad about this thing and now I have to deal with somebodody called cars in may. In April I now find out somebody defaulted me. When I rang vanquis up they claimed to have no details for me and it must have been passed over at some point to firstcredit or in the process, but they don't know. It's with a dca now.

Hi, I have a vanquis card that is 80quid from paid off. In December I called up to get a new card and was told I was on a repayment, and I couldn't get a new card. I spoke then to a guy who strangely said that because of charges/ppi, I would be able to give a settlement of under a hundred quid to clear the balance which was 191 and it would be satisfied on my credit file. Would I take it. Of course I would. I told the guy I would pay on Jan 3 as agreed as my student loan went in. I remember this vividly because he said 6am (bizarre) and I told my housemate this and he commented it was a good deal. I gave them my card details ( I know it sounds stupid but I trusted them, I see now I should have paid them ) but come January no payment is taken. I have bank statements to prove this and records on my phone of calls. Funny, maybe I had misunderstood. I left it until Feb. Around this time to my horror when I contacted them I was told I had been narrowly missed being passed to a dca and that it was in the process. First credit. This then turned into cars. I set up a payment arrangement with them, (cars) and never heard or had any such default from firstcredit. Vanquis claimed they could not deal with me so I was left with the ineptitude of cars. In I think august, cars accused me of not paying. I later discovered this was because they do not do standing orders or dd, instead it is all done on card numbers and I replaced my debit card, so when they charged me, the payment did not take. I rang them asking why they had stopped taking my payments and the card thing was explained. Anyway to my horror, I saw my call credit and experian files... I have a default from vanquis in April!! I offered them the money in january, they did not take it out then they issue me with a default, then I am accused of not paying the repayments because of some cowboy dca! I want to dispute this default. If vanquis had taken the money at all or properly, this would never have happened and the account would be settled by now. I want this default removed! I was totally shocked. They've passed me onto cars this cowboy outfit and now won't even speak to me about my account. How should I go about getting this horrifying default removed? Thanks,

Hi, my credit score is dire 300 with equifax due to electoral roll and defaults in 2009. Me and my partner are looking to get a mortgage in the coming years. His credit is excellent, and has never ever missed a repayment or made a late repayment on anything. He has a mortgage, but we are very worried about my default and arrangement to pay marked on accounts. He suggested that we open a joint credit card account to get some good stuff on my record. I wondered if this would exist though being reported on my credit and how much his credit would take a hit through association?

Hi, last one late 2009, so still a while to go!

Hi, I've got dreadful credit due to past defaults with credit cards and overdrafts. I'm trying to improve my credit rating and pay off my debt as financially I'm ok now, but because of defaults, I cannot get any credit card at all, even c1 rejected me for a secured card, and even though I offered them the bloody money, they said no way! Because of my record with credit debts and them being passed to dcas, I now will be refused any sort of credit for anything. Last year however, I was accepted for a phone contract with Vodafone, which has no missed payments in a year. My bank also alkowed me to upgrade to a gold account as my internal record with them is okay now and I am always in credit and have owed them nothing since 2008. My strategy now then is to work on my bank until I apply for a small overdraft (I darent ask!) and on my phone provider. However, I looked on my credit report and from 2006/7 two well managed 02 phone accounts are due to drop off in august, leaving me with less history of good repayment. I considered trying Vodafone for an additional phone contract say, on 12 months. I can then chop and change sims, and ensure I don't go over my minutes anyway as well as having two accounts with them in good order. My friend says this is a stupid idea and he doesn't see how two contracts with the same company would help anyway and that it wouldn't make much of an impact and I'd be paying for a new phone. And it might look worse having more phones. I think that beggars can't be choosers and given that I cannot get any credit anywhere else to dilute my defaults, its a good option. What do any credit savvy people think? Thank you!

Hi, I'm 30 and I have WOEFULLY bad credit. The trouble is now, because nobody will give me credit, I can't redeem myself and I'm in a big catch 22 and i can't get out of it. I was earning a low wage, and pre-credit crunch, racked up £2000 o/d with ltsb. I then split with my partner and went to live alone at 22. This was the thing that set the ball rolling.. I lived from 2 credit cards: egg and C1, and then went to uni at 24. like a fool, in all naivety, i went into LTSB telling them i was a student, expecting them to transfer my o/d to student account. On a technicality, they told me this involved closing my current account, so i had to repay now, and btw, by declaring myself a student i had also declared myself unemployed and therefore insolvent when they recalled the 2k and i said "but I'm a student!". Into collections I went. i paid it back, yet had no access to student facilities, so racked up another £1000 with halifax, and a 300 on vanquis. by the time i graduated, i had hit a wall - 3 ccs and 2 o/d and a catalogue account had culminated in several missed payments and me having to go on a DMP, and i wasn't paying stuff on time due to that old chestnut of 'do i pay capital one or eat?'. I never owed more than 2.3 k though - we're not talking loads. My egg card got sold on then sold on again - last i heard of it was in 2008, i moved a lot and then after 5 years at uni juggling debt, am where I am now... i have AP on that o/d (with a DCA) and one credit card lost in the ether and one being paid off. 4 accounts are settled on my credit file and my current accounts have no o/d and are running fine. I'm now a teacher, my partner is on a good salary too, and i'm starting to think about a mortgage in the next few years. Fat chance. I checked credit. My score is below 300. Equifax, registers missed payments, but only one o/d is listed as D for default. Are missed payments technically defaults? How do they class it? I have had no CCJs, NO IVA, i'm not a discharged bankrupt, i'm in FTE, I have a smartphone contract yet as the title of this thread suggests, nobody will touch me with a barge pole and i'm getting desperate now. Ironically, they threw credit at me when i had no cash, yet now i can't get a £50 o/d extension or open a bank account! I've applied for in 12 months: vanquis, c1, aqua, argos card, and a nationwide account. Nada. I even applied for a secured credit card - they wanted me to pay the full £200 and there are still doubts about that! I want to show people that i got into a lot of trouble in the past, but i'm ok now. But nobody will give me a break. It's as though I AM a bankrupt. I'm starting to panic about a mortgage now. My partner's bank love him, he has great credit and a lot of equity and they do this 'pre approved £40,000 loan' crap with him. He just doesn't get it. He seems to think that as hes a great customer and we've got a deposit and good jobs they'll overlook defaults, but he's never been in the mess that people in debt have been in, and i don't think he gets the reality nowadays that if you have any black mark against your name, it's Goodnight Vienna for you and credit. I thought it wasnt too bad, as I've not been in serious trouble, but being turned down for AQUA was pretty shocking and that pre-pay thing!! My questions are this: Would my partner's standing really help us to get a mortgage or at least offset my defaults? Or is he in cloud cuckoo land? Can anybody think of ANYWHERE that will give me credit so I can show repayment - i'm even considering another phone contract? Catalogues? Loan? Would perhaps upgrading to gold or silver account with my bank soften the blow for an appointment to ask for a small o/d? Any ideas welcome! Many thanks!