Spoke to a solicitor and he had advised that I threaten to take them to court and then if they do not remove it, file a claim in the court. If they (Lowell) do not defend the claim, it will be found in my favour. I was wondering if anyone has any experience in the area i.e. is it likely to get me anywhere?? Thanks.

Any idea which ones? My broker told me there was no chance with any of the main lenders. Thanks.

OK, thanks. I will go ahead with the Subject Access Request to Nationwide and see what comes back. The real annoying part is that my girlfriend is expecting our first child and the house we have is not suitable for a baby so I really need to be moving ASAP, but this stupid default is now preventing me from doing that. Thanks again for the advice.

Sorry, it was so long ago I don't have any record of those exact dates. Direct debits were just cancelled using online banking and the attempt to take the amount was within 1 month of that. As I said, they then accumulated the charges but I was stupidly throwing away the letters assuming they were just statements with my zero balance. Until I finally noticed what was going on. I told them I was going to dispute the charges and while I was waiting for the test case to complete, they defaulted the amount.

So, going back to my original question. Are there any grounds I can argue to get this removed?? Thanks.

The NW entry has already been removed. My argument was that the whole matter was made up of bank charges and should therefore be removed by both parties.

OK, had a response from Lowell that states: "I have contacted Nationwide who have advised me that they provided you with a response to your dispute on 3 Oct 2013. In this they confirmed that they would remove their default as it was a duplicate. The letter also advised that the default would remain as it is a true and accurate reflection of how the account had been managed. Upon review of the default entry on your credit file, I am satisfied that this is being reported accurately." "We are obliged to ensure the information is recorded accurately in line with the guidance and regulation that governs our industry. Subsequently, I cannot agree to remove the default from your credit file." I then goes on to state that I can contact the FOS if I am not happy. It does not mention anywhere that the default amount was made up entirely of fees or how that might be a reason for removal. Any thoughts much appreciated. (incidentally, I did not send a copy of the original letter to Nationwide as I thought it was just Lowell I needed to convince)

OK, Letter has been sent a few days ago.... fingers crossed! But I doubt this will be as straightforward as just the one letter.

Yep, restored my faith that some companies still offer proper customer service!

What do you mean? Are you suggesting they may try to make out it's a different default?? I have a screenshot of the original report, including the Nationwide default before they removed it.

Just to update on what's happened now... I was away for a couple of weeks so not been able to chase Lowells yet. However, I got a letter from Nationwide stating: "Unfortunately defaults can be duplicated whereby the company the account was sold to will register a further default for the same account." It then goes on to explain they removed their version of the default. Then states... "The default that remains on your credit file registered by Lowell is a true reflection of your accounts management and therefore will remain." Then asks me to contact Lowell to arrange payment of the account (the account was satisfied a long time ago). So, I am a bit confused... On one hand they say it's a fair reflection of my account and on the other hand they say they have removed their version of the default. So effectively, Nationwide tell me to speak to Lowells and Lowells tell me to get Nationwide to instruct them. It states that they use Financial Conduct Authority rules when dealing with customer concerns. And if I am not happy with this outcome, to contact the financial ombudsman. I will be sending the letter to Lowells today but would be interested in any opinions on what Nationwide are saying. Thanks.

So, here's the outcome..... When I spoke to Renault Customer Service they corrected my assumptions for cam-belt change and said it should run for 90K or 6 Years!! They said as the warranty had expired anything they agreed to do would be just a goodwill gesture. I briefly mentioned the Sales of Goods Act and how that would apply to this case and that I expect Renault to cover ALL of the cost of any repair. Anyway, they asked me to get it to the local Renault garage for inspection. The garage confirmed the cam-belt failure to RCS. To my utter amazement, RCS did not even contact me to discuss my options, they have simply instructed the garage to replace the entire engine at ZERO cost to me, and have also organised a courtesy car for the week while it gets replaced. That's over and above what I was expecting and excellent customer service. Thanks for all your advice.

Thanks for the replies. Recommended change is 70K miles and/or 5 years.

Hi, My 2010 Renault Megane decided to stop on the way to work this morning. Recovery vehicle took it to a garage and diagnosed a cam-belt failure / rebuild costing minimum £1500. Having looked around on various motoring sites some people suggest this will have damaged the engine and require potentially, a whole new one at £4000+ I have full Renault service history and got them to do a 40 point check before the warranty expired in March of this year. I was told everything was fine. So my question is... Where do I stand legally on this as I know Renault will say 'Sorry, out of warranty'. I have never been entirely happy with the car and taken it back a few times to get them to take a look but always been told it's fine. Any advice gratefully received. Thanks.

Hi, Thanks for the advice so far. Will check with other agencies ASAP. I will speak to Nationwide complaints and reference the points you have mentioned and assume that Nationwide removed the default in the knowledge that it was fully made up of bank charges. Following that, I will speak again with Lowell and use the same points of argument for the removal. If they still refuse the letter will be on its way. I will let you know the outcome. Any further ammunition you may be able to offer me will be very much appreciated. Once again, thanks for the help and quick responses. Bandito!

Hi Guys, I have had a good read of the information provided by this excellent website but I am still left unsure of my position regarding a default on my Experian credit file and would appreciate some advice. The situation is that I had an account with Nationwide a few years ago, that I was no longer going to use, so I withdrew any remaining funds and cancelled any direct debits. However, there was a direct debit request made on the account that presumably I had not cancelled in time and this was rejected and a bank charge was made on the account. This then created an unauthorised overdraft as I had no overdraft facility on that account. The bank sent letters to inform me of this but in my stupidity I didn't even open them as I was assuming they were just statements showing my zero balance. So, additional charges were placed on the account accumulating to £325 in total before I actually opened one of the letters and realised what had been happening. I spoke to the bank and told them that I felt this situation was totally unfair (it was at the time people were disputing bank charges) and that I was going to dispute the amount they were trying to charge me. At some point during this they placed the default on my account (Sept 2009) and passed the debt to Lowell for collection. To simply get the matter concluded I paid Lowell's the full amount. Now I need to apply for a mortgage and have been told that there is no possibility of getting one whilst the default remains on my file.I took a look at my file and noticed there were 2 defaults, one from Nationwide and one from Lowell, both defaulting on the same date in 2009. As I felt the charges were unfair and possibly unlawful I spoke to Nationwide a few weeks ago, fully expecting to argue this point with them however, after very little discussion they agreed to remove the default and wrote to confirm that. Which to my surprise they have actually done. However, the default from Lowell still remains. I spoke to Lowell at the same time that I spoke to Nationwide and they told me if Nationwide removed it, they would be obliged to do the same. However, now that Nationwide have removed it, Lowell tell me they will not remove it unless they specifically get a request from Nationwide to do so. Nationwide are now saying they will not do that. Lowell claim the only reason Nationwide removed it was because they no longer own the debt and it's Lowell that need to mark the default now as it was passed to them (it is marked as 'satisfied' but still no help for getting a mortgage). So, my question is... are there any grounds to get this removed from my file? I had no overdraft arrangement and therefore Nationwide created the unauthorised overdraft purely by adding charges for the DD that was not met. Then accumulated those charges and defaulted the account. I don't recall ever receiving any notice of the intended default but thats not to say they didn't send one. I was assuming that while I was intending to dispute the charges (which I told them), no default would happen. Also, if Nationwide have now seen fit to remove it from my file, are Lowell legally obliged to do the same as it's the same default?? And fundamentally, can I actually default on something that I never agreed to ie. the overdraft??? I have lodged an official complaint with Nationwide this week and am expecting a call soon so would be really useful to know where I stand legally on this. Any advice much appreciated.