Advice Please......

[aceades]

Hi,

I don’t consider my self to be bad with money and I don’t actually have any debt outstanding at the moment, but I cannot get any credit due to my report, the only think I have managed to take out recently was a BT line for my new (rented) house and I had to pay £50 deposit for that, cant get mobile contracts or open a bank account.

In fact I have little desire to acquire any debt, it would just be nice to have a credit card to make money off or use for convenience, and to get a contract phone so I can have a new device without having to pay out £400 + bills for PAYG, I have nothing I need to pay off no CC, no loans no OD etc.

I know the deal with this or at least the basics and have been on and off, when I first checked by credit file I had 3 issues

1 HSBC default

2 NatWest default

3 Orange, missed payments

all these are from at least 3 years ago, I wrote to HSBC as I knew that was their mess up (wont bore you with the details) and that was removed pretty quickly, I wrote to NatWest and they ignored my letter (probably for reasons I will explain shortly) and Experian wrote to them, and then chased them for an answer which was eventually leave it as it is.

I know the NatWest one is a load of rubbish based on their poor organization and not knowing their **** form their elbow; here is a brief description.............

'were many issues with the account, most people didn't even think that NatWest did non-customer loans (a loan to someone who did not have a current account with them, which they offered for about 1 month only then withdrew) and the difficulty I had trying to communicate with anyone was ridiculous, even if they did know of the loans department the account numbers I had for my loan were not recognized, the final straw was when I was told I had to pay my payment by cheque and mail it to some obscure department in a building in Glasgow specifically otherwise no one would know what it was about, the first time using this method I sent of the cheque and several weeks later it was sent back to me after being passed round several departments complete with internal memos and letters marked as not to be sent to customer telling me that it was a non existent account, I then sent it to head office with a letter of complaint and I was sent a letter of apology and a £70 compensation cheque for the stress they had caused, but that was enough so I paid off the loan in full and took it to another lender with which I have not had any such problems with - I was not told anything of this notice on my file by NatWest and why it was there (although I guess its because my payment didn't reach my account straight away but that was clearly the fault of NatWest which they apologized for but unfortunately didn't communicate to the department that looked after non customer loans ),and I only found this out (together with the HSBC one) when I enquired a few months ago because I could not open a basic bank account.

Now I can’t speak to them directly all I can’t do is ask Experian to ask them to remove and they just keep saying NO when it is obviously total rubbish.

I am not so fussed about the orange missed payment as I don’t think this effects me as much and should only be on there for 2 years I think even though I think they have the dates wrong, can anyone confirm this for me or advice on missed payments to mobile companies?

I would also like some advice on the NatWest situation, I find it annoying that someone in an office somewhere that knows nothing about you or your life cant dictate what is on your credit file based on something they have read and not on what actually happened and I am powerless to do anything other than wait until after 2012 when it is 6 years from there record date (which incidentally was several years later than I actually had the loan. I have been given an address to write to but they failed to respond when I sent a letter last year.

Also, maybe someone can help me understand how I cannot get credit when I have nothing outstanding (anything on my credit file has been settled) even with a default it shouldn’t be that bad, when looking through forums and such or even talking to people I regularly find out its common for people to be in massive amounts of debt and still be offered more credit and have CCJ;s and multiple defaults on their files, and still managed to get more credit, im kind of glad in a way as it means there is no way I can get into debt but its annoying when it comes to the small things like above, even specialized companies dealing with bad credit cases refuse to give me anything. I see people that have got over 4 credit cards with outstanding balances on that they are being chased for and they go on to say they take out further loans and credit cards to pay, I know that is not a good thing but how do they get accepted ?

It just seems very backwards that people with loads of verified debt can take out more agreements when I with my 1 bull**it default can’t even get a current account - do they just not like me or what? I Also cannot understand how peoples arrears get so high with mortgages and such, surely if you miss one payment they are on your back and threatening to make you pay it all back in a lump some straight away yet people manage to have months and months of arrears with no consequences, if I missed one rent payment I would be out on my a*se.

A final point, all this confuses me even more as I put my bills before anything else, every bill I have (Rent, Council Tax, Insurance, Broadband, Electric, Water & Gas – I have no mobile, sky, credit cards, overdrafts, loans or subscriptions at all, I don’t go out or spend any money on clothes or anything else other than an inadequate amount of grocery) these are all paid by standing order as soon as I am paid , I even go without food to ensure these bills are kept up to date but I am still treated like I would expect to be if I had about 50k outstanding through loads of companies with default etc but im not, I have no outstanding credit, I am a very prompt payer why am I being denied so much ?

I was mildly annoyed before as I didn’t want any credit but I am looking at getting a mortgage now as it makes financial sense and I have an opportunity but know one will even touch me for a preliminary quote.

If anyone can clarify what is happening I would really appreciate it as it is driving me mad.

You may wonder why I would wont anything else if I don’t have spare cash to pay for the things but the fact is for the last 3 years I have been paying all these bills alone but living with someone and supporting them also, well the month has come when they are actually going to start helping me out by sharing the living costs and giving me a break, I am also taking on a lodger to bring me another £300 a month so next month I will be pretty flushed (well a lot more so than the last 8 years) and may want to make a life a bit more convenient with maybe a credit card, a contract phone and a bank that can do direct debits.

Any way that’s my dilemma and advice or comments received gratefully.

Thanks

[aceades]

Wow , i was just going to type a short post, sorry if i sent anyone to sleep

 

just reading this ofrum i find another example staright away

 

'my "credit score" is 290 out of a 1000 not too bad i have 4 defualts for around 40K and can still get credit.

 

crap one gave me a Credit card with 1.5K limit MADNESS ( i need the card to fund company travel expenses)'

 

I read this and was like WTF ? how can that be ????

Edited November 24, 2008 by aceades

[rory32]

Okay first of all the credit card. You should be able to get one from the likes of Capital One, Vanquis or Aqua. These all have interest levels of 30% plus but if you are going to make sure that you pay it off every month then that's not an issue as you won't be paying interest. These cards are all designed for people with poor credit ratings and by having one and paying it off every month your credit rating will eventually get boosted.

 

The mobile phone contract you'll just have to wait a bit for I think. Have you thought about one of the cheaper PAYG mobiles? I think Asda are doing one at the moment which is 4p a minute.

 

Regarding the bank account you can open a basic bank account which will do DD's and SO's. Obviously you won't get an overdraft or cheque book with these but I think after about a year if you have managed the account well then they will consider giving you a current account. The type of cash cards you get with basic accounts vary. Some are just cash cards but Bank of Scotland/Halifax give you a Visa Electron debit card which is slightly better.

[aceades]

Hey,

 

Thanks for the quick reply

 

Okay first of all the credit card. You should be able to get one from the likes of Capital One, Vanquis or Aqua. These all have interest levels of 30% plus but if you are going to make sure that you pay it off every month then that's not an issue as you won't be paying interest. These cards are all designed for people with poor credit ratings and by having one and paying it off every month your credit rating will eventually get boosted.

 

tried it, several times - straight decline, i even appealed with the reasoning above (that it is for people like me) no chance they said ????

 

The mobile phone contract you'll just have to wait a bit for I think. Have you thought about one of the cheaper PAYG mobiles? I think Asda are doing one at the moment which is 4p a minute.

 

Yep fair enough, but i have had PAYG for about 4 years now, just fed up of not getting any free minutes and having to use an old brick with a broken screen, i just wanted to get one so i can save money not having to buy a camera , MP3 player or wifi internet browser - i think i deserve to have some toys with all the hard work i do and there is no chance of forking out for them so getting one from a contract with free minutes seems like a good money saver , but an Asda Sim doesnt really help in this instance, which is a shame as i live 2 minutes walk from ASDA where I save a lot of money not having to travel to shop and get a good deal on my groceries

 

 

 

Regarding the bank account you can open a basic bank account which will do DD's and SO's. Obviously you won't get an overdraft or cheque book with these but I think after about a year if you have managed the account well then they will consider giving you a current account. The type of cash cards you get with basic accounts vary. Some are just cash cards but Bank of Scotland/Halifax give you a Visa Electron debit card which is slightly better.

 

 

i have tried and the only thing i can get is a cash card, this cannot do DD and had no overdraft, to fair i dont raelly want to use direct debits but they are convenient and some companies wont accept anything else so i have to pay outright, it is also an Electron card that i cannot pay my council tax or rent with with and cannot use for a lot of online retailers , been with them for well over a year now and no chance to upgrade the account, i last asked about 2 months ago but will try again.

 

 

thansk for the input though.....

Edited November 24, 2008 by aceades

[postggj]

ref the mobile contract

have you tried car phone warehouse

they will prob want 200 quid deposit but its a contract

i got a cap 1 card by paying a £200 quid deposit a few years ago

dont know if they do that now

[assisted blonde]

Just a thought but have you moved house a lot and therefore dont have a traceable address history, have you been in paid employment for 3yrs or more, has your partner got a bad credit rating which is being linked to yours. Finally you say you are paying bills by standing order have you spoken to the bank that you are currently banking with and explained what you want and why, if you alteady have an account then I cant see why you cannot have a debit card

[aceades]

ref the mobile contract

have you tried car phone warehouse

they will prob want 200 quid deposit but its a contract

i got a cap 1 card by paying a £200 quid deposit a few years ago

dont know if they do that now

 

 

I was once offered an 02 contract if i paid a £400 deposit but i could not afford it, i havnt been offered anything at all since and i have tried every vender, i was told t-mobile would give me one but i got a straight no, i wasnt even offered a 'solo' sim card.

[aceades]

Just a thought but have you moved house a lot and therefore dont have a traceable address history, have you been in paid employment for 3yrs or more, has your partner got a bad credit rating which is being linked to yours. Finally you say you are paying bills by standing order have you spoken to the bank that you are currently banking with and explained what you want and why, if you alteady have an account then I cant see why you cannot have a debit card

 

I have moved a few times but all my addresses are on the experian report, i have been in paid employment at current company since 04/06 and previous to that for about a year then a six month break and then all the way back to 1999 when i left school. My partner hasnt got abad credit history at all, but she is not linked to my credit report in anyway, no one else is,

 

as regards the bank i rang tonight to see if they would upgrade me but wasdeclined again due to credit report, the guy was suprised as i have been with the since August last year and he thought that after 6 months i should have had no problem getting a normal debit card, no such luck though