Defaulted payment advice needed

[davidthomson123]

In August 2009 I cancelled my monthly contract to 02. I was told that the account had been settled in full over the phone and nothing was outstanding. I then cancelled my direct debit to o2.

I recently requested a credit report and found that from august 2009 to may 2010 I have had missed payments listed. In April 2010 this payment was defaulted. The payment was for £8.00 which was for final line rental ( I just phoned 02 to talk about this)

O2 never sent me a final bill and never contacted me to try and let me know that this amont was outstanding.

I have payed off the outstanding amount and have been told that on my credit report this will show up as settled in 30 to 60 days.

I am worried that I will still have missed payments and a default notice on my account. Does this damage my credit rating and if so do I have any recourse that I can take to amend this issue.

[silverfox1961]

Hi and welcome to CAG. Sorry your post was missed.

 

I would be doing a formal complaint to O2. You cancelled the contract so that should have been it but poor customer service has let you down. If you are lucky, they may still have the recording of your call and can sort things out quite easily. I suspect that they won't be so easy.

The bigger problem is your credit file. That default for such a tiny amount will affect your creditworthiness for 6 years.

As part of your complaint you should be demanding that the default be removed and if the refuse, go to the Information Commissioner.

 

In the meantime, you can put a "Notice of Correction" on your credit file of up to 200 words explaining what has happened. Any future creditor has to take that into account when deciding whether to offer credit

[davidthomson123]

Thanks silverfox1961, I think I will make a formal compaint to O2 and I will definately put that note on my account like you mentioned. Do these companies keep phone records for that long? This might be because I am a little annoyed but can people sort this type of thing out in court to get the default removed?

[silverfox1961]

First of all, get your records from all 3 credit reference agencies (experian.equifax and call credit). When writing to the CRA, mention the reference number next to the default (i.e-with experian, it will be C1)

 

You can go to court but not something I would recommend yet. Try the complaints route first.

I would also send O2 a SAR. This costs £10 and hopefully it should get back all the data on you from them and maybe the account history will show up where it all went wrong. This is the LINK

 

When applying for data, give as much proof you can of your identity, especially if you have moved house since the contract was cancelled. Photocopies of you driving licence for example.

This is taken from o2's website re privacy

 

 

• 
  
• We can supply certain types of personal information on request: including but not limited to billing, name and address, aggregated phone usage. Requests should be made in writing and include your name, mobile telephone number and proof of your identity (such as a photocopy of your passport, birth certificate or driving licence) and address (for example, a copy of a utility bill or bank statement), and the information you require. We'll charge you £10 to cover the administrative cost of supplying the requested information. If we hold any inaccurate information about you, please tell us and we will correct it.
  Our address is: Data Controller
  Telefónica O2 UK Limited
  Arlington Business Centre
  Suite N
  Free Post RLUY-JUEY-KYHR
  Leeds
  West Yorkshire
  LS11 0NE
  

[davidthomson123]

I think I'm going to get tooled up with information. I'm definately going to go down the complaints route but I found this

www dot learnmoney dot co dot uk/credit-file/small-defaults.html

which suggest trying to go through the sob story senario first.

Getting the SAR is defininately a good idea the more info the better. I'm going to phone them up again and ask if they will remove the default now that the account has been paid.

I will keep this post updated with my progress.

[davidthomson123]

I just want to update this thread. I sent a complaint to O2 and appealled to the human being at the other side, stating that for such a small amount they have destoyed my chances of credit and that of my families for 6 years. I also pointed out that they did not send my letters chasing up any missed payments. I was hoping that appealing to a person might show them the insanity of this situation.

I just received a reply and O2 in which they stated that its an automatic proccess and after 6 months of missed payments they are obliged to inform the banks of a defaulted account but they also said as a gesture of good will they would remove the default that was placed against my account. This will take 30 to 60 days so hopefully they stay true to their word. Happy days.

Thank you so much for advice about persuing the compaint process first, and if they dont stay true to their word then I have the other avenues to follow.

[silverfox1961]

Hi,

Good news. You have that in writing so if they fail to do as they have said you can go back at them and go to the Information Commissioner.

 

Gesture of goodwill-PAH. They didn't send the letters to warn you af the impending default so they are at fault.

[jazzfunk]

I have an almost identical situation. Ended one contract with o2 and changed to another in 2007. Checked credit file in 2008 and was listed as default on the previous account for £63. They never informed me of the outstanding balance. They gave me a new contract, despite the fact they thought I owed them money! They placed a default on credit file without even attempting to contact me. The default is showing as settled now I have paid it but I want it removed as its having negative impact on my credit - I'll never ever get a mortgage with that there. Today I wrote to the creditreferral o2 email address with a copy of my credit report asking them to remove it.

Do you have any advice on how to speed things along, or ensure it is removed?

I note from the library file from the Information commisioner that a default is identified as the relationship between customer and lender breaking down - how can they possibly class the relationship as broken down when I had another contract with them and was happily paying my monthly bill, oblivious to this outstanding balance?

 

Thanks

 

Shaun

[silverfox1961]

Hi and welcome to CAG.

 

Since this thread was started, I have found out that you may have grounds for further complaint. If a company places a default on your file for a small amount, this does not necessarily reflect your actual creditworthiness and if they refuse to remove the default, you can complain to the Information Commissioner.

 

What I would do in the meantime is drop this guy an email

 

Chief Executive [email protected]

[jazzfunk]

Silverfox, thank you. I shall confine further discussion to this thread if you prefer.

 

What further information have you received that suggests I have grounds for complaint? I have emailed Mr Dunne. I had also contacted o2 by phone today and subsequently, the creditreferrals email address.

[silverfox1961]

Silverfox, thank you. I shall confine further discussion to this thread if you prefer.

 

What further information have you received that suggests I have grounds for complaint? I have emailed Mr Dunne. I had also contacted o2 by phone today and subsequently, the creditreferrals email address.

 

No, deal in the other thread please. I get easily confoosed

[craigers]

Hi and welcome to CAG.

 

Since this thread was started, I have found out that you may have grounds for further complaint. If a company places a default on your file for a small amount, this does not necessarily reflect your actual creditworthiness and if they refuse to remove the default, you can complain to the Information Commissioner.

 

What I would do in the meantime is drop this guy an email

 

Chief Executive [email protected]

 

 

fox, how small is small?

[silverfox1961]

fox, how small is small?

 

In my query to the ICO I did quote £30-40 but to me, anything under £75 would be considered small. I also think that even if the default amount was more and the mobile company didn't make a user aware of a bill owing, the default should be removed if the bill is paid in full once the user became aware of the debt

[davidthomson123]

Jazzfunk when I contacted 02 in my letter I tried to connect with the person at the other end and try to appeal to their sence of decency. I stressed that my credit file was ruined for such a small amount that I did not even know I owed, I also stressed that I had been a good customer throughout the whole term of being with 02. I paid it immediately once I knew that I was due the amount. They did remove the default against my account as they said, even though they stressed they were doing me a favour. A result is a result and you can always get heavy later after you have tried a couple of softer approaches. You dont have anything to lose by trying to make a connection and pull their heart strings.

[jazzfunk]

Hi David,

 

thanks for your advice. That is what I've tried to do (I think) but at the same time it's so hard to hide my indignation at being treated so unfairly. How long was it from your first sending an official letter/email and resolution. What was the timescale of their responses? Was there a lot of back and forth? How recent was your experience with them? Did you notice a difference when applying for credit etc once the default was removed? What does your credit file now say where the default had previously been?

 

Cheers

 

Shaun

[davidthomson123]

I checked my credit file with experian and the default has been removed, the account say settled and where it used to be it says not updated. Shortly after that I applied for a larger credit limit with my credit card and there was no problems.

I first contacted o2 by phone and got there credit section, thats when I found out about the default. I paid it immediately, they gave me the complaints departments address

O2 Complaint Review Service

P.O Box 302

Dunstable

LU6 9GN

I wrote a letter saying how I was dismayed that my credit file was ruined for such a small amount and went into detail what the repercussions were, i.e no morgage no credit card no bank account. I painted a pretty bleak picture for my future prospects. I also stressed that I did not receive any warning about the outstanding amount and that like you I was still a customer of theirs albeit a pay and go customer. I also pointed out that I did not miss many payments during my contract with o2.

I received a phone call from their complaint department about 2 - 3 weeks later, they told be that it was an automatic process to place a default on an account that had missed 4 payments, they also said it was their duty to do this for other lenders, I dont think I really believed that. I kept my cool and just repeated the same information that was in my letter and asked her nicely if they could remove the default. This is not a big deal to them to do this. She said that as it was such a small amount and that it was cleared already ( this apparently takes upto 4 weeks after payment) they would on this occation remove the default. She told me that this would be in a letter that they sent to me. To be honest im not sure if I received the letter first, but it was about 3 weeks after sending the complaint before they contacted me. It was another 4 weeks before the default was removed but I had the letter so they had to make it happen. So altogether it was about 7 weeks from compaint to default being removed.

If they hadnt removed the default I was going to threaten to take them to the small claims court or compain to the information commisioner like silverfox mentions. Lucky I didnt have to go down that road.

[jazzfunk]

David,

 

thanks for that. I'm still waiting to hear from them, but will bear your experience in mind.

 

Shaun