Challenging my creditors

[BigDebt101]

Hello all,

 

What an amazing forum!

It is a bit of a maze for a new user to navigate to the correct area so I hope I am asking the correct question in the correct place.

 

I have a number of creditors, both secured and unsecured.

 

I have defaults across the board after running into financial difficulties over the past couple of years.

 

I seem to have turned a corner financially now and I am keen to clean up my credit rating; using creditexpert,

I have a 540 score which is 'very poor'. I have a couple of questions related to getting a better credit score...

 

1. I have one secured creditor (Welcome Financial Services) who I still owe a few thousand pounds.

I have already paid back a huge amount but defaulted a number of times.

As the loan is over five years, they have frozen the interest and I am paying every month.

 

Q: Their details appear nowhere in my credit file which I suppose is a good thing.

But does this indicate that there may be an error on the original paperwork and should I pay for a 'Subject Access Request' for £10?

 

2. I have a secured loan with Future Mortgages.

I have had the loan for about 3 years but the balance has only reduced by about £1K, despite me now only being 1 month in arrears.

 

Q. Is it worth getting a full report of their charges and original paperwork sent to me and have it looked over to make sure their calculations are correct?

 

Final Q: where does one turn to in order to have interest rate and penalty charges checked against the terms of the agreement;

an accountant or are there firms that do this? What sort of cost can I expect from this?

 

If anyone could point me in the right direction, I would be so grateful.

 

I am keen to improve my dreadful 540 score and don't really want to pay inflated charges and interest in doing so.

 

Many thanks!!

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Hi Welcome to CAG, I will try to answer you questions.

 

1. If a defaulted debt does not show on CRA files it is because the original default date was more than 6 years ago.

also Welcome as such no longer exists as a trading company and now only collects outstanding book debt.

You should also check Equifax though as data can vary between agencies.

 

2. Are you not receiving statements on this account, if not yes demand full explanation and statements, if this fails a Subject Access Request under the Data Protection Act 1998 this requires the creditor to supply ALL data they hold on you and the account, there is a £10 statutory fee, the creditor has 40 days to comply, this should be addressed to their data controller and sent by recorded delivery.

 

3.This would be again by a SAR request.

 

Defaults remain on file for 6 years then are removed paid or not, improving a credit profile is I'm afraid a long process.

[dx100uk]

you certainly do not need any accountant to do the PENALTY charges works

 

an SAR will tell you the charges.

 

as for welcome

 

def SAR them.

 

the debt will be inflated by PENALTY fees for everything

even un-answered telephone calls!

 

as well as their range of 'supposed' compulsory insurances

 

ALL can be reclaimed

 

dx

[BigDebt101]

Thank you so much for your very kind responses.

 

I will definitely get an SAR from Welcome.

 

However, it is not the case that the defaults are not showing, it is that nothing at all is showing.

 

I took the loan out less than 6 years ago but there is no record of a check or any payments etc. like all my other creditors. I will also check with Equifax.

 

When I do get a list of all of the fees and interest,

how do I check they have applied the interest correctly or is it a case of a long evening with a calculator?

 

Thanks again

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

The defaulted entries are removed so that no data is displayed anymore so blank is correct.

[dx100uk]

Thank you so much for your very kind responses.

 

I will definitely get an SAR from Welcome.

 

However, it is not the case that the defaults are not showing, it is that nothing at all is showing.

 

I took the loan out less than 6 years ago but there is no record of a check or any payments etc. like all my other creditors. I will also check with Equifax.

 

When I do get a list of all of the fees and interest,

how do I check they have applied the interest correctly or is it a case of a long evening with a calculator?

 

Thanks again

 

forget the interest.

 

the 'fees' will be obvious PENALTIES

 

late

over

letter

debt management

phone call

 

etc etc

 

they will be labelled as 'fees'

 

NO penalty fee is lawful under FSA guidelines

 

i have moved your thread to the WF forum

 

have a look at a few thread here

 

you soon see examples of welcome statements / charges threads

 

all should be come obvious

 

dx