Lowell Changed CRA Defaulted Date for Vanquis Card ***Adverse Data Removed***

[comebackjimmy]

Hi All

 

I failed to pay back a credit card in 2013. In due course the card company defaulted me and posted the default with one or more of the credit reference agencies in October 2013.

 

Lowell bought the debt and the account totally disappeared from my Noddle credit report.

 

It has now reappeared with a single entry showing a default for September 2014 (even though the main body of the report shows the original default date) so in effect bringing forward the default date by eleven months. That means I will have to wait an extra eleven months before the default disappears from my credit report.

 

Any advice on what action to take to resolve this would be much appreciated.

[comebackjimmy]

Great, many thanks. Clearly I don't need to do anything.

 

Odd though. You would think if they bought the debt they would continue the entries on from the previous card supplier. Seems to be a bi of a loophole in the system.

[comebackjimmy]

thanks brigadier

[comebackjimmy]

Hello All

 

I defaulted on a credit card in 2012 and received a default notice from the provider late 2012.

 

I cannot remember at the time if they reported the Default to the Credit Reference Agencies but believe they did and therefore the account would have been in default from say the start of 2013 and under the six-year rule (I am in England) would drop off the Agencies systems at the beginning of 2019.

 

The account was subsequently sold to Lowell where it has quietly languished since but they reported a Default on it in a date in 2014 and is showing as having been in default for far less time so is not due to drop off the system until 2020!

 

So.........

 

1. Is it right to believe that a default notice issued by a provider does not mean they have to report the account as in default to the Credit Agencies?

 

2. As and when they do report the default am I right to believe that the six-year clock starts it's countdown at that time of the report and does not necessarily match the date of the default notice?

 

3. If the account is sold to another party am I right to believe they cannot report the default again and therefore restart the six-year countdown.

 

I am not under any pressure with this account so not planning to do anything to correct the Credit Report until after this reaches Stat-Barred status in another year but any interested parties wanting to provide an answer, an opinion or join the discussion please feel free to post.

 

Thanks all.

[comebackjimmy]

Hello bazooka and erics

 

Thank you both for your contributions and apologies for my late response but I did not receive the usual email notification from the platform so was not aware anybody had answered my thread.

 

I will not take any action right now as I have about a year to run before it becomes statutory barred but I can take it up after that point Without Fear of any effective Court action being started.

[comebackjimmy]

Hello all

 

I would like to revive this thread in the light of new developments and it might be a good idea to read the thread before continuing below. 

 

In summary I defaulted a Vanquis card in 2012, they subsequently reported a default with the CRA's, and sold to Lowells who placed a different and later default date with the CRA's.

 

With the recent judgement about dates of defaults and six year Stat bar rules now in effect I am able to report that this account is now Stat Barred.

 

My reasoning is that according to the recent judgement the countdown starts from the date of the Default Notice from Vanquis which in this case was 25th June 2013.

 

(I have in my possession a default notice from Vanquis dated 25th June 2013 such that this account became Stat Barred 25th June 2019).

 

I subsequently wrote to Lowell offering them my correct and up to date address and using the standard template provided on here advised them that the account was Stat barred (adding one additional phrase to the template saying I was in possession of the Vanquis Default Notice).

 

They have replied saying it is not STAT Barred and say they are going to Vanquis to get account details implying an attempt at Court Action.

 

As a precaution I also SAR'ed Vanquis.  Much to my surprise I got a phone call from them asking me what information I required!!  I politely told the lady that my expectation was that the law required them to supply me with everything they hold electronically but that I would be satisfied with a copy of the default notice and their customer care logs showing date of issue of the notice.

 

I received the above two documents.  The DN matched my own copy so no problem there.

 

I was disappointed to see no reference to them ever having published a Default to any of the Credit Reference Agencies though if memory serves they did default.

 

I have no worries about Lowell as I would expect my Defence and documentation to be sound enough to defeat them probably without it even going to a Hearing.  They are relying on their own CRA default which they changed from Vanquis's original default, or hoping that they can persuade me that that is the correct date!   (To be clear I am relying on the Date of the Default Notice as being the start of the six year countdown to STAT BAR, not the pseudo default date lodged by Lowell upon account purchase).

 

But I am disappointed that Vanquis have provided no information about the date they originally defaulted me.

 

I would like to challenge Lowell's date and in the process clear up this last negative report on my record.

 

Anybody got any comments or ideas?

 

Thanks in advance.   

[comebackjimmy]

Hope this is waffle free:

 

 

Further to your last letter I enclose a copy of the Default notice issued by Vanquis.

 

You will note that it is dated 25^th June 2013, thus the account is Statutory barred. The only date that matters for purposes of calculating the Statutory barred date is the Date of the Default Notice, not any default report made to Credit Reference Agencies.

 

At the time you acquired the account you incorrectly and maliciously reported a default to the Credit Reference Agencies displacing the original report made by Vanquis.

 

I now require you to remove this account from the Credit Reference Agencies and I give you 14 days to do so.

 

If you do not I will immediately open a serious complaint against your firm with the Information Commissioners Office and seek financial compensation from you for the damage you have done to my Credit Worthiness

 

[comebackjimmy]

thanks DX, I will action that word for word.

[comebackjimmy]

Hello all,

 

I sent the letter as advised by DX100 using his wording.

 

I have had a reply headed "Customer Relations" as follows:

 

Complaint Reference: XXXXXX

 

We are Looking into your complaint

The customer relations team will now carry out a thorough investigation into your concerns.  we may contact you again with an update, or to request further information.

 

What happens next?

when we have completed our investigation we'll write to you again with our resolution.  a copy of our internal complaints Procedure is overleaf which provides information on expected timescales to respond to you about your complaint.

 

In the meantime if you have any queries pleae do not hesitate to contact my team by calling the free telephone number 08005420058 which brings you directly through to the customer relations team.

 

yours.....

 

I don't expect anybody on this forum to believe that the above is anything other than a formula letter with no real intention behind it.

 

The time is now well outside the 14 days my original letter gave them to sort the situation out.  Can I please solicit some advise on the next move.

 

[comebackjimmy]

Update to this thread; SUCCESS

 

Following DX advise post 18 I contacted the ICO by phone.  They advised they would accept a complaint but said they would prefer to allow a full month for Lowell to act on my complaint.  On 9th October I sent Lowell the following by email:

 

I have since received your standard response letter dated 23rd September 2019 advising me that you are looking into my complaint.

 

I have today spoken to the information commissioner's office who advised me that if you have not responded within a calendar month then it is reasonable for me to pursue a complaint via their agency.

 

They have also advised me to send you a reminder of the timescale that they consider appropriate.

Therefore please treat this message as a reminder to you that if you have not acted on my complaint by 15th October 2019 I will revert to the Information Commissioner's office without further reference to you.

 

Yours sincerely

 

I received another standard letter from Lowell advising they were still looking into it.

 

About a week ago I checked Clearscore to find that all of Lowells negative reporting had been removed and only one entry remained for November 2013 showing the account as closed unpaid which should disappear next month.  I have just had Clearscore alert email to say this account is about to drop off my report.

 

My Credit Karma report does not show the account at all.

 

I am writing the above in order to thank CAGers for their assistance and to provide information and closure for anybody following the thread or who may read it.  I will add one more post to advise what impact if any there is on my credit score when the report next updates.   (Clearscore=329, CreditKarma is 554).

[comebackjimmy]

As per my Post 19 above the record has now dropped off my Credit Report and my scores are now as follows:

 

Clearscore= 357 (up 28)

CreditKarma = 554 (no change but another report coming in about 7 days).

 

About what I expected as my scores will not be great as I am using a high percentage of my available credit but a nice result in the right direction, at least nothing adverse.

 

Edited November 22, 2019 by comebackjimmy
spelling

[comebackjimmy]

My thread is done Dodgeball so feel free to run with it.

 

What template did you want me to put up, there was no single document but several communications that led to it but happy to provide whatever I can.