Vodafone: Unfair - credit history affected

[ufonline]

Hello all,

 

I just joined this forum and I'm looking for advice on an issue where I really feel hard done by.

 

Let me explain. Back in September 2014 my ex wanted a phone. We were out and at Carphone Warehouse she said she wanted a phone. However, at the time she didn't have her bank card with her, because the old one had expired and she was waiting for a replacement to come.

 

Me being the gent I am decided to take out a contract in my name and gave my direct debit details. It wasa Vodafone contract.

 

The man at the shop said that after 3 months, we can call Vodaphone and do a 1) transfer of direct debit and 2) transfer of account ownership.

 

I said okay.

 

Sadly the relationship ended pretty soon after that but for the first three month the direct debit was coming out of my account and she was putting money in my account.

 

After three months there was a forced meeting where we called Vodafone at the same time and requested a complete transfer.

 

Both direct debit and account were transferred from mine into her name (or so I thought).

 

Fast forward to September 2016 and I got rejected for a mortage by a lender. I was a little baffled as to why so I logged onto creditscore and to my shock, it shows the Vodafone account from 2014 more than £800 in arrears.

 

I called up Vodafone. I was angry. The account should never have been in my name. They told me that at time of transfer of account ownership they did a credit check on my ex and she failed it. So, the account bouced back to me. I was shocked.

 

I was never told about this at all.

 

As it turns out, my ex then cancelled the direct debit and didn't make any more payments. Problem is that account was in my name and I didn't even know. I wasn't called, e-mailed, written to.

 

I thought after three months that account was no longer in my name. I wasn't using the phone, my ex was.

 

The problem now is that my credit history shows major telecom arrears which I feel is really unfair. I disputed it and Vodafone told equifax that the account remained in my names so the credit history is correct.

 

I'm livid because I feel this is not an accurate reflection of my payment history. I am struggling to buy a house now.

 

Can you help?

[maroondevo52]

Hi,

 

How did your ex manage to cancel the direct debit if it was not coming out of her account.

[ufonline]

Hi

 

At the time we made the phonecall to Vodafone, the direct debit transferred fine. So the money stopped coming out of my account and the direct debit was changed to her account.

 

The account ownership however, hadn't. That is what I didn't know. I thought it was all clear, that both DD and account were no longer in my name.

 

Thanks

[silverfox1961]

Hi and welcome to CAG.

 

Unfortunately, this is going to take some time so put the prospect of a cheap mortgage away for now.

 

During the period you changed the details, VF were in the process of updating their software systems which totally screwed up many accounts.

 

If you haven't filed a formal complain, this is something to do ASAP. Ensure your letter is headed Formal Complaint as VF will treat it as a query instead meaning they will take as long as they like to investigate. With a complaint, they have 8 weeks.

 

As you were the account holder, you should have been made aware that the account had bounced back to you. This will be the first point of complaint. I also assume they didn't send you any letters to inform you of the outstanding amounts nor send a default notice. (Had you moved?)

 

At the same time but in a separate letter to the Data Controller, you should do a Subject Access Request. This will bring back all the account history and hopefully show what has gone wrong. Don't expect any copies of phone calls as VF don't keep them.

 

I would check all the Credit Reference Agencies and see if the default is on all of them. You can then write a notice of correction (up to 200 words) to explain to potential lenders what has happened.

 

I should add that with the complaint, the first page should lay out the matters of fact in short bullet points and then if you need to go on to more pages, you can lay out your complaint in more detail.

Once you have the SAR back you can then check and see if they should compensate you as well.

 

You didn't do yourself any favours by taking out the contract for your ex. Time and again I have seen this come back and bite the account holder.

[ufonline]

Hi and welcome to CAG.

 

Unfortunately, this is going to take some time so put the prospect of a cheap mortgage away for now.

 

During the period you changed the details, VF were in the process of updating their software systems which totally screwed up many accounts.

 

If you haven't filed a formal complain, this is something to do ASAP. Ensure your letter is headed Formal Complaint as VF will treat it as a query instead meaning they will take as long as they like to investigate. With a complaint, they have 8 weeks.

 

As you were the account holder, you should have been made aware that the account had bounced back to you. This will be the first point of complaint. I also assume they didn't send you any letters to inform you of the outstanding amounts nor send a default notice. (Had you moved?)

 

At the same time but in a separate letter to the Data Controller, you should do a Subject Access Request. This will bring back all the account history and hopefully show what has gone wrong. Don't expect any copies of phone calls as VF don't keep them.

 

I would check all the Credit Reference Agencies and see if the default is on all of them. You can then write a notice of correction (up to 200 words) to explain to potential lenders what has happened.

 

I should add that with the complaint, the first page should lay out the matters of fact in short bullet points and then if you need to go on to more pages, you can lay out your complaint in more detail.

Once you have the SAR back you can then check and see if they should compensate you as well.

 

You didn't do yourself any favours by taking out the contract for your ex. Time and again I have seen this come back and bite the account holder.

 

 

Hi thanks for this. Really appreciate it. I am writing the letter now.

 

Yes at the time of taking out the contract I was living at one address and then a week later I moved to another place. So Vodafone may have written to the old address which they had on file but I wasn't getting that post.

 

Could they not have e-mailed or called me? What do you advise?

Edited October 13, 2016 by ufonline

[ufonline]

My track record in terms of payments if really good. Had I known that the account is in my name I would have dealt with the matter swiftly to make sure this doesn't happen. I simply did not know. I lost contact with my ex- and she was using the phone not me.

 

I thought the transfer was complete once we both called Vodafone. I didn't look back after that until now when it shows up on my credit report.

[silverfox1961]

20/20 hindsight is a wonderful thing! No good going over old ground but I would have thought that they would email/text you to say something was wrong. VF had both numbers attached to your account so could quite easily have done so.

 

Mention that within the complaint. VF had multiple ways of contacting you so why did they not do so.