HELP: Billing issues

[sandyhiggins11]

I am seeking advice. I am currently about to look for a mortgage/rental with my partner. On checking my Experian Credit Expert score I have seen that it is scored as poor due to a default on a Vodafone payment. I will provide a little background to this.

This default was for £11 on and the Default date: 03/07/2016. This was an £11 payment due I believe on January of 2016. The payment was for me finishing my contract and I paid what I believe had been the last bill in December but there was a small balance to be paid (£11) in January. I had just moved house and hadn't given Vodafone my new address as I had believed I was all paid up and settled as that's what they said on the phone. So when they sent the notice that I was due a balance of £11 I never received it until I received a letter from a collection agency to my new address 6 months later. Once I got this I paid it immediately as this was a genuine mistake and mis-communication, so I am fully settled with Vodafone now. 

Obviously having a poor credit score will have severe implications for me as I start to set up a family over the next few years and on reflection of my credit score except this one genuine mistake/miscommunication (on a very small cash value), I have had very good credit and always made my payments on time. I am wondering if there is any possibility I can speak to someone in Vodafone so this can be removed from my credit score if it is queried? If this is not possible by you is there any advice you could give me to fix this. I am really worried about my prospects of getting a home for my family all based on a genuine misunderstanding over a £11 final balance that I wasn't made aware of being on my record for 6 years and considered the same by the banks as a £5000 default.

I phone up and the guy just didn't even properly listen to me on the phone and diverted me to a number that got me cut off. I am at a loss.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Sandy Higgins

[donnyguy]

Hi Sandy,

This kinda of issue crops up from time to time on this forum and you'll usually find you'll get some generic advise around waiting till you get a final bill of zero etc. but this isn't going to help you. In fact, I left Vodafone a few months ago and never got a final bill. Instead I lost all access to online billing and had an extra payment of £18 something took for reasons I don't know. However, being a long term member of this forum, I deliberately left my direct debit in place just in case. I'd rather fight over a random payment being taken than risk them ruining my credit score. 

From reading your post, Vodafone had told you that you were settled up. It wasn't an assumption on your part which to me should mean that Vodafone look into this and get the default removed from your file. It comes from incorrect information given to you at the end of your contract rather than you defaulting on purpose for £11.

You have two choices as you need to get this on record to get it investigated.

1. Wait for a member of the eForum team to come along. They'll contact you and put you in touch with their credit teams or 

2. Get it logged officially as a complaint via www.vodafone.co.uk/complaints - You're obviously not having any joy with front line customer care so get it sent across in an email. You'll get a reference number, they'll investigate and come back to you.

Either way, I'm sure they'll get this sorted for you. I agree that a six year mark on your credit file for £11 is a little harsh.

[Jenny]

@sandyhiggins11 - I’m sorry to hear what’s happened.

We’ll need to look into everything further, so I’ve sent you a private message with instructions on how to get in touch.