Hi,
First may I say I understand and appreciate how damaging it can be to have a Default showing on a Credit File ,and how difficult it can sometimes be to have a default removed if not warranted.
Hopefully you find the information below helps in some way to guide you to resolution.
What to do if you find a Default on your Credit File and How to add a Notice of Correction on your Credit File.
To begin with take into consideration that a Default will only be removed if this was incorrectly reported on your Credit File to begin with. If the money was owed then it will remain for the 6 Years.
Some instances of this I've seen have come about because the Account Holder has decided to cancel their Direct Debit after giving their 30 days notice or requested and used a Pac Code. (Porting Authorisation Code)
Vodafone would try to make contact by email , call or written corespondence if a person has cancelled their Direct Debit to clear any final monies owed.
Vodafone are not required to make contact before applying a Default on a person's Credit File.
If you change address or abandon the email address its advised to update Vodafone of these changes. In the extreme if they can't contact a person then a Default can be applied and the debt passed to Debt Collection Agencies.
It's best practice not to cancel your Direct Debit at least until...
- Final Paper-bill has arrived by post and paid by DD.
- A £0.00 Bill has arrived by post.
- A Sorry Your Leaving Letter has arrived by post.
(Please retain this paperwork)
When-will-I-receive-my-final-bill.
This allows any funds to be taken or any monies refunded.
So if you've checked your Credit File and found a Default applied by Vodafone then my advice is to......
It's important to speak with Customer service first to clear up why this has happened before the Credit File Support Team can help.
Once resolved then Ring Customer service on 191 or 03333040191 and ask to speak with the Vodafone Credit File Support Team who are available on a Weekday. Advise them you believe this has been applied in error ,and require this to be investigated.
In regards to the Landline Option above : You can input your Vodafone mobile number after prompted when using the Landline phone option, Or if issues exist where the IVR System will not recognise the mobile number ,then you can opt to ignore the initial prompts to type in the mobile number, and then on approx the 4th request it should then change to ask to input 1 for Payg or 2 for Contract Customers.
General enquiries: Monday to Sunday 8am – 9pm
Please Note ~ A Default if warranted will remain on a persons Credit File for 6 Years from the Default Date, and would not be removed as Vodafone have an obligation to correctly show this information on a persons Credit File.
It would show initially as Outstanding and then to Settled once the owing amount is paid. The Settled Status will look more favourable on your Credit File.
While Vodafone's Credit File Support team Investigate this for you there is more you can do to help the situation.
You can decide to put a ‘Notice of Correction’ on your Credit File through one of the three Credit Reference Agencies Callcredit, Equifax and Experian.
The Credit Houses can also help and advise you in regards to the current situation.
It is Free to add the Notice of Correction. This gives you the tools to add your own notes on your Credit File up to 200 words to explain why the Default is showing.
Initiate Contact with one or more of the Agencies and fully inform them of the issue.
Then they will typically ask you to put it in writing to them, and then within 28 days of receipt of your letter (Top Tip: Send the letters as Recorded Delivery) your credit file will be updated so others performing a Credit Search can see why the default was applied.
The addresses of the Credit Reference Agencies are:
Equifax Ltd.
Credit File Advice Centre.
PO Box 1140,
Bradford,
BD1 5US.
0844 335 0550.
*
Callcredit Plc.
Consumer Services Team.
PO Box 491,
Leeds,
LS3 1WZ.
0870 060 1414.
*
Experian Ltd.
Customer Support Centre.
PO Box 8000,
Nottingham,
NG80 7WF.
0844 481 8000.
Citizens Advice maybe able to further help and advise.
Vodafones Code of Practice.
Online Query Form from Experian.
Information from Experian here -
Here’s a step-by-step guide to raising a credit report dispute with Experian:
1.Get a current copy of your Experian Credit Report.
If you don't have one you can sign up to CreditExpert or order a one-off statutory report.
2.Let us know which entry isn’t accurate.
Tell us which entry is wrong, and what’s wrong with it.
To query information on your statutory Experian credit report, fill out our online query form.
If you’re a CreditExpert member, please email us at customerservice(at)creditexpert.co.uk or call us on 0844 481 0800 and we will raise the dispute for you.
3.We’ll contact the organisation that’s recorded this information on your report.
And we’ll ask them to check the accuracy of the data they’ve recorded. We’ll let you know that we’re doing this, and we’ll add a ‘Notice of Dispute’ to the entry – so that anyone looking at your report in the meantime will know that the entry is being disputed. We do this because we can’t delete or change the data without their permission.
4.We’ll let you know the outcome.
Once the organisation replies to us we’ll be in touch to let you know whether they’ve said it needs changing, deleting, or told us that it’s correct. It takes 10 days on average for us to receive a response from most organisations and we’ll let you know as soon as we hear from them. You’ll be able to see any changes on your credit report.
You can also contact the organisation directly yourself. Only the organisation can give authorisation for the data to be changed or deleted, so your contact with them can speed up the time it takes to get something corrected.
5. Further help.
If the organisation responds informing us that they believe the information is accurate and you still disagree, we will explain the next step you can take, including adding a notice of correction to the entry and referring the matter to a third party to arbitrate. (updated January 2014)
I wish you all the best with resolving your situation.
Sub Note >
To Add if a person has spoken to a member of the Credit File Support Team and they have agreed to remove the default then this is usually actioned straightaway. The file will update when the database that Vodafone share with the credit file agencies update.
This normally takes up to 30 working days but can happen quicker.
Unfortunately there is no way to hasten the process up as Vodafone do not have control over the database that is accessed by the credit file agencies.
Current Phone >
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