Default notice

[godutch]

Hi forum 

I was a vodafone customer in 2012 and transferred my phone to another provider. Sorry Vodafone.

Some 6 years later and I'm in the process of applying for a mortgage (my first home) and have been told that my aplication is going to be declined due to a default notice registered against me.

When I transferred to another provider, Vodafone just stated that a final bill would be issued and taken by DD however some 6 years later, I'm shocked to discover that there is a default registered for £300+ back in 2013.  I tried to speak to vodafone last week but was told that my details/account where on the old business system and could not be retrieved and that no one could help me.

At the time, I recall the operative stating that a final bill would be issued and paid in the normal way (i.e.DD) and thought that was the end of the matter however, despite having lived in the same address (since the age of 9) i have had no correspondence, bills, demands etc from vodafone otherwise i would have paid it at the time. The rest of my credit report is fantastic but I cannot believe that a £300+ default would not have been pursued for over 5 years . As you can imagine, not great having to explain to the other half a debt I didnt know about and its stopping us getting a house of our dreams and starting a new life.

any suggestions? 

[danjama]

I'm in a similar position. Vodafone seem to like ruining lives.

[BandOfBrothers]

Hi @godutch and @danjama

What we see is issues caused due to a person sometimes closing down their Direct Debit too early when closing an account that ultimately stops Vodafone from collecting payments. 

Vodafone are not required to give prior warning to a person they are applying a 6 Year Default on their Credit File. 

I assume when you used your Pac the Vodafone mobile contract was at the end of the 24 Months and you were not at any Early upgrade stage. 

When you used your Pac by giving it to the other UK Network which automatically closed your Vodafone Account, and they collected the final bill which is usually approx 2-4 weeks later did you then recieve a Sorry Your Leaving Letter and a £0 bill which confirms everything is paid up. 

Did you keep this. 

You can put a Notice of Correction on your Credit File and the Credit Houses i.e Experian can also help and advise you. 

This is a help thread I put together > Default-on-your-Credit-File-And-How-to-add-a-Notice-of-Correction.

We also have a Vodafone Social Media Team here who have a Credit File Specialist Team who help on these matters. 

Please let them catch up with your thread and bring you in away from the open forum to pass security checks and they'll help you further with this situation. 

I wish you all the best with this situation. 

[ijaxwas]

We actually they are meant to inform you if they are issuing a default.. Its called a "Default Notice" and gives you a chance to put things right refore the account is defaulted.. If they havent followed the correct proceedure you can try to get it set aside in court..

BTW paying them makes no difference whatsoever.. I have one proviously and my credit score remained the same after it was paid in full

[Anonymous]

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@ijaxwas wrote:

We actually they are meant to inform you if they are issuing a default.. Its called a "Default Notice" and gives you a chance to put things right refore the account is defaulted.. If they havent followed the correct proceedure you can try to get it set aside in court..

BTW paying them makes no difference whatsoever.. I have one proviously and my credit score remained the same after it was paid in full

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Er.....no.  Whoever originally drafted the law decided that mobile network providers would NOT be required to inform customers before issuing a default.  Why that decision was taken is anyone's guess but it is one of the reasons why we see this sort of post on this forum so often.

The other reason is, as @bandofbrothers said, because departing customers very often close down their direct debits before final payments have been taken.  However Vodafone have in the past undoubtedly contributed hugely to the numbers of ex-customers who have been caught like this.  How ?   Well, in the past Vodafone

a) Did not correctly advise customers of the process involved in closing an account, and did not document it anywhere on the  website. The only way to find out used to be to come here !

b) Regularly assured customers who phoned to terminate their contracts that the payment they had just made was the absolute final payment and that no more payment would become due - when in fact this often was not the case.  Poor CS training was the culprit.

c) Failed to send paper bills for any outstanding payments once the customer's online account had been closed.

d) Sometimes failed to terminate the customer's account despite CS assuring the customer that they had done so, thus leading to fictitious "arrears" building up.

e) Sometimes issued defaults as a lazy alternative to chasing outstanding payments.

So far as I'm aware these issues have now been addressed. However defaults as you know remain on the customer's credit record for 6 years once issued, unless they are removed by the issuer, so we are still seeing problems caused by defaults issued several years ago. Defaults will only be removed if issued in error, and Vodafone had an extremely narrow definition of "in error" which (conveniently ?) excluded their own communication failures. Or to put it another way, they would only remove a default if the ex-customer never owed the money to begin with, not if he/she had never been told of any outstanding debt.

[Mark]

I'm sorry to hear there's been a problem with the closure of your accounts @danjama, @godutch and @ijaxwas. I'm sure our Credit File specialists will be able to remove any incorrect markers added. As we'll need access to your account do to this, please send us your details by following the instructions in the private message I've sent.

[Jouleskeys]

My account was being investigated and I paid 1/4 up front on time. Following the investigation with Cisas, I paid immediately and found i had a default on my account despite not getting a letter and being in touch during everything occuring. No one warned me of this and now I too am unable to get a Mortgage.

Vodafone LOVE destroying families lives and it is utterly depressing and unreasonable of such a huge company.