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Procedure/timeline to remove defaulted Vodafone account on credit file

brit_abroad
3: Seeker
3: Seeker

I discovered as a result of a credit check on the 5th December 2019 that I have a county court judgement (CCJ) entered against me in June 2019 for an outstanding Vodafone bill of less than 200 GBP that became due in January 2018 and is related to a pay monthly mobile contract that I had requested to be cancelled in 2015. I requested the cancellation because I left the UK in 2015. The address referenced in the judgement is incorrect so I was unware.

 

Clearly the contract cancellation was not executed as requested and instead the contract ran for over 2 years further until the beginning of 2018 when Vodafone terminated finally. The account was then passed to Lowell some time later in 2018 and I have never had any contact with Lowell about this matter. I understand that Lowell acts on behalf of Vodafone in these matters.

 

Vodafone entered my case into ‘deadlock’ status during the last phone call I had on 6th Dec and then during the same call immediately offered to recall my account from Lowell, reverse all court action (i.e. cancel/set aside the judgement recorded against my credit file), discount the balance outstanding on the account due by a percentage and allow me to settle that by direct payment to Vodafone as soon as the account is recalled (estimated to be 3-5 or 5-7 working days, variously both estimates were given, running from the date of that call when the recall request was submitted). I have a case number for the recall request.

 

I would like some help to know more detail about the steps that need to be taken by Vodafone especially with regards to the precise mechanism of the account recall process and when/how exactly the default is going to be removed from my credit file.

3 REPLIES 3

hrym
17: Community Champion
17: Community Champion

The people you need to speak to about this are the Credit File Support team.  Only they will have access to the full history at this stage, so don't be fobbed off with anyone else trying to access it.   Your best way of initiating contact would be to post of Facebook or Twitter.   Don't put any personal information in initially, but wait for them to ask you to DM.   At that stage, you can include a link to this thread so that you don't have to repeat yourself.

That should be the most efficient way of getting the matter escalated.  The team will look at all the details and give you a definitive decision.

I tried to initiate contact with the Credit File Support Team but I was not allowed to speak to them by the Facebook messenger Vodafone representative or the Customer Relations Team.

 

I have managed to narrow down the issue that I want to clarify however - Vodafone has offered to me to:

1) Recall account from Lowell to Vodafone for ongoing management

2) Reverse all Vodafone/Lowell court action (default, default judgement) related to this account

3) Discount the balance outstanding on the account due by a percentage and allow me to settle that by direct payment to Vodafone 

 

It seems like the process is practically that Vodafone does in this order:

1) Recalls the account from Lowell, meaning taking back responsibility for the account handling, outstanding amount to be settled and the credit file management

2) Writes off the discounted portion of the outstanding amount and then settles the remaining balance with me

3) Makes the appropriate changes to the credit file

 

Assuming as I believe that the default/default judgement were entered incorrectly against my name and it would be correct to update my credit file by deleting the record of the default and/or default judgement (county court judgement / CCJ) then what is the timing and procedure for Vodafone confirming the exact action to be taken on my credit file and confirming that it has successfully completed this action? Furthermore does the successful completion of these actions rely on Vodafone instructing Lowell to make an application to the court where it initially entered this claim against me?

 

If I can't understand the above then it seems clearly superior to instruct lawyers to apply to the court to set aside the judgement since there is clearly grounds for doing that.

hrym
17: Community Champion
17: Community Champion

That doesn't sound unreasonable to me.   The offer is to take the account back in-house and remove a lot of the things that affect yout credit file. That they are not writing the debt off completely suggests that you did owe something, but the offer would appear to suggest that it's accepted that you may not have been fully aware of this.

The Credit File Support Team are not, in the jargon, customer-facing.  That's to say, a matter can be referred to them, but you won't be put directly in touch.   They have full access to the account and its history, including any previous contact.   They will reach a decision based on this and it is usually final.

I think I'd be inclined to accept the offer, especially if your credit file is cleaned.   You could go to law, but the outcome would probably be no better and may leave you worse off, in tems of legal fees.