When can you get a default removed from your credit record? · Camel Credit
“This default is destroying my credit score – How do I get rid of it?”
This is a very common question!
Sometimes it is asked that when people’s money is advanced and they try to clean up old problems in their credit history as quickly as possible. Or sometimes the default feels wrong for some reason.
I will look at the various cases to see what – if anything – can be done in each of them.
But first, there is no magic trick that an “expert” can use to do this:
- Never pay a company that says it can arrange this for you;
- Their claims are often exaggerated, they can’t do anything you can’t do.
When debts go down your credit record
How long the credit lasts on your record depends on whether or not the record shows a default date.
The two rules are:
- Credit without a default date you remain on your register for six years from the date of adjustment. This applies whether it is fully or partially resolved;
- A loan with a default date he lives for six years from that day. It is possible to pay it in full, make a full and final settlement, not pay anything on it, or still pay anything … None of this in this case, the debt will still go down after six years.
So the default date is an important piece of information that you don’t know.
Don’t think! Check your records with all three crass to know exactly what they say.
Having a loan go off your record because the default was more than 6 years ago is the same as default removal.
Situations where the default should be removed
“I never owe this money”
If the debt is not yours, tell the lender and ask them to remove it from your credit record. It’s not just your credit record that’s important here, you don’t want to be kicked out for the money you owe or taken to court with a CCJ!
“I was never behind”
If you see a debt but don’t think you’re behind, ask the borrower for an account statement. That would indicate where the problem is. You can check your bank statements to see if you made any unrecorded payments.
“The lender stopped taking money”
Sometimes the borrower stops taking the monthly payment through Direct Debit or continuous payment authorization. You may have taken out a loan that was refinanced and only found out later when a default was placed on your credit record.
Here is the fact that the borrower stopped taking important payments. You may be able to get proof from your bank that you didn’t cancel the DD or CPA until months later. If it was the lender’s fault, you shouldn’t have a default and can ask to have it removed.
“It’s not fair – I only missed one payment”
In this case, no defaults should have been added as you were never three months behind!
Write to the borrower, and appeal to the Financial Ombudsman if the lender refuses to fix it, see the article above about what is the default date you should have details.
“Debt collector added default later”
They shouldn’t have done this. A debt collector can add a new record, but it must have the same default date as the original creditor.
Write to the debt collector and ask them to sort it out, and apply to the Financial Ombudsman if necessary.
Cases where you have to win an argument to remove it
“Auto added too late”
The rules say that the default should be when you have 3-6 months left after the regular payment.
If the debtor filed default earlier than this, it should be changed to earlier. That means it will go down in no time, and your credit record will be clean in no time.
You see “The default date should be a credit?” which explains how to get your corrected record. For most people this is as good as automatic detection removed – and it can be very convenient.
“Credit was unavailable”
Lenders should check that they have changed before they give you a loan, credit card or overdraft. CREDIT is only available “affordable” if you can afford it without difficulty and still pay your household bills, living expenses and other debts.
If a background check would have shown that the credit was unaffordable to you at the time you applied, request a refund and any defaults will be removed from your credit file.
See available refunds for how to make these appeals. There are various articles on car finance, personal loans, credit cards (including credit cards and store cards) and overdrafts. There is a free template for each topic that you can use.
Hundreds of thousands of these complaints have worked.
Sometimes a borrower will only remove “bad details” such as defaults and missed payments. Sometimes the entire credit record will be deleted. Here is a comment on a successful loan appeal:
I had 3 loans with Zopa – they agreed the last two should not have been granted and removed my credit file! They removed the interest and charges so I have to refinance now at my own pace.
“The debt is not binding”
This may not be easy.
Sometimes the borrower will agree to the loan without being forced because it is a restricted system. In this case the default must have been entered into the debt more than 6 years ago. So you can ask for the default date to be changed to start from scratch and the credit will go off your record.
When a debtor cannot produce a CCA agreement for a loan or credit card, it is not in court. See Credits – WHY, HOW, how to request a CCA agreement for details. But here it is a debt that legally exists and you owe it even though you don’t have to pay it. Because of this, the default will not be removed.
“I was in an abusive relationship”
Many women are pressured to take out debt from a partner or have a joint account with an abusive partner. Financial abuse is now being recognized as a serious problem and most banks are now signing up to the 2018 financial abuse code of practice.
If you feel you have a debt and the default is from an abusive relationship, I suggest going to your local council and asking for their help to see if the debt can be written off and the default removed. This is happening!
Where possible defaults will be removed
“Lenders are adding defaults every month!”
This makes your credit report look scary but it’s normal and doesn’t matter:
- A late default doesn’t make your credit rating worse because lenders’ scoring programs only look at the first;
- The debt will be amortized 6 years after the first default, which later does not affect this.
“Lender agreed to lower payments but still adds default”
This may feel wrong, but legally it can be done when the embryos arrive at 3-6 months.
This applies if you have arrangements that pay off one or two creditors. Or a debt management plan with Fmp for DMP.
Although you may hate that default, it may be better for you than a paid (ap) mark on your file! The default record disappears after 6 years, the AP mark remains for 6 years after the debt is settled.
“Six years is too long!”
If you only have a short-term problem it can seem very difficult for this black mark to stay on your credit file for a long time.
But there is officially nothing you can do to make the automation continue any time soon.
You can add a notice of correction to your credit file to explain why the problem occurred.
As defaults increase, some lenders won’t be too concerned about it. But for creditors, e.g
Usually the best thing you can do is pay off the debt as quickly as possible. Many lenders may be willing to give you credit.
When the dependent is gone and unable to communicate
This is a special case.
If the borrower will not respond to the credit reference agencies, you can ask the CRAS to “suppress” the credit records. If this happens, even though the records are still there, they will not be shown to any other lenders doing a credit check on you.
Learn how to repair credit records if your borrower is underperforming and see if you think it can help you.
Do not try to do this If the lender continues. Or if it’s the first stages of management – then it’s better to file a claim for an unaffordable loan. If your claim is upheld, the default will be removed, and usually managers will simply remove the credit record as it is convenient.
