A default badly damages your credit score, so how long will it stay there?
That depends on what the default date is on your credit record.
In Britain, the credit record rules say:
the debt, including the default, is deleted from your credit record six years later after the first default.
A debt that is marked as defaulted will be deleted after six years in all the following situations:
- you have repaid the debt in full;
- you have made a partial settlement;
- you are still making monthly payments to it; or
- you haven’t made any payment to it for years.
There are no exceptions to this rule. So a debt with a default date in May 2016 will drop off your credit record in May 2022.
This means that the longer ago a default date is, the better because it will disappear sooner.
If you can get a creditor to change a default date from June 2019 to April 2017, the debt will disappear more than two years earlier.
So this article looks at what the default date should be.
Contents
When should a default date be added to a credit record?
SCOR, the industry forum that handles credit reporting, says :
As a general guide, [a default] may occur when you are 3 months in arrears, and normally by the time you are 6 months in arrears.
There are exceptions to this which may result in a default being recorded at a later stage, such as secured or long term loans e.g. mortgages, or if the product operates in a more flexible way e.g. current accounts, student loans, home credit.
Those are the main guidelines, but let’s look at specific situations.
Debt management plans and arrangements to pay
For situations where you miss a few payments, or make reduced payments, or enter a Debt Management Plan, the “3-6 months” guidance above applies.
If your arrears have already reached three months, then the lender can register a default, even if an arrangement to pay is then agreed or you pay the debt in full.
Arrears will usually continue to mount up when you have an arrangement to pay or a DMP, so later a default can be added even if you are making all the payments.
At the start of a DMP or an arrangement to pay you may not want a default – they do harm your credit score! But if you aren’t going to repay the debt in a few years, having a default is usually better because your credit score will clear up sooner. With no default date added, the record will stay until 6 years from the date the debt is finally settled which could be a long while.
So it can often be better to have a default early in a debt management plan rather than not have one – see this article on DMPs and Credit Ratings for some examples.
Overdrafts are more complicated – and defaults will be later
For most loans and credit cards the standard 3-6 month provisions apply – the common exception is current accounts.
There is no regular or minimum monthly payment to an overdraft, so the concept of “3-6 months in arrears” doesn’t really exist.
You may have abandoned an account with an overdraft and switched to using a different account. But unless you told the bank this or asked for an arrangement to repay it (for example in a debt management plan) or included the overdraft in a debt management plan, the bank may not have been able to tell.
So default dates for overdrafts can often be later than you would think.
Debt sold to a debt collector
When a debt is sold to a debt collector, the new creditor should use the same default date as the original creditor did.
If the original lender didn’t add a default, you can ask them to add one, then the debt collector will have to use that.
In the unusual case that the lender didn’t report to a credit reference agency at all, the debt collector should apply the same ICO rule that the original lender would have used.
CCJs
If you have had a CCJ registered for that debt, the default date must be earlier than the date of the CCJ.
The CCJ will stay on your credit record for 6 years, so the original debt will have dropped off before the CCJ goes.
Insolvency
If you have gone bankrupt, had an IVA or Debt Relief Order(DRO) then the default dates of the debts in your insolvency must not be later than the date the insolvency started.
This is covered in detail in these articles which tell you how to correct these problems after insolvency:
- Repair your credit record after Bankruptcy;
- Repair your credit record after an IVA;
- Repair your credit record after a DRO.
Mortgages
Mortgages and other secured loans are an exception to the general “3-6 months in arrears” guidelines. In 2007 the ICO issued technical guidance on Filing Defaults With Credit Reference Agencies, see paragraph 14 for this specific area.
A mortgage lender has much more discretion on when to record a default, but it should generally not be later than six months after any repossession.
Only the first default date for a debt matters
Once a debt has been marked as defaulted, your credit file will normally show a default marker every month until the debt is settled. That looks dreadful on your credit reports! But in the credit score calculations, it is only counted as one default.
So when people talk about “the default date for a debt”, it is the first default date that matters. Not the ones for later months. The whole debt will disappear six years after the first default.
What can you do if a default date looks wrong?
For some examples of how these principles have been applied in practice, see these case studies that the Financial Ombudsman has reported. They should give you a better feel for whether you can get your credit record changed.
To correct a problem with a default on your credit file you should write/email the lender (or the debt collection agency if your debt has been sold by the original lender), putting COMPLAINT as the subject, explaining why you think it is wrong.
Don’t just copy out the guidance above, add the facts and dates which relate to your specific case. Some common examples would be:
- “I first missed payments to this debt in early 2015 and set up an arrangement to pay in June 2015”,
- “I only made token payments from 2012”
- “This debt was included in my debt management plan with Stepchange in March 2017” etc.
Then say what you think should happen to your credit record, do you want it deleted, added, or changed to be earlier? For example:
- “Please delete the default date because I was never three months in arrears according to the ICO rules.”
- “You never contacted me to say the account was in arrears so it is unreasonable to have added a default. I had later accounts with you so you knew my contact details. I paid the debt as soon as I found out about it.”
- “I would like you to add a default date in November 2015 in accordance with the ICO rules.”
- “According to the ICO rules the default date of September 2017 is too late and I would like you to change it to May 2014.”
- “the other creditors in my debt management plan added defaults in 2014, they have since dropped off my credit record. You should be using that same date, so please correct it.”
The credit reference agencies only report what they are told by the creditors, so complain to the creditor not Experian etc.
If you haven’t had your complaint to the lender sorted within 8 weeks, send it to the Financial Ombudsman.
Here is an example of an Ombudsman decision telling Nationwide to backdate a default date.
Be careful – will doing this “reset the clock”?
If you haven’t made any payments to a debt for years and you are hoping it will get to the 6 years point so the debt is statute-barred, it is probably best not to contact the lender at all. If you ask them to change the default date then this will acknowledge the debt and “reset the clock”. See Questions about Statute-barred debt for more information as the conditions for some debts becoming statute-barred have changed in January 2019.
But also read No calls all letters about a debt for years? Is very common for you to be contacted about an old debt just a few months before it reaches the 6-year statute-barred point. So unless this is very close, it’s probably not worth hoping this will happen and it’s better to get the default date sorted.
If the debt is already statute-barred (are you absolutely sure? read the above article) then you can safely ask for the default date to be changed as once a debt is statute-barred it will always remain barred.
Important – sometimes a default is good news!
Defaults sound bad, right? So getting one removed must be good?
This is probably the most confusing thing of all, but No!
It can often be better to have a default on your credit record. If there is a default against a debt, then the whole debt will “drop off” your file after six years, even if you haven’t repaid the debt. With no default, the record will not go away until six years after it is marked as settled/satisfied in some way.
So don’t rush into trying to get a default removed… and never try to get a default date changed to a later one because it will wreck your credit record for longer!
Your credit record isn’t the only thing that matters
You may wonder why you should pay a debt at all if it will go from your credit record after 6 years if you don’t pay it. There are two good reasons:
- it stops the creditor going to court for a CCJ, which would harm your credit record for another 6 years
- seeing that problem debt is settled makes other lenders more likely to give you credit.
Your credit score improves when a defaulted debt disappears, but the debt still legally exist. See Do I have to pay a debt that isn’t on my credit record? for more details.
A credit record default is NOT the same as a “Default Notice”
This article has looked at when a creditor marks your debt as “in default” with one of the credit reference agencies.
Confusingly, the word “default” is also used in the term “Default Notice”. Under the Consumer Credit Act, a lender has to send you a Default Notice before taking you to court over an unpaid consumer credit debt such as a loan or a credit card. This has nothing to do with informing a credit reference agency that your debt is in default – your credit file may be marked as in default even if the creditor has no intention of taking court action.
If you have read things like the lender has to send you a Default Notice 14 days before starting court action and if you pay the debt in full within this time the lender can’t go to court these aren’t referring to credit records at all. Anywhere you read the phrase Default Notice you are probably looking at information about possible CCJs, not credit records.
How much will my credit score change if…
FAQs on statute barred debt
When can you get a default deleted?
E says
I stopped making payments on a Nationwide Credit Card in January/February 2018. I contacted Step Change Debt Charity in April of 2018 and a DMP became effective from May – with approx’ 6 years to run (I’m still on this plan). Nationwide did not register DMP with the CRA’s; they registered a default a year later in May of 2019. I recently became aware (this site) that this may not have be in accordance with the FOS rule.
Nationwide agreed it was incorrectly reported and will amend to December 2018. I wrote again expressing that I didn’t feel this to be a true reflection of events. and requested it be amended to the start of the DMP. Nationwide are standing firm that an account will only default after 4 missed payments. Presumably this should include reduced payments – i.e DMP? Should Nationwide be taking into consideration the payments missed prior to the DMP coming into effect? I was making the same reduced payments via Step Change in the 4 months leading up to December 2018 so this date makes no sense to me. Please could I ask for some advice about where I stand on this matter, please? Many thanks, again.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What does your credit record show – were you in arrears by the time the DMP started?
E says
Hi Sara
Yes. Equifax shows: ‘1’ in April 2018 (although I know I missed at least one earlier payment) Then from May (when the DMP became effective) to – October all entries are all ‘I’ but I don’t know what this stands for. Nov’ shows ‘2’ and Dec’ shows ‘3’ , January 2019 ‘2’ , Feb ‘3’ , March ‘4’ , April ‘5’, and May 2019 ‘D’ . They are willing to amend to December 2018. – why this date I don’t know.
TransUnion shows the entries: ‘1’ in April through to June 2018. July – November 2018 shows ‘2’ and December ‘3’.
I need to check what Experian has.
I had a Nationwide overdraft which was also added to the DMP in May of 2018 but they reported the default in June 2018.
Nationwide says to backdate the credit card account to May 2018 would be incorrect. My argument is December 2018 is incorrect. How do you think I should respond?
Appreciate your time.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
1 , 2 etc here mean months in arrears. How much was the Nationwide credit card minimum payment at the start of the DMP? And how much were they being paid in the DMP?
E says
Hi Sara – it was the ‘I’ that I was unsure of rather than the ‘1’, ‘2’ etc.
I have just spoken with Step Change who confirmed that my payment plan did in fact start in April 2018 , not May, and I know I missed payments prior to April. Nationwide were being paid £22.81 every month until the debt was sold to Moorcroft in early 2019. I don’t know what my minimum payments should have been as unfortunately I have no paperwork left. I thought reduced payments would be viewed that same as missed payments? Incidentally my credit reports show missed payments all the way through.
Nationwide have said they default debts after 4 months of missed payments. This morning they have written 3 – 6 months. They state the default which has been amended to Dec 2018 is compliant with the Consumer Credit Act. I don’t understand their reasoning.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
the missed payments before the DMP – did you make them late? how large was the nationwide debt that went into the DMP?
I thought reduced payments would be viewed that same as missed payments?
they are normally seen as getting you into arrears by the amount you are paying less than the minimum. So if the minimum was 3100, a payment of 322 gets you into arrears fast. But if the minimum was onlt £40 then it is pretty slow
E says
The payments were missed altogether. The balance was £1,200. I would imagine my payments on this balance would have been in the region of £40+ so this must be why the default took so long. Seems like they may win this one then, sadly. I haven’t referred to the FOS, I wanted to be clear first.
The other account, also on the payment plan from April 2018, they defaulted in June of 2018 (overdraft).
Sara (Debt Camel) says
if you have proof that your missed two payments before the DMP and that they dont show on your credit record for some reason as in arrears, it is worth challenging that as you would have started the DMP with 2 months arrears…
But this is all going to be clear by the end of the year anyway,
e says
Thank you very much Sara. I will get the paperwork together and refer to FOS.
Jon says
Hi Sara,
I have a credit card debt with nationwide I pay through a DMP. The debt and default has dropped off my credit file as 6 years has past. I have rang them to see if they would accept £1000 to clear £4800. But they said if it’s accepted it would go down as a partial settlement on my file for 6 years. I tried to say the debts not on my file no more but she wasn’t understanding what I meant. Is this correct?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
this debt will not reappear on your credit record if it is partially settled. Whoever you were talking to didn’t know much about credit reporting.
Sam says
Hi Sara,
Is there any way of complaining about the default date on a debt with a company that lo longer exists? I have a debt that was originally with Peachy and it was sold on before the company collapsed. The DCA say they can’t help me and Peachy has closed down. I want to dispute the default applied as after going through my correspondence with them I had set up a repayment plan with them and it was going according to plan then out of the blue they defaulted me and sold the debt on without any warning.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how large was the debt? what were you paying a month? what date was the default added?
Sam says
It is just over £900, it was defaulted in Jan 2020 when all my other defaults are April 2019. Paying £5 a month towards it.
I also just identified that the email from Peachy telling me that they would default me if I didn’t pay within 14 days was sent around the same time that they sold the debt on but the default itself was put on 4 months before that. Therefore I didn’t get the default warning before the default was applied but 4 months after, I still have the email from Peachy so I can prove this. Could I ask for the default to be removed because I wasn’t given advance notice that it was going to be applied OR could that make things worse as they could then say ok then we will change the default date to be 14 days after the date of the default letter which would put me in a worse position than I am now.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You want the default to be as early as possible, so it drops off sooner. You do not want it switched to be later. Nor do you want the default removed and a payment arrangement substituted – that would then stay on your credit record for 6 years after the debt is settled.
Had you been paying £5 a month to it from April 2019?
Sam says
Yes since April 2019
So you agree if I go down the avenue of not receiving the default email for months after the default was actually applied they could simply just amend the default date to be later? That I obviously don’t want but I was hoping the fact they have not followed the correct process for applying a default then they’d just have to remove it.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Technically a default notice has NOTHING to do with registering a default on your credit record.
Jonny says
Hi.
I have a mix of credit cards and loans that i misses payments on since November 2023. Some are showing defaults already from April and some are showing 4 missed payments and 1 is showing 2 missed payments, thinking of going into a DMP. As i want to get the earliest defaults date possible on all of them,
Should i wait till all the credit cards/loans are showing Defaults before i go into a DMP or no need to wait?
Thanks.
Jonny
Sara (Debt Camel) says
have you made any payments since November 2023?
Sam says
Hi Sarah,
I’m in a real panic today…
I’ve had an arrangement with NewDay since 2019, I felt that it should have been default in 2019 and it would drop off my credit report in 2025 like all my other debts but sadly NewDay decided to just record it as arrangement to pay rather than default and the Ombudsman agreed.
Today I have received a letter from NewDay saying that effective 8th July the debt will be sold to a purchaser and the existing arrangement will be honoured by them.
What I am worried about now is that the new owner of the debit applies a default in 2024 that I’ll be stuck with until 2030. Can they do that?
There’s no mention of a default in the letter from NewDay and I called them and asked if it would be defaulted and they said no but the purchaser may think differently. They also told me the sale has already happened and the account is with the purchaser but the letter from NewDay says it is from 8th July, I am in a position where I’d be able to settle it in full before the 8th July but they’ve already gone ahead and done it.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well it is a shame you did not try to settle the debt with Newday before. I suggest you contact the debt purchaser and offer to settle it. They will be delighted if you offer to settle it in full. I cant guess whether they are likely to default it routinely
Sam says
Unfortunately I wasn’t in a position to before but I will be in a few weeks time. I’ll be doing F&F offers to defaulted debt and settling the NewDay one in full as it hasn’t defaulted – that was the plan anyway!
I checked my credit report last night and my NewDay card is showing as up to date on all 3 agencies with no arrears. Surely if either they or the purchaser wanted to default it they’d have to give me warning or opportunity to clear it before defaulting it?
Ricky says
Hi Sara,
So I’m a little confused with what’s cased as “arrears” is this missed/reduced payment or could this be 1 payment that is overdue by 3 months?
Example missing Jan payment , made February and March payment and then being defaulted for the January payment in May as it’s “3 months late”
Credit score shows Jan 1 , feb 1 , Mar 1 , April 1, may 8
Default notice was sent March 20th and default registers may
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This isn’t very clear. But many firms will do this for just 1 payment if it is very late.
Ricky says
Hi Sara,
I’ve reached out to the ICO to ask for clarification of the wording because it allows lenders to use it both ways depending on circumstances.
I’ve read sereval ombudsman case studies that use the term “3 – 6 months of missed payments towards an account” so I’m convinced they will see it as I do.
Is it common for a bank to default from just one missed payment? In your opinion
Sara (Debt Camel) says
did you talk to the bank about the missed payment?
Ricky says
Hi Sara,
To start with I didn’t know I had missed the payment, then I was working away and on my return a had the default notice, which at this point was past the deadline and didn’t think I had any option but to accept it.
I didn’t call them and as far as I’m aware they didn’t call me.
On my final response letter they stated “send letters and a few text were sent”
After my default notice I received an arrears notice which referred to “notice being sent every 6 months, even if I fell further behind with payments”
I took this as the default wasn’t processing and just to carry on making my Monthly payments which I did in May.
I requested a settlement figure at the start of May because a family member was going to help me but then when I reached out to clear the arrears I was told it was too late.
The default was issued in March two months after missing the January payment.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you may struggle to get this default removed.
Ricky says
Hi Sara,
I know calling would have helped but even on the FOS website it says this:
“Sometimes, a borrower won’t tell their lender that they’re in financial difficulty. This might be because they’re worried about what their lender might say or do. But there are instances when we’d expect a lender to pick up on signs that a borrower is struggling even if the borrower doesn’t say this is the case”
My loan company was Halifax who i have a bank account and a mortgage with.
I’m hoping that just because I didn’t call it isnt the reason this doesn’t get fixed, I’m also surprised they didn’t call me.
Surely no one could believe this was the best decision for everyone in the situation and my understanding is that a default should be a last resort.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A credit record is meant to be an accurate reflection of your track record in repaying debts. You seem to have not noticed that you hadn’t paid in January. When you found out you then did nothing for a few more months. Were you in financial difficulty?
Ricky says
Yes, at the time it was the fuel crisis and we had just had a child so my wife’s money was reduced.
My bank account was always in my overdraft and living month to month, I started working away to pick up extra money and returned to the default notice.
After my wife returned to work in May I cleared all debt and paid this 13k loan off within 12 months of it being sold on.
Is me not calling worse than missing more payments ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I ma not sure what you expect me to say. I have said that the rules on when a default should be added are unclear but many lenders would add a default in that situation. I don’t know what would have happened if you had called in March and explained you were in difficulty with your wife just having had a baby – it is just easier to get a “goodwill” gesture from a bank if this is done promptly.
If you were in your overdraft constantly for a prolonged period (more than a year) you may be able to make an affordability complaint about If you can argue that the loan was unaffordable at the time it was given, then you should be able to get a refund of interest and all negative marks removed – but nothing you have said suggests that the loan was originally unaffordable.
Ricky says
Hi Sara,
Thanks for the comments I will look back.
I was just hoping that the fact they also didn’t call me would show they hadn’t exhausted all avenues of contact. Surely calling me when they didn’t receive my payment would have been expected? Im very worried that one stupid mistake will stop me getting a new mortgage next year, the default will be 3 years old then, would that be long enough for a high street bank ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
do you need a larger mortgage or to move? If it’s just a new fix, Halifax will offer you one without checking affordability or your credit score.
Ricky says
Hi Sara,
Thank you, I didnt know that! Well we wanted to move and we also have a help to buy mortgage so was planning to pay that off.
In regards to my default, does it say anywhere “if the borrower doesn’t contact the lender within a set time then the ICO guidance can be disregarded?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The ICO guidance is taken from the SCOR reporting rules. These are essentially the rules that people reporting to the credit reference agencies agree to all play by. It has nothing to do with what the borrower tells the creditor. But in practice there are a lot of gray arrears eg many lenders will not report a missed payment at all if you tell them immediately and correct it promptly.
Ricky says
Hi Sara,
On May 2nd I asked for an early settlement on this loan which they granted and was given until June 2nd to pay this off in full, within that month they closed my account and issued the default. My question here is, while this agreement is in place could a default be issued as surely this new agreement superseded the default notice?
By given me a date of June surely I had this full month ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can argue it was unreasonable to add a default at that point. That isn’t quite the same as saying that they have broken any rules by doing this.
Ricky says
Yeah I know now I messed up not speaking with them, I’m just hoping the FOS can see it was hastily I’ve read loads of order cases where the ombudsman referred to it as 3-6 months of miss payments that they will look at what was fair concerning I only missed one payment before the default notice was issued
Ricky says
Morning Sara,
I thought I’d just look on my online banking app emails to see what I received around the time of the January loan missed payment.
In January or February I received nothing regarding the loan being in arrears but I did receive two emails regarding my current account using my agreed overdraft constantly for the past 12 month and identified I could be in financial difficulties.
Now surely my current account and loan would have been linked, so Halifax would have been fully aware I was in financial issues regardless if I called or not? Also if I didn’t receive any emails or letter or calls before the default notice in March is that showing Halifax also failed to all they could before starting the default process?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you received no notification by email, text, call, message, letter etc that you had missed a payment in January, then in March when you got the default notice you would have had a very good chance of getting it removed. At this point you can argue that they should have contacted you but you agree you were in financial difficulty, so it’s not clear that any contact would actually have made a difference to the fact you couldnt pay that payment.
Ricky says
Hi Sara,
Yeah they have told me they haven’t tried to call me before and I don’t have any records of letters or emails before March ( default notice)
I’m also hoping as this is going to the FOS that they take the fact I requested the settlement figure and was given the opportunity to pay it off until June 2nd defaulting me 15th of May would have been unfair
Adam says
Hi Sara
I filed a complaint against Aqua/Newday attempting to get a default date changed. I entered into a DMP in early 2019 however I wasn’t aware the best way to have done this would have been to stop making payments and wait for accounts to default. I entered straight into a DMP as I thought continuing to make some payments would have been a better “moral” thing to do. Newday didn’t issue a default until October 2022. As expected NewDay rejected my request to have the date changed and today I received a rejection from the financial ombudsman aswell.
I feel like I am being unfairly punished for not stopping payments immediately and this will now have a much. longer lasting effect on my credit file. I do have the option to appeal and take the case to an ombudsman but is there much point in doing this?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what did the adjudicators response say?
Adam says
I understand that in hindsight, you’d have liked for your account to have been defaulted earlier. But I can’t see that you expressed this to Aqua when you started experiencing financial difficulties. You contacted PayPlan who made arrangements on your behalf to prevent this from happening.
I can see that Aqua had been supportive and agreed to the payment plans by accepting the offers received from PayPlan on your behalf. In March 2019 they entered you into their Hardship Payment Plan and your account didn’t fall into arrears as you were making payments above 1% of your balance. At this point they re-aged your account.
This type of “re-aging” is one that can benefit the borrower. It occurs when you work out a debt repayment plan with a creditor, and they agree to stop reporting the account as delinquent. Instead, they re-age the account and report it as current, which can improve the borrower’s credit score.
You’ve provided me with an Ombudsman decision where the Ombudsman decided to backdate a default date. As we look at each case separately, I can’t comment on what you have sent me. But I note that a difference between two cases is that in this case PayPlan has been contacting Aqua regarding the payment plan, so it wasn’t up to Aqua to establish if your financial situation had a potential to improve before the payment’s plans were set up. Therefore, they’ve acted with forbearance by agreeing to the plans and not registering a default until the account was 180 days in arrears.
Adam says
You faced financial difficulties and you approached PayPlan, who contacted Aqua in March 2019 to set up a payment plan. As you were paying more than 1% of your balance, you were set up on their Hardship Payment Plan. This is a formal plan which will report to Credit Reference Agencies (CRAs) to say customer is in on a plan, but it’ll show it as up to date. If the payments are kept up to date the account won’t fall into the arrears.
When the payment plan was set up the account was re-aged, which means the arrears were cleared. This action was taken in March 2019, so a default wouldn’t have been registered at that stage.
On 8 November 2019 Aqua received a new offer of £21.39 from PayPlan. As this offer was less than 1% of the account balance, a Fair Treatment Plan was set up on your account. This is an informal plan so the account wouldn’t report as being on a plan to CRAs, it would continue to show the account as the months in arrears. Under this plan if account is not brought up to date, it may be sold from 180 days of arrears.
A default notice was sent to you on 22 December 2020 asking you to pay £31.89 by 12 January 2021. It also said that you should continue making payments even if you’re unable to clear this payment. As you were making the payments, that continued to reduce number of days in arrears and a default wasn’t registered.
However, as the account continued to build the arrears, Aqua issued a Notice of intent to register a default on 8 June 2022 – advising of their intentions to register a default. The letter states “we will register the default any time after 28 days from the date of the letter”. Your account reached 180 days in arrears in October 2022. A default was registered on 31 October 2022 and your account was sold to Lowells.
You raised a complaint regarding the date a default was registered and Aqua didn’t think any errors were made on their behalf. As you were unhappy with this response you referred your complaint to our service.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
do you know how much Aqua were being paid a month by Payplan in March 2019?
did they inform you about this Hardship Payment Plan?
when do you expect the DMP to end?
have you considered making an affordability complaint to Newday about the Aqua card and any other Newday cards you had? If you win an affordability complaint, some interest will be removed from the balance to the DMP will and sooner. And you may be able to get any negative markets removed from your credit record when the balance is cleared. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/tag/refunds/ which has articles about making these complaints about different types of debts. You could also consider complaints about other debts in your DMP.
Adam says
Hi Sara they were receiving £20.58. I have massively reduced what I was paying into the DMP saving the rest towards F&F payments so the DMP is skewed towards a longer date. I was more hoping to have all the defaults drop off my file in a similar timeframe to help with the mortgage application that will be going in in the next 12/18 months. I do not recall ever receiving a hardship letter.
I currently have an ongoing affordability complaint for a NewDay loan. If I decide not to take this default issue to the ombudsman for final review could I still put an affordability claim in on the credit card.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Why havent you already made affordability complaints about the Aqua card? There is no reason to delay this.
Ignoring this Aqua card, what is the expected date for the rest of your credit record becoming clean and for having settled the debts?
Adam says
Defaults start dropping off from next March the last one will be this Aqua Card in 2028 if I can’t get it removed. The DMP shows as being clear in 2032 but this will be sooner with F&F payments
I did win an affordable lending claim against lendable does that have any bearing on future claims? I wont appeal the default decision but will raise an affordability claim against this and other accounts.
I was regularly offered credit increases on this account aswell even with taking out more credit
Sara (Debt Camel) says
winning an affordability complaint about a loan shows you were in a mess at the time the loan was given. It doesnt automatically make other lending unaffordable
Rob says
Hello,
I’m in a DMP that started in July 2023 and is due to finish in December this year (2024)… £6500 total debt.
Since then I have had 3 creditors register a missed payment each and every month on my credit file… where as other creditors have put defaults or a payment arrangement down on my credit file.
Would it have been better to of had the three accounts noted as a payment arrangement or defaulted, and if so can I now get this done retrospectively?
Thanks in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A default drops off your credit record 6 years after the default date. That would typically be 3-6 months after a DMP started.
A payment arrangement drops off 6 years after the debt is settled, but harms your credit score less than a default.
So the question now is it worth trying to get default added for what is a VERY short DMP. Normally I say probably if the DMP lasts 3 years or more. But for such a short DMP I am not sure its worth it.
Rob says
Thanks for the advice – would the creditor retrospectively add a payment arrangement to my credit file or would I be wasting my time? In which case is its just going to be a case of sucking up the late payments on the credit file!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you can ask them to add a payment arrangement to your credit record
S H says
Good Morning
I went bankrupt on 5 Sept 2022 and was discharged on 5 Sept 2023 (I have a discharge certificate). All the creditors have removed their defaults now that I have been discharged except for one who has refused to do so. They say:
“At some point after taking the loan, your circumstances changed and you entered into bankruptcy. We received notification of this on 9 September 2022 and it was confirmed on 13 November 2022. Your account was categorised as defaulted the same day bankruptcy was confirmed.
As you entered into bankruptcy, a default was applied to your account. Once you were discharged from bankruptcy in September 2023, the outstanding balance was written off. When you are discharged from bankruptcy, you are legally released from any obligation to repay the debts that were included. However, it does not mean the default must be removed as a result. What we are obligated to do, is show the account as ‘settled’ or ‘satisfied’ and I can see the account was updated to show as ‘satisfied’ as of October 2023.”
My credit report shows that my bankruptcy will remain on my file until 5 Sept 2028, but the default will remain until 13 Nov 2028.
Should the dates not be the same? and why would some remove a default (after I requested them to) and others not?
Thank you and kind regards
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“Once you were discharged from bankruptcy in September 2023, the outstanding balance was written off. When you are discharged from bankruptcy, you are legally released from any obligation to repay the debts that were included. However, it does not mean the default must be removed as a result. What we are obligated to do, is show the account as ‘settled’ or ‘satisfied’ and I can see the account was updated to show as ‘satisfied’ as of October 2023.”
That is what they should have done, with the very minor exception that the debt should be shown as ‘satisfied’ from September 2023 not October 23. This makes so little difference I suggest it isn’t worth arguing about.
The only thing they have got wrong that will impact you is that the default date should have been 5 September 2028, not a couple of months later. As you say, this will mean the default will still show when the bankruptcy has dropped off. It is onlt a cuple of months, but if you want to get this corrected, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/credit-file-after-bankruptcy/ which has a template to use.
why would some remove a default (after I requested them to) and others not?
Either they got it wrong, or they didnit care enough about it to argue with you.
Sam says
Hi Sara,
I have 2 defaults for overdrafts with Lloyds Banking Group, one with Lloyds and one with Halifax. Both accounts had roughly the same overdrawn balance which was at their limit (£3000 each) and I put them both in a DMP at the same time in May 2020. For some reason both accounts have very different default dates one is August 2020 and the other is January 2021 so they were treated very differently despite being with the same group.
I want to complain about the 2021 default being applied late but it has been sold on. Do I complain to the purchaser about the default date or the Lloyds group?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You complain to Lloyds. Then the debt purchaser will have to use the same default as Lloyds if they backdate it.
But that sounds like a lot of overdraft problems. Have you looked at making an affordability complaint about these two debts, and indeed the other debts in your DMP? See https://debtcamel.co.uk/tag/refunds/
John says
Hi Sara,
I started in a DMP with StepChange in October 2016. I had around 12 companies I owed money to and it just became too much to handle. In total I was in around £70K of debt.
I have now come out of the DMP (August 2024) and all debts have been cleared.
Through the process I ended up with 3 defaults, but they all occurred at different times.
M&S Current account – Defaulted in January 2019 after over 2 years on the DMP
TSB Current Account – Defaulted in September 2021 almost 4 years after being in the DMP (they only logged an arrangement being in place with CRAs from April 21, showed 1 missed payment in Aug 21 and then a Default in Sept 21). Oddly this account shows all payments were up to date right up to April 2021, but that may be due to the payment from StepChange being enough to keep the overdraft alive.
Intrum (Original debt was with RateSetter). Defaulted in April 2022. It shows as an arrangement in Dec 2020, which is when I assume it was sold to Intrum from Ratesetter. Specifically on this one – I don’t understand why this didn’t get a default significantly earlier. There was also no ‘missed payment’ activity on this account – it just went from Arrangement straight to Default.
All of these accounts were being paid via StepChange from October 2016 so I am not really sure why the defaults are on different dates, and by such a big difference.
Based on the limited data above, do you think I can I challenge the dates on any of these?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so the other 9 debts weren’t defaulted? That is bad news – defaults are good as they will be cleared from your credit record sooner.
M&S Current account – Defaulted in January 2019 after over 2 years on the DMP
Not much point in worrying about that – it will drop off your credit record in January 2025.
TSB Current Account – Defaulted in September 2021 almost 4 years after being in the DMP
I assume you weren’t using the account?
it would be interesting to know if they were still charging interest after the DMP started. I suggest you ask TSB for a statement of account showing all credits and debits from say July 2016 to the closure of the account.
Intrum (Original debt was with RateSetter). Defaulted in April 2022.
I suggest you send ratesetter a complaint saying that a default should have been added in Dec 2020 when it was sold to Intrum, or earlier. If Ratesetter change this, Intrum have to copy it.
John says
No, none of the other debts defaulted. When I check my credit file, depending on which website I use, they highlight 2 or 3 negatives on my file and those negatives are the defaults.
Can I go back to those that didn’t default and ask them to do that (seems like an odd thing, and risky thing to ask someone to do!)?
TSB interest was frozen at the point of going into a DMP. I was still able to use the account though.
So without the others defaulting do I have to wait 6 years from last payment before they have been removed? Which would be Aug 2030!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It is a shame you didn’t stop using the TSB account, then it would have defaulted much sooner – did Stepchange not advise this? They normally do. As you were still using the account I doubt that there is anything you can do as the rules around adding defaults for overdraft are very vague.
So without the others defaulting do I have to wait 6 years from last payment before they have been removed? Which would be Aug 2030!
yes. Up to you if you want to try to get defaults added – you want an early default added, sometimes this is works, sometimes not. And decisions from the ombudsman are pretty erratic
John says
Thank you for your quick responses.
Interestingly I don’t appear to have missed payments logged on most of the debts. There is really only 2 (with Equifax), one of this being the TSB account immediately prior to default.
My credit rating with Equifax is showing as ‘excellent’ but if I do a soft search for any credit cards or loans (not that I want one!) then I’m only presented with bad credit options.
With Trans Union it shows the 2 more recent defaults but no mention of missed payments.
Experian shows all 3 defaults but I can’t see information on late payments.
All seems a bit hit and miss!
Dave says
Hello I have read your pages on default dates but have a query please.
I have a series of credit cards and loans which became unaffordable around Dec 2023. I was paying minimum payments and in Jan 2024 I contacted steochange to enter a DMP. I was granted govt breathing space on 9.1.2024 and payment to my dmp started in March 2024.
My question is at what point should the defaults be added on my accounts please because I’ve been in arrears since Dec 2023 but I’m only just getting some notices now, and in some cases a default hasn’t even been added at all yet. I’m hoping to contest the default dates to push them further back as a result.
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
There is no simple answer. The SCOR rules say a default should be added when you are 3-6 months in arrears. If you didn’t make any payments in breathing space that would be two months arrears. Then it depends how much less than the minimum payment the StepChange payment it. If it’s half, you would be in a half a months arrears each month. If your credit report shows 6 months arrears that is clear, but still some lender say it’s up to them.
Have you made affordability complaints about every debt in the DMP? Winning one will speed up the DMP and may get your credit record clean sooner.
Dave says
Thank you foe the prompt response!
My Contractual payments were around 50 to 100 £ per calendar month but the DMP reduced that to around £6 each per month.
Marbles was my biggest debt but luckily they have already removed all interest without question once I told them I was struggling. I have a few others that also still appear to be adding interest which I’m currently contesting.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then all of the debts should be 6 months in arrears by end June if you didnt pay during the breathing space. Ask for a default date to be added then as the article above suggests.
Which debts have stopped adding interest, can you list them?
And which debts have stopped – you can still make affordability complaints against these and get some previous interest removed from the belance.
Dave says
Marbles removed all historical interest and fees, pretty much halving the outstanding balance. That’s the best result I’ve had so far as like I say I didn’t even need to contest with them, as soon as I told them I was experiencing problems they did that off their own back.
A couple of cards have continued to apply interest, Zable and Wave which I’ve already escalated and due to some being with collection agencies now I’m just waiting on the balance evidence to check on the others.
But thank you for the advice on when the default date should ideally have been, that will help me knock a few months off in the meantime hopefully.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so also make affordability complaints against Zable, Wave and the other cards, whether they have stopped adding interest or not.