Default Payment on Closed Account

[Mrdthomp86]

Seen this on here before and desperate to get it resolved. I closed an account in 2015. I have now been refused credit as a default has gone against the account in Nov 2019. I have had to look into it as it ruined my credit rating as it down as missed payments and a live default. Equifax report has it down as being an account query logged after the final bill in query until 2019 then moved to default? I had no communication of it and can’t believe an amount on a closed account I haven’t been told about can cause this much trouble.

Does anyone know how this is resolved?

[CJT80]

@Mrdthomp86 

You may need help from a Moderator, one of the more experienced members will be around to post tomorrow most likely.

[imjolly]

I have asked a mod to see if they can find out more about your debt problems. The mods are prioritising vulnerable and elderly customer with problems so may take mods a few days to get back to you so just need to be patient

[Keith_Beddoe]

For any queries about your credit file it should be raised directly with Equifax.

 You can find out how to contact them and what happens at the below link:

 Have a question about your credit file?

[Mrdthomp86]

Hi,

thanks for the advise however only the lender can remove it. Equifax only report it. The advise from Equifax is to contact BT.

[Keith_Beddoe]

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@Mrdthomp86 wrote:

Hi,

thanks for the advise however only the lender can remove it. Equifax only report it. The advise from Equifax is to contact BT.

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What I posted was the advice given by a moderator on a similar query. The important part being.

What will happen next?

1. Equifax will mark your credit file as 'in query', so there's no further impact on your credit file until the query's resolved
2. Equifax will then work with BT to resolve the query
3. You'll be given a unique reference ID for your enquiry
4. You'll receive a response from Equifax within 21 days

Anyway, lets see if a moderator has any other advice.

[Mrdthomp86]

Hi,

sorry if that sounded snippy.

I got the Equifax report and logged it when I first saw it. I also logged into my dormant account and saw the Good News you have nothing to pay message. I went into historical bill and there was nothing for the last 13 months (as far back as it goes). I the did the online chat and the person confirmed the account had been closed in 2015. Went back to Equifax and logged this in a file. They then have 28 days to investigate and at the moment there is a backlog for pretty obvious reasons. The advise is to try and sort it with your lender amicably.

Its a charge made on a closed account

There has been no attempt to contact me for payment

There was no notice given for an upcoming default, which is required.

There are no missed payments until the default, 4 years after the account closed.

The amount is down as in query for 4 years, with no late / missed payment.

If it is a valid debt it should have been put in default 3 months after it was incurred. If it was in query it’s an internal query which raises doubts anyway. At worst it would only be on my credit report another 1 year.
As it stands I have 6 years of destroyed credit for a small sum of money I have never been asked for from 2015. 

[Keith_Beddoe]

I seem to recall from past posts on this forum, that sometimes these small amounts relate to the old BT Premium Mail charges, when people changed ISP, and asked to keep their email account.

That of course, may not be the case for you.

All you can do is to wait for a moderator to post here. They may ask you to send information by private message, if they can help.

[PaddyB]

Hi @Mrdthomp86,

Welcome to the Community and thank you for posting. The information @Keith_Beddoe has posted is correct. You would need to contact Equifax. Equifax will then mark your credit file as 'in query', so there's no further impact on your credit file until the query's resolved.

Equifax will then contact BT's Equifax disputes team and they'll work on behalf of the customer to resolve the issue.

This is the most efficient way of dealing with requests. It normally takes around 21 days once the account has been marked as "in query" but during that time, the customer isn't affected by whatever was previously showing on their credit file.

Thanks

PaddyB

[Mrdthomp86]

Hi,

thanks. This has already been done. Advise from Equifax is to contact directly to see if they can resolve.