www.iva.co.uk

After (only) nine months of waiting I received my certificate of completion (coc) from Grant Thornton (GT) mid November 2012. My IVA had started on 28th November 2006, so I was eagerly watching my credit file and enjoying the sense of relief as my defaults fell off after the six year period.

I had a loan with Tesco Bank which they defaulted on 23rd November 2006. I checked my credit file on 24th November 2012, and yes it had dropped off. All was good. Then on the 11th December 2012 Tesco defaulted my account again with a default date of 27th December 2006. I immediately phoned them to find out what was going on. Their reply was that their system was saying they had not received all of their payments from Grant Thornton. I phoned GT and explained everything; their reply was (without really looking into it) that everything had been paid and that Tesco can't ask for more money (not what Tesco is asking for). I got back in touch with Tesco who then said they would contact GT themselves. GT has told Tesco that they will look into it but it won't be until the first quarter of 2013. When I contacted GT to find out why it's going to take this long to investigate and confirm payments I was told that someone from the correct department would get in contact to explain the investigation procedure etc , and it could take a couple of days to contact me. It's been a week and a half and of course I have not had any contact or received any information, not that I was really expecting to, not from my past experiences with GT....

While looking into this myself I noticed that the new default says it was updated on the 2nd December 2012 and interestingly the new default value is equal to the original default minus the full dividend payment (as agreed and on the coc). I phoned Tesco to inform them of this and said that I believe they have received the entire dividend and if they haven't they have put an incorrect default value on my credit file. The gentleman I spoke to completely agreed with my thinking and said he would pass this on to the person investigating it. Nothing has changed yet. I suspect this recent default will drop off on the 28th December 2012 and then Tesco will re-default me again.

I realise that I should put this all down in writing and start sending letters, which I will. I had hoped to get it resolved by phone. One of my other defaults was dated 7 months after the start of the IVA, one phone call and an emailed copy of my coc and the company removed the default immediately. I'm going to enjoy the Christmas festivities then send off the letters before the New Year.

So some questions:

Can Tesco default me again like this anyway? The Information Commissioner's Office guidance says defaults should be dated to the start of the IVA. The six years from the start of the IVA has passed and the original default has dropped off. Shouldn't the default be removed regardless of whether they have all of the payments?

While I feel this is most likely an error by Tesco. Is it reasonable for Grant Thornton to take this long to look into this or be so vague about the time period it could take? I realise they are very busy but it does feel like they don't actually care about the customer or the stress that person is going through.

Is there any advice on any other action I can take to get this resolved in a timely manner?

Any advice would be greatly welcomed. This is the last default on my credit record and I won't feel truly free and happy until it's gone. Then I can put the last 6 years (plus all the years of struggling before then) behind me and finally move on.

On a positive note, Merry Christmas to all and have a very Happy New Year.

Hi and welcome

Tesco are notoriously bad for this - Skippy has had terrible problems with them and I'm sure she will be on if she reads this today.

Once your IVA is completed then all defaults should go back to the date of IVA acceptance, there should be nothing else after that date. It is actually down to you to sort out your credit record, not Grant Thornton.

font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:<hr height="1" noshade>Originally posted by Niobe

Hi and welcome

Tesco are notoriously bad for this - Skippy has had terrible problems with them and I'm sure she will be on if she reads this today.

Once your IVA is completed then all defaults should go back to the date of IVA acceptance, there should be nothing else after that date. It is actually down to you to sort out your credit record, not Grant Thornton.

Hi and Thank you [:)]
I understand that Grant Thornton cannot sort out my credit record. My issue is Tesco are saying they have not received all of their dividend payments from GT. That is why I have had to get GT involved.

I have also had the same problems with Tesco. I contacted them a few months ago regarding the entries on my credit file, showing an outstanding account balance and wrong default dates. They confirmed that they had received my completion certificate and would correct everything. Checking my credit file a couple of months later all seemed to be ok. Default date was set to the start of my IVA and my account balance showing as zero and marked as partial satisfied. However I noticed on receiveing a alert from equifax yesterday that they have now put my account in default again and showing an outstanding balance. What is going on... this is really upsetting me after spending all this time trying to get my crewdit files to show correct information.

You will just have to keep on pestering them - I think Skippy has sorted hers out now but it has taken a couple of years at the very least to do it.

Niobe is right, I had problems with Tesco. It took a few letters to get them to play ball and you might find you have to refer them to the ICO. I didn't do that as they actually amended my file before themselves.

Rich, one thing I would say is don't let it upset you. Yes it's annoying, but it really isn't worth letting it get to you - right to Tesco again in the New Year and give them 28 days to correct your file. After about 6 weeks (to give Equifax etc time to update the entry) check your credit files with all 3 CRAs and if nothing has been done refer Tesco to the ICO.

Hi

Should a creditor not send a notice of default through the post to you when marking a default on your credit file ?

Regards

I think they only have to do it once - my credit files showed a default every month but I only received one letter from each creditor. I'm presuming that if Tesco are adding the defaults back on their view is that the original letter would cover this.

Lombard Direct default me every month but I don't get anything to say they are doing this.

Thank you all for your input so far.

Andy - I've not had any correspondence from Tesco regarding this new default. The first time I knew anything was when I did my daily credit check.

Niobe & Skippy - Yep I will start pestering them with letters. Hopefully they will see sense and (fingers crossed) I won't have to involve ICO.

Rich - I don't know what else to add. Skippy's advice is sound. I feel your distress and hope you get your issue resolved quickly.

Thanks Peeved I completely understand how you feel also

Skippy tried to sort this out for a long time snd I think she is finally sorted.

I would not let this worry me at all - I'd be sending letters every month to annoy them.

You have been totally protected by your IVA.

I hear what you are saying but it is still frustrating that I have done everything that was asked of me during the IVA. The IVA has been completed. 6 years have passed. My credit file should be clean. But because of this error I am still being restricted on my financial options.