Problems with a closed o2 account resulting in poor credit rating

[Anonymous]

Hi guys, I hope someone can help me here. I have an old o2 account which was closed in May 2011. Now when the account was closed I was issued a final bill in June 2011 showing that I was in credit by £7.03, which I assumed was the end of the matter. I didn't even bother to claim back the £7.03 since it was such a small amount.

6 months later I randomly checked my credit report and it was showing as a defaulted payment of £20 which went unpaid for this time 😞 I contacted the debt recovery agency who it was passed to and it turns out that they had an old address on file for me so for the 6 months they were unable to get old of me. The £20 bill was paid there and then but its now 18 months later and the default is still having a severe effect on my credit rating as I tried to apply for a mortgage last week and have been knocked back by everyone.

I've been in contact with o2 who haven't been much help and from what I can work out, it looks like I might have cancelled my direct debit for the account too early and the payment for May 2011 was missed, although I was totally unaware that I owed any money because the final bill received in June 2011 showed that I was in credit, plus I never received and correspondence after this either online or through the post. When I questioned this to o2 they said they were under no obligation to send me any reminders and just passed this £20 bill to a debt recovery agency( Who for some reason only had an old address for me!)

I've been emailing the o2 credit referrals team to see if it is possible to amend the default on my account but they are absolutely no help. I'm just being told that there was a £20 bill unpaid on the account and that's why it defaulted.(Yes I know this but o2 failed to tell me and led me to believe that my account was in credit when it was closed!).

Now I am not disputing the fact that there was £20 outstanding on the account, what I am disputing is that the final bill I received showed me as being in credit, so I had no way of knowing any money was due. Plus the fact that the debt recovery agency had my old address on file meant the £20 went unpaid for even longer resulting in my credit rating taking a severe hammering.

Does anyone know if there is any further action I can take to try and get my credit rating sorted out?

[jonsie]

Someone recently had the same problem and had it resolved. Try following the same advice in this thread:

http://community.o2.co.uk/t5/Discussions-Feedback/credit-file-affected-due-to-18-bill-no-letters-sen...

[Anonymous]

Also let a credit file agency such as Experian know who will actively assist my you.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the info so far. I'll check out that link just now.

[Anonymous]

Well I dont seem to be getting very far. I received an email reply from someone in the customer relations department saying that they wont be removing the default because they apparently sent me an email, txt and postal reminder about the bill after my account was closed. But this contradicts what I was told in a previous reply from someone in the credit referrals team. I was told that o2 woud NOT have issued any postal reminders.

I know 100% that I received no such reminders anyway and when I first phoned o2 about the outstanding bill, they also told me that they were under no obligation to send me reminders because the account was closed.

So who is telling the truth here? Im being told one thing by someone, then something totally different by another!

My emails arrive direct to my computer through outlook express so I was able to log on to my email acocunt online and look back through my previous old emails and the last correspondance I had from o2 was when they issued me with a final bill in June 2011 saying my account was in credit.

Where do I go from here now? Any more help would be very appreciated as I feel like ive hit a dead end with o2.

[perksie · Accepted solution]

Try a formal complaint here, ignore the pop up advisor:

http://service.o2.co.uk/IQ/SRVS/CGI-BIN/WEBCGI.EXE?New,Kb=Companion,question=ref%28User%29:str%28Mob...