Incorrect Default Notice?

[bbmama]

Hi all,

Hopefully someone can help me.

I had a debt with o2 at the back end of 2011 which was officially passed to moorcroft group on the 1st february 2012.
I did not receive any correspondence (phone, letter, email) with o2 before the account was passed to moorcroft. I did call them once in november and they advised me to pay anything i could to clear the debt. The day before it was passed to Moorcroft I made a £200 payment towards the account.

On the 1st of February 2012 i spoke to a Moorcroft agent and we arranged 4 monthly payments to be taken on the 1st of each month at £400 a month and the debt would be clear. I told the agent can we arrange it to be the last working day of each month as that is when i get paid but he said the 1st of the month would be better.

I asked the agent specifically if i clear the account with these 4 payments would there be any further action for the account and he said no. I also advised him that i may make payments inbetween to clear the debt quicker and he stated i shouldnt as this would mess up my direct debit.

Roll on 4 months and DAYS before i made my last payment by direct debit i get a notification from experian stating that o2 has changed my account to default status (on the 26/05/2012) with a default balance of £75.
At this point I was seriously confused as I was never told by the moorcroft agent the date i could be defaulted and I had offered to make top up payments in between but was advised not to do so.

When i made my last payment on the (1/06/2012) i called up Moorcroft who advised me they had no note of any default from o2 on their files and told me to contact o2 directly.

I contacted o2 who advised me of the following:


We’ve double checked our billing records and found that the invoice we sent you on 19/09/2011 wasn’t paid within 14 days, which you need to do as part of your contract. You cleared the outstanding debt on 11/06/2012 through Moorcroft; we have marked the default as satisfied. This means the record on your credit file is right and can’t be changed.

Unfortunately I cannot comment on any arrangements between yourself and Moorcroft.


I actually cleared the debt on the 1st of June 2012 by Direct Debit not the 11th.

Now my question is do i have any grounds to appeal this default again?

If not, do I have any grounds to write to moorcroft for compensation as in my opinion i was mis advised which has lead to a default on my account for 6 years?

Also was i meant to get a warning through the post that my account would be going into default if i didnt make x payment as i did not receive any warning.

Thanks for your help in advance.

[vint1954]

Re: Incorrect Default Notice?

The general consensus is that mobile phones are not covered by the CCA, but the OFT have a different view

short answer is: “yes, parts of a mobile phone contract can form a credit agreement which would be covered by the Consumer Credit Act”.
The view the OFT has taken is that “line rental” (i.e., network access charges) as well as inclusive minutes, texts, data allowance, and so on are considered regulated credit if the consumer cannot terminate the contract early without paying the balance of recurring charges up the amount which would have been paid were the contract to run its usual course. For example, if your contract costs you £25 per month, and you have 10 months to run, and your operator tells you it will cost you £250 to terminate early, you effectively took out a loan without knowing it.
In terms of the SIM and handset, the OFT says:

The provision of the handset and SIM card […] may be considered to be regulated hire or hire purchase agreement under the CCA depending on whether they remain the property of the mobile phone provider or whether they transfer to the hirer (consumer).

The SIM itself usually has a notice printed on the full-sized card it snaps out of stating that it remains property of the operator, thus—unless I’m mistaken—the OFT considers it to be “hired”. The handset itself may vary: you’d have to check your contract.
The issue here is twofold:

• If the recurring charges on a mobile contract are partially repayments on a loan, hire, or hire-purchase agreement, what proportion of the charges relate to each?
• If there are loans, or similar, what’s the effective APR?

Were these normal loans, the companies would be obliged to hand over this information—not just hand over, in fact, but readily present it. If you have a mobile phone contract, do you know the answers? I bet you don’t.
Today I thanked the OFT for their most helpful response, and asked them whether mobile phone companies should be obliged to present this information to consumers, and whether we should be able to sign up for a mobile phone contract without any credit being involved (not that this would necessarily be cheaper, but we have no way of knowing at present). I am, as they say, eagerly awaiting their reply.

The unfortunate thing regarding the CRA is that the default has probably been reported correctly. I would imagine that the default was registered at the time of default and has just been updated as settled.

You could try writing to Morecroft regarding their assurances, as they may have mislead you. CPUTR