Account status markers

[julian]

I'm feeling a bit thick. Is it just me? Does a default ever drop off, or only those that have been subsequently made good, i.e. paid in full?

I have been looking at my Noddle Credit History, I know it is not the best site but it is free. Anyway as I checked through I see that there is a 6-year history as well as the summary. That means that any default or missed payment is on the file for 6 years.

So if you have defaults on the file following the initial default, e.g. if you have stopped paying, then it will be on the file for 6 years. As the file holds a 6-year history, if you don't pay the full/expected amount for 6 years (until Statute Barred) as it is a rolling history, then the default markers will be on the history forever unless removed by the creditor at some stage. However as SB only means hey cannot currently chase through the courts, it could be forever. Couldn't it?

[MrsD]

Re: Account status markers

no

the default will drop off after 6 years regardless of whether it's SB, paid, sold to the martians..........

if a debt is never defaulted but you have negotiated an arrangement to pay, then that will roll over as AP until 6 years after it is paid.

but the defaults always have a six year lifespan regardless of what happens to the debt

[julian]

Re: Account status markers

Still feeling thick.

There is a Default Date on the Summary of the Noddle report and a 6-year history of the balance and the status markers. DF represents any month you are in default. It is rolling do each month the 6th year marker drops off and the current month comes in.

There are Active and Closed accounts. Both have account histories for 6 years.
The status on the closed accounts is settled/satisfied. I assume that these accounts will be removed off after 6-years.

The Active accounts have a Summary which contains a Default date if in default. If the default was not cleared, by closing the account, even if the Default Date was deleted after 6 years, the rolling 6-year history would display the DF marker for each month the account was in default for the first 6 years of the default. It would therefore appear for 12 years would it not?

The real question is - does anybody see the history apart from the individual who owns the accounts? For how long? I think they can as the issue on most accounts is that a potential creditor looks to see id there are x missed payments in the last few months or years or ever.

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Account status markers

I'd not pay too much attention to Noddle. It's pretty dire at the best.

Ok, after 6 years from the default ALL data in relation to that account drops off. Everything. If it doesn't then raise a dispute with the CRA and remind them of the ICO & OFT guidelines on recording of defaults. So in theory, if you were defaulted on 01/01/2007 the entry would be completely removed in the CRA's January update feed which would mean by 31st Jan 2013 the entry should have completely vanished (ie the day before the new month). The exception would be if the banks feed was on the 15th of the month and the default was registered after this date, it might remain a month longer than normal but shouldn't.

Experian & Equifax are both good at sorting such issues.

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Account status markers

I'm feeling a bit thick. Is it just me? Does a default ever drop off, or only those that have been subsequently made good, i.e. paid in full?

I have been looking at my Noddle Credit History, I know it is not the best site but it is free. Anyway as I checked through I see that there is a 6-year history as well as the summary. That means that any default or missed payment is on the file for 6 years.

So if you have defaults on the file following the initial default, e.g. if you have stopped paying, then it will be on the file for 6 years. As the file holds a 6-year history, if you don't pay the full/expected amount for 6 years (until Statute Barred) as it is a rolling history, then the default markers will be on the history forever unless removed by the creditor at some stage. However as SB only means hey cannot currently chase through the courts, it could be forever. Couldn't it?

As per my last post, this scenario CANNOT happen. The CRA can only, by its governing licence, retain data for as long as is necessary. 6 years is the statutory limit for a default and hence the CRA will remove it, and the trailing history, after 6yrs. Most definitely, lenders would not be able to see any trailing history. That's a guarantee

[julian]

Re: Account status markers

I have further read that the financial institutions look at the default and then look to see if there are more than 3 months where there is a failed payment.

If like many on the road to SB, there are 2years+ where no payment has been made, then what does happen when SB is reached? Can the bank see the 6+ years of DF markers on the history?

Is it a case of the defaults can be seen, but they are ignored/unseen by enquirers after 6 years? Or does the software completely erase the history at 6 years and no longer report? Or is the creditor prohibited from submitting the default status markers in their monthly submission?

[julian]

Re: Account status markers

Thanks. We overlapped. I know Noddle is a noodle but it just takes one to foul up things. As it is rather new to the credit reporting game, perhaps they did not think it through and cut corners as it is free forever :-).

From what you say, as soon as the 6 years is hit, it will delete all the record or the default and the history. That would, in the case of a defaulted record, leave a record summary with a start date and a start balance with no default date and no balance or status history. In this way it would appear mark the account as not quite right but not say why, as any active account would have a history.

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Account status markers

The report a lender sees is not how you see it.

They get facts such as

Live credit accounts - 11
Accounts in arrears 1-3 months - 0
Accounts in arrears 3-6 months - 3 [more]
Defaulted Accounts - 3 [more]

That gives you an idea of what they "see". A maximum of 6 years history is all they'll see so basically if you get defaulted early its good cos then your 6 years start early. Go on a DMP etc then the lender may see more history as the account may not yet be defaulted so in a worse case, you pay reduced amounts for years then find AAD and stop paying. Your credit file will read the last 6 years history of [AP] markers PLUS assuming the buggers default you on say year 5 month 10, you'll then have another 6 years to see out the default plus your past 6 years historic AP markers will show. Each year that passes means the historic AP's will reduce by a year too so after 5 years of the default - you'd see two years history - the remaining year of trailing AP markers plus the current default entry.

Make sense?

[julian]

Re: Account status markers

Thanks Niddy. I understand the process now. The underlying data remains, but the data the CRA can currently display/pass to a third party is restricted by the Default Date. So any enquirer should see only the basic details as described in your post

"They get facts such as

Live credit accounts - 11
Accounts in arrears 1-3 months - 0
Accounts in arrears 3-6 months - 3 [more]
Defaulted Accounts - 3 [more]"

Most financial institutions or other parties dealing with finances are obliged to keep data for 7 years, and many banks keep data forever, albeit in archive format that takes and age to recover, in electronic or physical format. Let's hope that the new analytics tools that the CRAs are pushing to improve their share of the market do not lead to a change in the data available to the financial institutions by other means. It is not beyond the scope of some "adventurous" company to forget that rules are to be obeyed and 'for a very small annual fee' provide access to data in the archive.