What is a payment default (overdue account)?

A payment default is in simple terms an overdue account. In most cases they arise when a debt owed by you has become overdue (i.e. not paid within 30 days of the payment date printed on the Invoice by the credit provider).

Default information can be listed on your credit report if:

• your account has been outstanding for 30 days or longer
• you have not responded to the credit providers letters to pay the debt and they have written the account off
• you have not responded to the credit providers letters to pay the debt and they referred your account to a solicitor, collection agency or repossession agency to recover the debt on their behalf.

All overdue payment defaults may only be listed by the credit provider when they have taken the necessary steps to recover the whole, or any part of the debt owed by you. In all cases the credit provider must have requested the borrower (that is you), either in person or in writing, to pay the outstanding amount.

When you have paid the outstanding amount owing or brought your account up to date the credit provider is obliged by law to amend your credit file to reflect that the overdue account has been paid. When this happens an amended credit file is then automatically forwarded to any credit provider that may have requested a credit file on you 30 days prior to the update being made.

All payment defaults which are unpaid or overdue accounts remain listed on your credit file for a period of five (5) years, unless an investigation proves that the account was listed in error then in this case the information can be deleted by Equifax, provided the necessary documents provided demonstrate this.

Most credit providers look unfavourably on customers with a history of overdue accounts and other adverse information on file.