Why it still shows as defaulted while you're paying#

You've agreed a payment plan and you're keeping to it. The default hasn't moved.

The reason is that the default marks the point at which your contract with the lender broke down. Agreeing to repay afterwards doesn't undo that — the original agreement has already failed.

From the moment a notice of default is served, lenders aren't obliged to keep updating the credit reference agencies with your payment history, even where you've agreed to repay the debt. Many stop. So the account sits there showing its defaulted status while your payments go unrecorded.

The default itself stays for six years from the date of default, whether the balance is settled or not. After six years it drops off automatically, though it can take up to a month to disappear completely.

That's frustrating, and it's worth being straight about it: paying a default off does not shorten its life on your report. What it does change is how a lender reads it. A satisfied default — marked SF — is treated considerably more favourably than one still outstanding.

Why the same account is defaulted twice#

Seeing one debt defaulted twice looks like an obvious error. It usually isn't.

When you default, your relationship with the original lender changes. You stop being a customer and become a debtor, and lenders frequently sell the outstanding debt on to a debt collector.

The lender should close the old account once the debt transfers, and the collector then reports it as a new account. But sometimes the original lender carries on reporting it as well — so the same debt appears twice, defaulted twice.

Two things make this less alarming than it looks:

  • The default date stays the same on both entries. They'll both drop off six years from that original date, not six years from when the debt was sold.
  • Lenders can see from the account details that the two relate to the same debt. It doesn't read to them as two separate failures.

If you'd rather have it tidied up, contact the original lender and ask whether they can remove their entry or have it suppressed.

What you can actually change#

The removal date isn't negotiable, but three things are worth doing.

Get the default date right. Everything hangs on it, so if you believe the date recorded is wrong, that's worth disputing — it moves the six-year clock. Take it up with the lender that issued the default. How to dispute credit report errors covers the process.

Get it marked as satisfied once you've paid. Repaying a default is read as a positive by lenders, so make sure the SF marker appears once you've cleared it.

Build positive history in the meantime. Paying everything else on time each month builds a record that sits alongside the default. Your score should grow further once the defaulted account finally drops off, provided you've maintained your other agreements.

If the default relates to an insolvency, the dates can behave differently again — insolvency and your account statuses explains why.

The key things to remember#

  • A default runs six years from the default date, regardless of whether you pay.
  • Lenders needn't report payments after serving a notice of default, so many stop.
  • A satisfied default is read far more favourably than an outstanding one.
  • A duplicated default usually means the debt was sold and both parties are reporting.
  • Both entries carry the same default date and drop off together.
  • The default date is the thing worth disputing, because it sets the clock.