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After two years of paying the £5 a month as agreed, I came into some money and in 2010 I asked Gregory Pennington to arrange a settlement. Halifax passed my file to the Pennington
collections team for a settlement figure. At this point Halifax put a default notice on my credit file, even though I wanted to settle the account. This is now really affecting my ability to
get credit. Can I get this changed? A James Jones, head of consumer affairs at the credit reference agency Experian, says: “If the lender refuses to remove the default, it is definitely
worth considering adding a notice of correction, a brief note to give your side of the story, to your credit file. However, I would explore the possibility of having this data changed. “Your
positive action appears to have made the situation worse, which seems very unfair. A default should usually be registered at the point that the lender considers the relationship has broken
down. Making regular payments through a DMP for two years and then asking for a settlement figure does not seem to fit this definition. “As a result, I would encourage you to ask whichever
credit reference agency you have engaged with to dispute the default for you with the lender. They will let you know once the lender responds.” Q I have an equity release mortgage with
Northern Rock. I have recently been informed that their mortgage business has been taken over by a company called Papilio UK Equity Release Mortgages Ltd. I have never heard of it and would
like to know whether this is a reputable company of British origin. When my equity release arrangement started I was assured it would be safeguarded by the Financial Services Authority
(FSA). I am particularly concerned that my mortgage still be safeguarded by the FSA with Papilio. A Your mortgage was actually sold off in 2008 to JP Morgan, although it continued to be
administered by Northern Rock until earlier this year. In April JP Morgan transferred its equity release mortgage book into a subsidiary called Papilio. The main change that you will find is
that you will not be able to borrow any more, if you had planned to draw down more equity, it not being a core entitlement. Your contract is basically unchanged. Your mortgage is still
regulated by the UK authorities and “safe” but you may now find its terms a little less flexible. As a gesture of goodwill, JP Morgan has said it will waive any fees for early redemption, if
you want to remortgage elsewhere.