I believe you should be able to get the default date changed to the date of the trust deed, upstream. How easy that will be is another question!

This might be contentious upstream.

The following comes from the link in the article we added on this subject this week:

"4. If you fall into arrears on your account, or you do not keep to the revised terms of an arrangement, a default may be recorded to
show that the relationship has broken down. As a general guide, this may occur when you are 3 months in arrears, and normally by the time you are 6 months in arrears. There are exceptions to this which may result in a default being recorded at a later stage,such as secured or long term loans e.g. mortgages, or if the product operates in a more flexible way e.g. current accounts, student loans, home credit. If an arrangement is agreed (see Principle 3 above), a default would not normally be registered unless the terms of that arrangement are broken. Apart from being 3 or more months in arrears there are other circumstances which may lead
to the recording of a default:
1. Property such as a house or vehicle has been repossessed or handed back with no indication to pay a remaining balance.
5. The account is or has been included in a bankruptcy, CCJ, Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) or similar".

Contentious doesn't mean that you shouldn't try however.

There seems to be a clear argument why backdating might be appropriate.

I think I will definitely give it a try. I had a credit card with Halifax and they were the first company to amend the credit file for that out of all the creditors I contacted. I don't mind the arrears notices staying where they are but it would be good to get the default notice put to the start of them, rather than at the end of them. And, if that happens, and I've read the article correctly, it may all disappear from the credit file 6 years after the signing date of the TD.