British Gas and Capital One Defaults

[Dilinja]

Hi there,

 

I have a few defaults on my account (the status on my credit report is "default") and I was wondering if there was any way to get them removed from my credit report?

 

The first is for an old Abbey National bank account which had a balance of £564 overdrawn when I defaulted on it. The date of the default is 09/06/2006, so I believe that means it should drop off my credit report next month on the 9th. Is that correct? For reference, the balance was satisfied on 08/05/11.

 

The second is for a Capital One credit card that had a balance of £265 when I defaulted on it. The default date is 11/09/09 and the balance was paid and satisfied on 11/09/11.

 

The third is for a British Gas bill that I defaulted on with a balance of £607. The default date is 10/04/10 and the balance was satisfied on 22/05/11.

 

So my questions are!

 

1) Am I right in thinking the Abbey default should come off my report next month which will be 6 years after the date of the default?

 

2) Is there anything I can do to get the other defaults removed from my credit report or are they there for another 3 and 4 years respectively?

 

Many thanks for any help you can offer.

[ims21]

Hi there,

 

I have a few defaults on my account (the status on my credit report is "default") and I was wondering if there was any way to get them removed from my credit report?

 

The first is for an old Abbey National bank account which had a balance of £564 overdrawn when I defaulted on it. The date of the default is 09/06/2006, so I believe that means it should drop off my credit report next month on the 9th. Is that correct? For reference, the balance was satisfied on 08/05/11.

 

The second is for a Capital One credit card that had a balance of £265 when I defaulted on it. The default date is 11/09/09 and the balance was paid and satisfied on 11/09/11.

 

The third is for a British Gas bill that I defaulted on with a balance of £607. The default date is 10/04/10 and the balance was satisfied on 22/05/11.

 

So my questions are!

 

1) Am I right in thinking the Abbey default should come off my report next month which will be 6 years after the date of the default?

 

Correct

 

2) Is there anything I can do to get the other defaults removed from my credit report or are they there for another 3 and 4 years respectively?

 

Not unless their is an error in the default. They will stay on your record for a period of six years from the date of default.

 

Many thanks for any help you can offer.

 

ims

[Dilinja]

ims

 

Crapola

 

I was hoping there would be some way of convincing them to remove them as they were for relatively small amounts.

 

I also hoped that there may have been some legal recourse based on the threads Ive seen on this forum. Namely the "suggested method for default removal" thread.

 

Im in a much better financial place since I pulled my finger out and sorted these things out, but my credit report is hamstringing me right now. I have a deposit for a house but no one will touch me as far as mortgages are concerned

[Dilinja]

ims,

 

Ive had a response from British Gas who have investigated my complaint. They say that they contacted me on various dates (and cite the dates) but then go on to say that the default will stay on my credit report for six months!

 

"...As advised in May 2011 the balance has now been cleared and the default satisfied, but it will remain on your credit file for six months from the date it was recorded..."

 

Clearly this is a typo and should read six years, but as they have put it in writing do I have any legal recourse to get them to remove the default based on this letter?

[ims21]

I don't think you have any legal recourse apart from reminding them in six months that they have advised you they will remove it in six months.

 

Six years is the norm

[robcat35]

Hi all

 

Sorry for interupting this thread but I fail to see how British Gas can have a default on your credit file, thats like united news defaulting me for not paying my papers.

 

I dont think you will have signed a credit agreement when you joined them so they cannot have an entry on your file or am I wrong in thinking your credit file is for is for credit agreements only?

[Stopthethieves]

If you have a CREDIT meter off British Gas then you have a CREDIT account with them. You will if you have signed up to them in the last 5 years or so agreed to them reporting to CRA's! Also items like Virgin Media TV is also a CREDIT account, you pay for calls AFTER you have made them, likewise Gas or Electricity!!!

 

This applies whether you might pay ahead or not since there is always the risk at some point you will owe them money!

 

If you don't want the utilities to report to the CRA's, get a Prepayment meter, which generally doesn't provide CREDIT except for the emergency credit!

 

Credit files are for credit agreements and a CREDIT meter gives you a CREDIT account....

 

Why do so many people not seem to grasp that....

[robcat35]

sorry stopthethieves but thats a load of crap.

 

British Gas, Virgin Media Water authorities are selling you a service and then invoicing you for the amount you have used.

 

If you get into arrears and agree to a payment schedule you are then entering into a credit agreement but only then.

 

I run my own business and I can either ask for money up front or I can grant people time to pay when I have finished the job (I give them 30 days credit) that doesnt mean we have entered into a credit agreement.

 

If anybody knows anything different please feel free to post but I know I have never borrowed money from British Gas and if I approached for a loan they would probably tell me they sell gas and not lend money.

 

When will people not grasp that CRA's are there for lenders not for services.

 

The reason some companies chose to put an entry onto your file while others don't (BskyB don't) is it is easier and cheaper for them to include an entry on your credit file than having to follow procedure and take you to court and obtain a CCJ.

 

Virgin Media will pay CRA's millions to credit check potential customers and the CRA's will be happy to take more money to include entrys on our files. This will still be cheaper and less time consuming than trying to obtain a CCJ against somebody. Believe me I know!

[Stopthethieves]

I am not going to engage in a pointless discussion.

 

c : the provision of money, goods, or services with the expectation of future payment ; also : money, goods, or services so provided

 

many definitions basically meaning the same

The bottom line is it is a credit agreement, the issue tends to be more with what, if any laws govern it and other matters that stem from it.

 

If any companies states in the agreement you sign that they are intending to use your information in a particular way and you sign up to it then you have entered into an agreement with them that they may just do that!!!

 

 

There are a few reasons why they report, the first one clearly would be that you might may paying these bills a priority, many people don't. Clearly if you don't pay your bills on time, you are going to suffer the consequences. If you can't handle CREDIT then get a pay as go meter! Reporting will of course help those that do pay their bills on time as other credit providers can see their timely payments.

 

Credit reference agencies store a record of credit agreements, anything which is paid for AFTER you have used it is on CREDIT!, also applies to an account where the facility to have credit is available irrespective of whether you actually use it!!!

[robcat35]

I think you better enter into a pointless discussion because you are giving advice to people on public forum.

 

Please do not mix up credit with payment terms. You sell a product or service to somebody and you pay by agreed payment terms you are not giving credit or entering into a credit agreement.

 

If you sign a credit agreement with somebody thats fine, but you do not sign a credit agreement with British Gas or Virgin Media and because you are not entering into a credit agreement they should not have an entry on your file.

[Stopthethieves]

Your payment terms are that you pay at a later point on CREDIT. If you want to think it isn't credit then carry on.

As for the CRA's, you will have consented in the agreement, i.e. British Gas

 

http://www.britishgas.co.uk/products-and-services/gas-and-electricity/our-energy-tariffs/Tariffs-A-Z/websaver-11-terms-and-conditions.html

 

10.8 We will check your details with one or more credit-reference and fraud-prevention agencies to help us decide whether there is a risk that you may not pay your bills and also to help us make decisions about the goods and services we can offer you. Below, we have given a brief guide to how we, the credit-reference and fraud-prevention agencies will use your information. If you would like more information about this, you can find the full version here. Or, phone us on 0800 048 0202 and we will send you a leaflet.

 

We will search at credit-reference and fraud-prevention agencies for information about you and all the people you are applying with. If you are providing information about other people on a joint application, you must make sure they agree that we can use their information to do this. If you give us false or inaccurate information and we suspect fraud, we will pass your details to credit-reference and fraud-prevention agencies. Law-enforcement agencies (such as the police and HM Revenue & Customs) may receive and use this information.

We and other organisations may also access and use information about you that credit-reference and fraud-prevention agencies give us to, for example:

check details on applications you make for credit and credit-related services;

check your identity;

prevent and detect fraud and money laundering;

manage credit and credit-related accounts or services;

recover debt;

check details on proposals and claims for all types of insurance; and

check details of employees and people applying for jobs with us.

When credit-reference agencies receive a search from us, they will record this on your credit file whether your application is successful or not.

We will send information on your account to credit-reference agencies and they will record it. If you have an account with us, we will give details of it and how you manage it to credit-reference agencies. If you have an account and do not repay money you owe in full or on time, credit-reference agencies will record this debt. They may give this information to other organisations and fraud-prevention agencies to carry out similar checks, find out where you are and deal with any money you owe. The credit-reference agencies keep records for six years after your account has been closed, you have paid the debt or action has been taken against you to recover the debt.

We and other organisations may access and use, from other countries, information recorded by fraud-prevention agencies.

If you want to see what information credit-reference and fraud-prevention agencies hold about you, you can contact the following agencies currently working in the UK. The information they hold may not be the same, so it is worth contacting them all. They will charge you a small fee.

 

 

Call Credit

Consumer Services Team

PO Box 491

Leeds

LS3 1WZ

Phone: 0870 060 1414

Website: http://www.callcredit.co.uk

 

Experian

Consumer Help Service

PO Box 8000

Nottingham

NG80 7WF

Phone: 0870 241 6212

Website: http://www.experian.co.uk

 

Equifax Plc

Credit File Advice Centre

PO Box 1140

Bradford

BD1 5US

Phone: 0870 010 0583

Website: http://www.myequifax.co.uk

 

10.9 If you give us information on behalf of someone else, you confirm you have given them the information set out in this document, and that they have given permission for us to use their personal information in the way we have described in clause 10. If you give us sensitive information about yourself or other people (such as health details or details of any criminal convictions of members of your household), you agree (and confirm that the person the information is about has agreed) that we can use this information in the way set out in this document.

 

10.10 You are entitled to have a copy of the information we hold on you, and to have any inaccurate information corrected. We may charge you a small fee for providing a copy of any information we hold about you. For more information about this, please contact our Privacy Unit at:

 

Lakeside West

30 The Causeway

Staines

TW18 3BY.

Or, you can e-mail CentricaDataProtection@Centrica.com..

 

 

So you have agreed to them passing on details of the running of your account, if it didn't involve CREDIT then it is non of their business.

Edited June 10, 2012 by Stopthethieves

[Stopthethieves]

An Individual

The Act applies to agreements made with individuals, which the law defines as not only a natural person, but also as "a partnership consisting of two or three persons not all of whom are bodies corporate" and "an unincorporated body of persons which does not consist entirely of bodies corporate." Although this may, at first glance, appear unusual, the intention is to protect those who would have personal liability for debts taken on by a partnership or other unincorporated organization in which they were involved.

 

Regulated Consumer Credit Agreements

The Act defines "credit" as "a cash loan, and any other form of financial accommodation (under which the debtor is allowed time to pay)." Financial accommodation includes loans, hire purchase, lease purchase, credit cards (but not charge cards), conditional sale and credit sale agreements. The majority of credit agreements that provide cash or financial accommodation to an individual are regulated by the Act, irrespective of the amount involved. Individuals commonly use loans, hire purchase, credit sale or credit cards to purchase major items or services and these are the precise arrangements the Act set out to regulate. Certain types of agreement are, however, exempt from regulation under the Act.

 

Consumer Hire Agreements

According to the Act, a consumer hire agreement is an agreement "with an individual (the hirer) for the bailment or hiring of goods which is not a hire purchase agreement, and is capable of lasting for more than three months." The Act places no financial limit on the amount payable under the majority of regulated hire agreements, although certain exemptions do apply. A typical equipment or vehicle lease would be classified as a consumer hire agreement.

 

Exemptions and Other Considerations

If the funds advanced or the goods hired are to be used predominantly for business purposes, an agreement with either a credit amount or total hire payments exceeding £25,000 is not regulated. Certain agreements relating to land also fall outside of the regulations, as do specific interest free and low cost agreements, as well as some agreements requiring four payments or less.

 

In its November 2010 guidance leaflet "Consumer Credit Regulated and Exempt Agreements," the Office of Fair Trading lists a number of other exemptions to the regulations, including agreements entered into with credit unions, credit for employees, agreements to finance utility meters, some agreements to fund insurance payments, certain share dealing funding arrangements and special rules applicable to high worth individuals. Existing credit or hire agreements that were made before April 6, 2008, are not regulated if the amount of credit or the sum of the hire payments exceeded £25,000.

 

 

 

Read more: Credit Agreements Regulated by the Consumer Credit Act | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/info_7931963_credit-regulated-consumer-credit-act.html#ixzz1xLNe5tNJ

Edited June 10, 2012 by Stopthethieves

[robcat35]

Have you actually read your reply?

 

All British Gas are stating is that they have the right to credit check you before they accept you as a customer.

 

Cutting and pasting loads of info about credit agreements doesn't hide the facts. The time British Gas gives you to pay your bill are payment terms and nothing else.

 

Example. Your car breaks down and you go to the garage. The car gets fixed and you are given an invoice for £500. You tell the garage you will pay at the end of the month once you receive your salary.

 

So you are given a service, receive payment terms and then pay the bill. Is that not the same as British Gas? If you didn't pay your bill with the garage their only recourse would be through the courts to try and obtain a CCJ. They cannot add an entry onto your credit file.

 

In my business I offer payment terms to custiomers (usually other businesses). I credit check every new account so I know what terms to offer. I am not offering credit or I would need to be registered with the FSA.

 

I would welcome input from other members of the forum on this matter as it seems I must not be explaining this clearly enough.

[Stopthethieves]

It is quite clear in my post, maybe you should actually take the time to read the terms and conditions of what you sign upto!

 

We will send information on your account to credit-reference agencies and they will record it. If you have an account with us, we will give details of it and how you manage it to credit-reference agencies. If you have an account and do not repay money you owe in full or on time, credit-reference agencies will record this debt. They may give this information to other organisations and fraud-prevention agencies to carry out similar checks, find out where you are and deal with any money you owe. The credit-reference agencies keep records for six years after your account has been closed, you have paid the debt or action has been taken against you to recover the debt.

We and other organisations may access and use, from other countries, information recorded by fraud-prevention agencies.

[Stopthethieves]

Example. Your car breaks down and you go to the garage. The car gets fixed and you are given an invoice for £500. You tell the garage you will pay at the end of the month once you receive your salary.

 

Deferred payment is CREDIT!

 

Anyway, as I said, this is becoming a pointless discussion, I am not sure what point you are trying to make!

 

When you receive gas on a a meter and pay AFTER you have used it, it is referred to as a CREDIT meter, you enter into a contract, deemed or otherwise for the supply of the gas.

 

A contract is an AGREEMENT, you are receiving CREDIT which is deferred payment for the goods/services.

 

A credit agreement!!!

 

You consent to the processing of you data in the way they state as in my previous posts, if you don't like it the use a prepayment meter or find a company that doesn't use your data in this way!!!

[robcat35]

Sorry for not replying earlier but work commitments come first.

 

I thought you were aware of the point I was trying to make as you were the person who replied to my first post?

 

Not just any tom ,dick or harry can place an entry onto your credit file. The CRA's are in place so Lenders can check credit history from other lenders before making a decision to lend to an individual.

 

British Gas do not lend money and are not regulated by the FSA so cannot have an entry on your credit file.

 

If you wish to believe you are entering into a credit agreement regulated by the FSA when you sign with british gas then you are wrong.

 

Not sure why you highlighted 'agreements to finance utility meters'? What has a utility meter got to do with this?

[Stopthethieves]

Sorry for not replying sooner, I didn't realise you had replied.

 

British Gas have your consent to use your information in the way they state as you agree to this when you are take on the supply from them!

 

They are credit reference agencies and as such British Gas are providing you with Credit or the facility to have credit, whether or not you actually use it!

 

A credit agreement is exactly that, if two parties agree to it and it's terms then I see no issue with BG reporting the status of your account as was agreed when you entered into the contract.

 

An agreement to fund a utility meter, i.e. your electric meter, your gas meter, your water meter.... these are not regulated but are still credit agreements.