Why is British Gas Trading on my credit report?

karatedragon

Gosport Council where I live don't report to any CRA's.

Anyway today I rang up British Gas and the operator said they started payment performance reporting from April 2009. I said that I was not told on any correspondence and didn't agree to it. I signed up today with an alternative supplier called Ebico. In fact they are only £8 a year dearer than BG for Electric and the prepayment tariff is the same price so I have requested a key meter for both Gas and Electric with them.

never-in-doubt

karatedragon wrote: »

Gosport Council where I live don't report to any CRA's.

Anyway today I rang up British Gas and the operator said they started payment performance reporting from April 2009. I said that I was not told on any correspondence and didn't agree to it. I signed up today with an alternative supplier called Ebico. In fact they are only £8 a year dearer than BG for Electric and the prepayment tariff is the same price so I have requested a key meter for both Gas and Electric with them.

Hiya

Thanks for the email - appreciate it

Regards to your queries, all mobile phone companies report and credit check you prior to giving airtime contracts. However once paid off and marked as settled these entries help your credit file; they do not hinder you at all. Similarly, with the BG entry that will shortly be closed.

I'd seriously suggest you leave these entries and don't try and fight them, basically they are good entries but the thing is they will go after 6 years anyway, however the companies that placed them will argue that you agreed to this at the time of contract and it's really not worth fighting - especially as they are not adverse entries.

karatedragon

Thanks! I hope the email will be helpful. I know that the information is a lot wider than I have seen on here

Interestingly the guy at BG said that they were the first to begin full performance reporting and it has generated a lot of interest from the Utility Companies. It could well be that all of them follow suit. I do not know how to get round it in the cases of water as you cannot go one some kind of prepayment meter with them. Nor can you pick and choose your supplier. Also I don't know if BT will go down the same route.

The guy at BG did say that anyone on a Prepayment Meter will not be reported on via Experian. Also it was worth phoning British Gas as I was owed a load of money in the form of Prompt Payment discounts over the years that had not been applied to my account!!!!

Peace!

limbodancer123

Hi all. Noticed BG started reporting on Credit Report and came here for help. Called up BG Customer Service and said I was not happy about this.

I had one missed payment.

Initial person I spoke to was not helpful so asked for a manager. Explained I had been with BG for several years and asked them to explain situation. Again repeated I was not happy and would like the entry removed.

Said that although it may be stated in their original Terms & Conditions they had begun doing something "new" with my data and that I should have been informed of this "change". Also stated that I had one bill outstanding and also that my other two properties use BG.

Said I would have to reconsider my contract if this matter was not resolved.

BG came back to me same day and said they would come consider request. Within 48 hours the matter was resolved! Unbelievable! Actually great service! :j

PS. Although I normally get angry :mad: quite quickly when having to deal with such matters I kept calm and polite and the issue was resolved.

brians_daughter

I have a BG story, it quite long but will make it short as possible. It is worth sharing as the outcome is positive (i hope lol) It may help/give hope to anyone with adverse BG data

BG registered a default on my account in Oct 2008, i moved in dec 2007 and gave them new address and new owners details and meter readings - we actually did this in the estate agents so i remember doing it. Bill never came for what i owed, so chased them up, again bill never came. went into prem labour and forgot all about BG tbh.

Got no letters from BG but did get some from a dca. i called the dca and explained situ and that i couldnt possibly owe the £700 they said i did, DCA passed the account back to BG and then I got an experian alert to say data had changed logged in and BG default was showing.

I posted on here, there is a BG representative called liam (i think) that is on MSE. Never in doubt and George UK helped me by giving advice and Liam also assisted,i think, but he never actually came back to me . He contacted me via the forum after reading my story and gave me his BG email address, i emailed him my cust ref number etc he said he would deal with it but never came back with an email etc (but later default was removed)

I also spoke to BG directly and they had the meter readings wrong - i had photo of the meter still on my phone so gave correct reading - they had 2 digits wrong way round.

This was July 2009- in Oct 2009 the default simply vanished. I have since contacted BG to ask, no plead that they send me the bill that is over 2 years old so i can pay it - but they havent sent a bill and i havent heard anything more from them.

Most importantly the data has been removed from my credit file (as of yet - i am hoping they do not re-issue it, but it has been missing so long now i do live in hope lol!)

Never in Doubt and George UK have given me good advice re the BG situ!

never-in-doubt

brians_daughter wrote: »

Most importantly the data has been removed from my credit file (as of yet - i am hoping they do not re-issue it, but it has been missing so long now i do live in hope lol!)

Never in Doubt and George UK have given me good advice re the BG situ!

Hiya

Yep - it will definitely never come back again now - well done!

BG are a nightmare, but easy to get defaults wiped - I still hate em all the same though

Psychological_2

I have just found a BG default at an old place I lived in with a group of guys when I was a student. Having just added this address to Experian it popped up. I was of course keen to get it wiped and happy to pay as long as the bill is accurate and tallied up with the move date.

Called British Gas and they said not only was my name not registered at the address in question, that the balance was £0 and had not been transferred to a debt collection team.

I was advised that the default would be removed from my report in the next 2 days - good work British Gas (and especially the rep I spoke to called Neville Soloman)

Psychological_2

Unfortunately my post earlier was a little premature, following nearly a month of arguing back and forth with British Gas, a number of representatives, some helpful, some downright wrong (sorry Neville in the post above) being unable to find any reason for the default appearing against my name they finally tracked it back (only with mine and Experian's help) to a completely different property I had as a student with a number of friends the year before.

I was assured a month ago that the default would be removed and have now learned that it won't. I have no way of learning whether or not it is accurate as this was several years ago and I have no access to the bills. It just seems harsh that as a 24yo my credit rating is already !!!!!!ed due to putting a utility in my name for a student house and paying a severe price for it. A harsh lesson learned which I will pass on to my kids but doesn't help me in the meantime.

As soon as I learned yesterday that there was in fact an outstanding balance of £147 on the account I paid up, I can't be sure if it's accurate but would rather lose £147 to say it's settled then spend more time arguing back and forth with British Gas representatives who all seem to tell me different things.

If there is a British Gas rep authorised to post on here I would welcome a chat with you, I have both Elec and Gas supplied by BG at my new property and everything is paid up in full and on time. Although this poor customer service would certainly make me more likely to switch suppliers in the very near future.

Experian_company_representative

That fact that more organisations are sharing data on credit reports should be welcomed. Most people do pay their bills on time so the additional data will strengthen their credit histories and make it easier for people to get credit (where appropriate) and, of course, the best interest rates for personally priced deals.

The CRAs have robust mechanisms in place to enable any data disputes to be investigated and resolved very quickly.

If, as in Matt's post above, there are special circumstances surrounding a previous late payment or default, you can always explain this on your credit report so future prospective lenders have all the facts. You can add a notice of correction of up to 200 words simply by contacting each CRA.

never-in-doubt

matt.mcginty wrote: »

Unfortunately my post earlier was a little premature, following nearly a month of arguing back and forth with British Gas, a number of representatives, some helpful, some downright wrong (sorry Neville in the post above) being unable to find any reason for the default appearing against my name they finally tracked it back (only with mine and Experian's help) to a completely different property I had as a student with a number of friends the year before.

I was assured a month ago that the default would be removed and have now learned that it won't. I have no way of learning whether or not it is accurate as this was several years ago and I have no access to the bills. It just seems harsh that as a 24yo my credit rating is already !!!!!!ed due to putting a utility in my name for a student house and paying a severe price for it. A harsh lesson learned which I will pass on to my kids but doesn't help me in the meantime.

As soon as I learned yesterday that there was in fact an outstanding balance of £147 on the account I paid up, I can't be sure if it's accurate but would rather lose £147 to say it's settled then spend more time arguing back and forth with British Gas representatives who all seem to tell me different things.

If there is a British Gas rep authorised to post on here I would welcome a chat with you, I have both Elec and Gas supplied by BG at my new property and everything is paid up in full and on time. Although this poor customer service would certainly make me more likely to switch suppliers in the very near future.

You were too eager to pay the balance - first mistake. You should always first utilise their complaints and default removal system PRIOR to making payment, as you have now cleared the balancem unfortunately I cannot offer any advice. had you not paid then it'd be easy to barter with them for payment in exchange for default removal.

To be honest, put it down to experience....

Is it an actual default? Did you ever get the default notice? I would still consider a formal complain to OFGEM as BG seem too eager to default people in general.... - Ofgem Home