Credit File Impacted by Egg

SteveH360

Hi everyone

Interested in your thoughts on this and any advice. I may have posted to the wrong forum - if so I apologise.

I have an Egg card and earlier this year was late for a payment. When Egg contacted me I mentioned that my circumstances had changed with my wife and I having had a baby (and that she was on maternity leave). However, I made the payment and confirmed I would be good to do so going forward. However, I was then told they could set up something whereby for a small period of time I would not pay interest and my payment would cut straight into the debt, which sounded great to me (as it reduced my monthly payemnt but also made more of an impact on clearing the debt). At the time I specifically asked them to confirm it wouldn't impact my credit file and was categorically told that it would only show while the arrangement was in place - as soon as it ended it would then not show on my credit file, or indeed my credit history - effectively they were saying they'd be no credit footprint. I made sure I confirmed this with them 2 or 3 times and having received their assurance, I undertook the arrangement (I think for a period of four months in the end).

At the time I was actually thinking of getting a balance transfer as the monthly payments I was making (perhaps £250+ against 6k of Credit Card debt) seemed overly high. I guess I assumed that this was Egg's way of providing some kind of customer service that would be mutually beneficial (if it dissuaded me from transferring my balance.)

Recently I checked my credit report via Credit Expert and lo and behold there was an arrangement marker on my credit file. I phoned Egg up to ask what was going on and was told that they would always do this. I contacted Experian and was told by them that any kind of arrangement would usually be pinned to the credit file but I could get Egg to remove it if they wanted to. So I phoned Egg and after going back and listening to the tapes, they confirmed that I had been incorrectly advised by them and because of this, it was unfair that they reflect the arrangement on my credit file. Therefore they agreed to remove it.
I was also told to leave it a couple of months before I re-checked as these things took time to wash through...

So I did just that and when it didn't disappear I contacted Egg again. They went away to look into it all again and then came back and told me the decision had been overturned. I asked them why this was (and also why no one had seen fit to contact me) and was told that I'd have probably been sent something at the time which would have mentioned the credit impact.

I've checked and can;t find anything I was sent by Egg at the timne (most of what they do is online - although there is I suppose a chance that they'd have said i'd be receiving something in the post..I genuinley cannot recall.) However surely they cannot rely on the small print argument. Especially when their first investigations lead them to confirm they were in the wrong and tell me that they would have the flag removed?

I am really unhappy with Egg; for their conduct and their customer service. I've written a letter that I intend to send and guess it will need to be forwarded to the ombudsman if they don't agree to remove the flag from my credit history. As a post-script, I've recently tried to apply for a new credit card (for a balance transfer) and - despite a credit score of 999 (apprently excellent) I've been declined. I also tried for a loan at a more affordable rate, with the same intentions and the same thing happened.

Sorry for the wall of text - hoping someone out there is going to agree that Egg's conduct has been shoddy and give me some comfort that I can resolve the issues on my credit file. However, I'll end on a more positive note by wishing everyone here a Merry Christmas....

YorkshireBoy

SteveH360 wrote: »

...I've recently tried to apply for a new credit card (for a balance transfer) and - despite a credit score of 999 (apprently excellent) I've been declined. I also tried for a loan at a more affordable rate, with the same intentions and the same thing happened.

The fact you were told you have a 999 'score' by one of the CRAs despite a very recent 'arrangement to pay' marker on your file just goes to show what a waste of money those scores made up numbers really are!

You need to sit out the complaints procedure and then refer to the FOS if you remain unhappy.

topcat9

Until you register your problem with Egg as an official 'complaint' no-one there has to take any real responsibility for reviewing it and fixing it, so if you haven't sent that letter to their complaints department yet then do it asap. I wasted 6 months last year trying to sort a problem on my account with helpful but hopeless staff on the end of the phone. One polite letter to their complaints department later and I had a named person to deal with, a direct line to phone them on and the problem was fixed within a couple of weeks. Good luck!

PNPSUKNET

the problem is that its fatual information, the fos is not likely to change it

Consumerist

PNPSUKNET wrote: »

the problem is that its fatual information, the fos is not likely to change it

I disagree. If you have been misled then the FOS may regard it as unfair treatment.

You should go ahead with a formal complaint. Make sure you head the letter Complaint so that they are clear you are making a formal complaint and not just a general enquiry. You should mention that without the undertakings given to you, that you would not have accepted their arrangement. You should also mention the subsequent consequences for the later applications for credit.

In the meantime you have the right to put a notice on your credit file to explain the circumstances of the arrangement.

SteveH360

Thanks for your help. I will indeed get the letter off and reiterate that it's a complaint.