Your Credit Rating: How it works and How to improve it Discussion Area

VirtualMusician

Hi Folks,

When my contracted ended with O2 at Carphone Warehouse I called to cancel it as I wasn't using the phone. They talked me into staying with them by offering me free line rental for 12 months. I continued not to use the phone and recevied no montly bill from them. A few months later I received a call from a Debt Collection agency demanding settle of the payments I had missed. When I contacted Carphone Warehouse they told them that I had been charged each month for not having a direct debit set up on the account and this has stocked up over the period. I complained asking how I could be charged for this as I didn't owe anything so why did I need the DD. After many hours of to and fro they finally cancelled the account. I have just looked at my Credit Report and it is showing that I missed 4 payments and have defaulted the balance of £18. After the experiecen I have trying to cancel the account I don't hold much hope of talking to Carphone Warehouse but 2 questions:

1. How else can I talk to to explain the situation as I believe this so unfair .

2. Is it still worth paying the £18 even though it is showing as defaulted. Will it make my credit score better if I pay it even though obviously a default is stil a bad thing ?

Thanks for any advice.

skintdragon

hello people be gentle with me i am new to the whole money saving phenomenon (the whole concept of trying to live life cheaply)!! i recently decided to get a grip and sort out my finances once in for all; one of which involved applying for a balance transfer with RBS with the intention of clearing my credit card balance over 13 months... 6-7 weeks later RBS declined my application, for which i lost sleep over. i have been reading martin's articles regarding credit scoring etc to reassure myself but nonetheless feel compelled to join the forum for a grumble! call me a nervous wreck, but i am now terrified of applying for another credit card (i have had my existing card for years and never had any probs with it, and this is the first time i have even considered applying for another one, and only on the basis of a BT option). i know i can do a credit check online, but again am a little paranoid about inputting personal details online (old fashioned!). the next thing i wanted to do was apply for a loan of around £2000 with a view to train myself to get a better paid job (for which i need to be adequately trained) and am worried that i will be declined for that as well. any advice would be gratefully received. :money:

skintdragon

VirtualMusician wrote: »

Hi Folks,

When my contracted ended with O2 at Carphone Warehouse I called to cancel it as I wasn't using the phone. They talked me into staying with them by offering me free line rental for 12 months. I continued not to use the phone and recevied no montly bill from them. A few months later I received a call from a Debt Collection agency demanding settle of the payments I had missed. When I contacted Carphone Warehouse they told them that I had been charged each month for not having a direct debit set up on the account and this has stocked up over the period. I complained asking how I could be charged for this as I didn't owe anything so why did I need the DD. After many hours of to and fro they finally cancelled the account. I have just looked at my Credit Report and it is showing that I missed 4 payments and have defaulted the balance of £18. After the experiecen I have trying to cancel the account I don't hold much hope of talking to Carphone Warehouse but 2 questions:

1. How else can I talk to to explain the situation as I believe this so unfair .

2. Is it still worth paying the £18 even though it is showing as defaulted. Will it make my credit score better if I pay it even though obviously a default is stil a bad thing ?

Thanks for any advice.

i dunno if this is good advice, but is it possible that you contact the manager of carphone warehouse (the man himself) or even the manager who deals with these issues and ask them to contact the debt collection agency, who should, in turn, contact the credit agencies to amend this detail. surely whoever instigated this alleged debt recollection should theoretically equally have the "power" to undo the mess they have left you in? it may look unrealistic but if you don't try, you'll never know. as for the "missed payments" you should argue that the information you had received OVER THE PHONE was somewhat lacking in detail, or even deceptive (which it was)!! CW/ O2 cannot prove that they had explained the terms and conditions of the contract, or about having to set up a DD etc unless you were in a shop and signed the dotted line... not only that, it appears that they had deliberately omitted on providing you with essential information which should be routine and important! (how could a network "forget" to give you this info, or assume that you'd go and set up a DD???!!) so really this is an error on their part, and you should persisit and get it sorted... you can say that they had breached your autonomy and that the information you had been provided with did not allow you to make an informed decision (on continuing with the contract with the network) on the basis that it was misleading. also, i would say that it's not about the £18, but the fact that they have inevitably tarnished your credit rating, and they should take some responsibility for this grossly unfair error on their part.

cbd_2

I applied for a loan via Moneysupermaket.com who carried out a credit search. They then passed my details onto several lenders who carried out their own credit searches without my permission. I refused the loans offered as the interest rates were all over 29% APR. However, I am now unable to get credit due to my credit rating being trashed by these companies carrying out searches. I have written to all the companies involved and they have either refused to authorise the removal of the searches (most companies did 2 searches each) or they ignore my letters. Moneysupermarket.com have ignored my emails. The FSA inform me they do not regulate the companies. Can anyone help me get this wrong information removed so my credit rating can be restored?

danthemoneysavingman

cbd wrote: »

I applied for a loan via Moneysupermaket.com who carried out a credit search. They then passed my details onto several lenders who carried out their own credit searches without my permission. I refused the loans offered as the interest rates were all over 29% APR. However, I am now unable to get credit due to my credit rating being trashed by these companies carrying out searches. I have written to all the companies involved and they have either refused to authorise the removal of the searches (most companies did 2 searches each) or they ignore my letters. Moneysupermarket.com have ignored my emails. The FSA inform me they do not regulate the companies. Can anyone help me get this wrong information removed so my credit rating can be restored?

I suggest you write to the banking ombudsman. if however these co's have not signed up to any best practice and aren't regulated, i'm not sure the outcome will yield what you're after. Worth a try if you've exhausted other avenues perhaps.

cbd_2

Thanks. I will try this.

princesscindernatalie

Hi this is my first post so please be gentle with me, I am trying to improve my financial situation as most people on this site are:rotfl: . I have recently got two of the 3 credit reports and checked them and they are fine, I have 2 credit cards one cleared and one maxed at £2500 and a store card, I also have a loan for £6000 and I have just applied for the egg money credit card and been refused, I wanted to try the credit card trick. I have just gone onto the electoral role and have never defaulted on a payment. Could anyone help me as what to do next because I have tried to do everything right and I'm still being refused.
Thanks:A

kenyonc

Hi there

About 2 months ago I tried to sign up to a contract phone with 3, but failed the credit check. At the time I had just moved house, so the guy in the shop tried my old address, but I still failed the check. I assumed this was probably down to the fact I had moved and my registered addresses at banks etc were not all tied up. Anyway, I went into the 3 shop again yesterday to retry, and failed the credit check again.

Thing is I can't fathom why... I'm 24, employed full time, I had one credit card (Egg) which I use regularly but pay off in full each month, and 2 store cards I use once in a blue moon. Apart from my mortgage I have no loans/debts, and have never missed a mortgage/loan/bill payment in my life, and have never been more than a couple of quid into my agreed overdraft. I'm registered on the electoral roll. One thing I can think of is that I there were a number of fraudulent transactions on my card last month, which luckily I spotted in time and dealt with, but that shouldn't affect credit rating should it as I didn't miss any payments.

The only other thing I can think of is that we have had a few letters from bailiff/debt collector style companies addressed to the previous residents. Would this have a direct affect on my credit rating? I have been contacting the companies to let them know that the people no longer live here and have had them removed from the electoral roll, but it's slightly worrying,

I have tried to get my free online credit report with Experian, but when I tried to register for their free trial it told me I had already requested a report and to logon with my details.... thing is I didn't - I tried to about a year ago but Experian couldn't confirm my address as the time so I didn't bother going through with the application and cancelled it, so I will obviously be contacting them on monday to see what's going on.

Can anyone offer me some advice or insight on my situation at all? Obviously I'm in a bit of a pickle as even if there is an issue and I get it resolved, I've had 3/4 credit checks within the last 2 months so would probably fail it again if I tried to reapply.

Cheers

Chris

Moggles_2

Originally Posted by kenyonc
We have had a few letters from bailiff/debt collector style companies addressed to the previous residents. Would this have a direct effect on my credit rating?

Rest assured this has no bearing on the matter at all.

Credit ratings assess people, not dwellings. If you share a financial product with someone else then you are financially linked to them and so their poor management of their own finances could have a knock on affect on your personal finances and your credit rating, but simply occupying the same house as someone with a poor credit history has no effect whatsoever.

mpazza

Just got my free experian credit check (and £6 quidco hopefully!) Noticed 3 searches by Royal and Sun Alliance have been done this month but I have not contacted them or have any accounts/policies with them.How do I find out what has happened?