Credit Report - Anything I can do?

Louismkd

Hi guys.

Applied for car finance and got rejected. Was pretty confident I wasn't late on any major payments, and had never defaulted on payments in my life, so decided to get a credit report.

Turns out, I have a credit score of 970 odd which is good and above average. However, what I didn't realise was that paying your phone bill a few days late goes on your credit report! Pretty naive of me to be honest.

Iv never owned anyone else anything, and all my bills are direct debit except my phone bill. Im pretty gutted that something so minor is going to have an effect on me for the next 3 years of my life. I never really got any warning letters or anything, which is the reason I wasn't exactly concerned, and pretty much everyone I know pays them late!

What I wanted to know was, is there anything I can do about this? Is there anyway Orange can remove them if I beg? Iv always had the money to pay, I just never get round to it and pay it late. Iv now set up a direct debit so this wont happen in the future, but I guess it is too late.

[Deleted User]

Not really. It's a statement of fact that you were late with your payments, and they won't be inclined to lie about that to the CRAs.

Your credit report basically says 'can we trust this person to pay his debts and bills?'. So treat all your debts with the same degree of concern and don't pay them late just because your friends do. It may be that they don't ever want a mortgage or further credit. Or are maybe just a bit dim.

If you stay clean for the next 6-12 months, they'll start to have less of an impact on how lenders see you.

Mara69

Your application rejection might not have been due to the late payments, although they certainly won't have helped. For the record, I never pay my mobile phone bill late

Your credit score means nothing. So...how much did you ask to borrow, how much do you earn and what are your outgoings? Oh and how much credit is available to you?

Tixy

Your credit score isn't the key factor, its what is on your report that is important. (Its possible for an 18year old with no credit to have a 999 score, but they'd still find it very hard to get credit).

How many late payment markers do you have on your phone account? if its just a couple overthe last few years its not likely to be a bar to all new credit, if its pretty much every month then its going to have a big impact on you.

Orange do technically have the ability to remove late payment markers, and if it was a recent isolated incident you might stand a chance in getting them to agree to, if its happened lots of times then its very unlikely they'd agree to, as it is a true reflection of how you have run the account.

Do you have other credit agreements showing on your credit file? Were you applying for secured finance or an unsecured loan? I've seen people accepted for secured finance with a lot more negatives than a few late payment markers. Could there be any other reasons contributing to you being declined? eg do you have high existing debts compared to your income? do you have a low income compared to the amount you wanted to borrow?

Apples2

Why don't you and your friends pay your phone bills by Direct Debit like the rest of the World.

I don't know anyone who doesn't pay by Direct Debit, are you in Cornwall or similar place still in the dark ages?

DCFC79

Why should orange remove the markers or whatever ?
Why is it always paid late ? must be a reason why

Mine is done by DD, it means i can forget about remembering to pay it.

The number (970) is meaningless/means naff all/diddly squat.

How you going to manage to pay the monthly loan repayments for the car you were wanting if you can't get round to paying your phone bill.

KingElvis

I would ask Orange to remove those crappy Orange Wednesday ads at the same time...........

If you've constantly paid your phone bill "late" then yes, it will have an enormous effect on your credit worthiness.