Energy companies using credit reference agencies

DavidP24

I noticed this in the terms of my energy supplier but also similar on Thames Water

"We may carry out credit and fraud prevention checks with licensed credit reference and fraud prevention agencies and they’ll retain a copy of the search. Information from your application and payment details of your account may be recorded by these agencies and may be shared with other organisations to help make credit and insurance decisions about you and members of your household and for debt collection and fraud prevention purposes."

My question is are they allowed to use these agencies if you do not take any credit services from them, i.e. if you pay your bills upon receipt.

It seems to me that there is no privacy and they should not be allowed to share your details unless you take credit.

Does anyone know if this would be against the Data Protection Act, especially as you do not have a choice; you can't change Water supplier and even with an Energy supplier you are stuck with them at least until you can change supplier and most "deals" involve direct debit which is effectively credit.

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

If you pay your bill on receipt, you've still had 3 months credit!

Only those with a PPM could legitimately make this argument, and in my experience (admittedly a few years out of date), energy companies didn't credit check those with a PPM.

The DPA is often misunderstood; they have a legitimate reason to hold your data, of course they can keep it. A very simplified, but nonetheless adroit summary is here

http://www.taylorwessing.com/uploads/tx_siruplawyermanagement/NB_000168_Overview_UK_data_protection_law_WEB.pdf

Andy_WSM

DavidP24 wrote: »

unless you take credit.

Unless you have a pre-payment meter, then the moment you move into a property and plug in a fridge, freezer or turn a light on etc, then you are taking credit from the energy provider.

GingerBob_3

Andy_WSM wrote: »

Unless you have a pre-payment meter, then the moment you move into a property and plug in a fridge, freezer or turn a light on etc, then you are taking credit from the energy provider.

Yes, think of it a bit like the window cleaner. He comes and does my house once a month and three weeks later he knocks on the door for payment. But the moment he climbs down the ladder and sods off up the street I'm taking credit from him.

macman

Eh? A credit gas or electricity meter is a potentially unlimited source of credit. The clue is in the name....

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

Tower_Utility wrote: »

Here I want to share my experience with British Gas as a broker.

I am really SHOCKED the way British Gas deals with the brokers.
Sometimes they refused a contract more than two months after submitting. They even do not feel sorry for that. They don’t bother about what the customer thinks about his/her broker if any contract is refused after such a long time. This is ridicules.

Moreover, they don’t accept a broker’s contract if the customer failed in credit check. This is fair enough - as long as this is their standard requirement. But the thing is- if the same customer contact directly then they accept his contract straightaway. Again, they don’t bother what the customer thinks about the broker!

Furthermore, if a customer complains about any of British Gas’s mistakes or wrong doing then they always blame on the broker. One common example is: if a customer complaint about the frequency of Direct debit (i.e. monthly or quarterly), they always say “Your broker advised us like this”. But there is no option a broker can advise them on this.

If I continue I can give you countless example of how British Gas always tries to put the broker in a disgraceful position to a customer. My question is, if British Gas doesn’t have minimum respect for the brokers then why they work with brokers? They should work only with their own sales force.

I would go into your post in depth, but I suspect you just signed up to get your username noticed and won't be back. It's worth noting that you aren't the customer of BGB, the person who pays the bill is. They have no duty of care to you. They would rather all their customers came direct, and they allocate resources accordingly. Unless you are the size of Schneider/Inenco, you're really a needless diversion.

Nada666

Spammer_details_deleted wrote:

Here I want to share my experience with British Gas as a broker.

I am really SHOCKED the way British Gas deals with the brokers.
Sometimes they refused a contract more than two months after submitting. They even do not feel sorry for that. They don’t bother about what the customer thinks about his/her broker if any contract is refused after such a long time. This is ridicules.

Must be tough being hated even more than the suppliers. Our hearts bleed for you.

frank777

Energy companies using credit reference agencies
EDF new improved website - MyAccount - Tariff Section - Direct Debit Payments now show collected on 1st of each month by default, it's a technical problem and won't be taken out on the 1st unless you have your DD setup for the 1st. EDF are aware of this problem with their new website and are working to correct this fault, it's been reported!

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

frank777 wrote: »

Energy companies using credit reference agencies
EDF new improved website - MyAccount - Tariff Section - Direct Debit Payments now show collected on 1st of each month by default, it's a technical problem and won't be taken out on the 1st unless you have your DD setup for the 1st. EDF are aware of this problem with their new website and are working to correct this fault, it's been reported!

Why are you spamming this to completely irrelevant threads?!

frank777

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays wrote: »

Why are you spamming this to completely irrelevant threads?!

It's relevant, if they take the Direct Debit out on the 1st August and miss the payment in July due to a technical problem, and this shows up on your credit file as a missed payment.

GingerBob_3

frank777 wrote: »

It's relevant, if they take the Direct Debit out on the 1st August and miss the payment in July due to a technical problem, and this shows up on your credit file as a missed payment.

As far as I know, EDF do not report you on a monthly basis to the CRAs, though reserve the right to do so. Maybe that means they would report a default.