The Abuse of the Credit Rating System

Gaz83

BikingBud wrote: »

my terms and conditions are equally applicable are they not?

No. The company providing a service set the terms and conditions. You agree to them when you sign up with them.

BikingBud

Gaz83 wrote: »

No. The company providing a service set the terms and conditions. You agree to them when you sign up with them.

So how do you sign up for provision of utilities nowadays. I moved in didn't want BG so sought an alternative provider.

And we are back to the beginning again.

Next?

meer53

So you paid what you owed and they removed the default. Thats how it works. Maybe if you'd paid what you owed earlier, there would have been no default to stress over. There was nothing stopping you from paying what you calculated you owed from your meter readings. You made it worse for yourself by refusing to pay anything.

You must have signed up with BG at some point to owe them money ?

BikingBud

This is like speaking to a 4 year old!!

How long would you like to carry this on 12 months, 24 months?:j

eezyrider7

meer53 wrote: »

No utility company would issue a default if you don't owe any money. Defaults are only issued when a payment is not made. It's not difficult to pay what you owe and have a clean credit file.

Can you tell me why you think it's OK for lenders to not report defaults to the CRA's ? If a company hasn't been paid, they haven't been paid. It's not rocket science.

That's not true. I moved house a few years ago and after being at my new address for several months was surprised to find a debt collector at my door for an unpaid final utility bill at my old address. This was obviously a mistake and so was resolved after a couple of phone calls, however the fact is they issued the default and it was on my credit file for some time without me knowing.


EZ

adindas

GettinBetter wrote: »

What worries me is those that have a disagreement with a companies dealings with them (often because of bad admin which includes computer errors) are then hounded, harrassed, into paying by the threat of "Getting a BAD credit rating".
What amazes me more is that
you now have to pay to LOOK at your credit rating!! So these people write stuff about you & you have to pay to see if its true. How did they get away with that?

Yep, You will need to check whether someone is making mistake on your record. In other business I will need people to pay me to do this.

In the US it is free.

GettinBetter wrote: »

Whatever is on there (rightly or wrongly) is considered gospel!
Amazing!! if not completely pathetic...and we all let it continue by doing nothing.
So I can't help feeling that there is a conspiracy (well.. what is a forum without a conspiracy theory) between the industries to bully people into paying when they don't owe and that this is an accepted if not encouraged practice.
TBC

CRA get their power from lenders, utility companies, etc.

BikingBud

meer53 wrote: »

So you paid what you owed and they removed the default. Thats how it works. Maybe if you'd paid what you owed earlier, there would have been no default to stress over. There was nothing stopping you from paying what you calculated you owed from your meter readings. You made it worse for yourself by refusing to pay anything.

You must have signed up with BG at some point to owe them money ?

Try some of these just for light reading:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/household-bills/11206517/Pensioner-with-no-gas-fights-14-years-of-bills.html

Despite numerous inspections from engineers, and even getting the meter removed, the bills just keep coming, he says.
The company even referred the demands to a debt collection agency, Improved Financial Solutions Ltd.
The most recent letter delivered in August demands £30.73. "Every time I see a new letter in the post I get really stressed, and often rip them up," added Mr Eacock.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/energy-bills/11193246/British-Gas-bills-a-three-bed-semi-53500.html

http://www.businessjuice.co.uk/human-tragedy-energy-debt-leads-to-shopkeeper-suicide/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/energy-bills/11193246/British-Gas-bills-a-three-bed-semi-53500.html

So who will drive out the accountability that being in power demands?

A_Flock_Of_Sheep

If you are receiving bad service I see no reason why it is unreasonable to withold payment until an issue is resolved.

The fact companies can then threaten you with this stupid CRA system should be made a criminal offence.

As the Watchdog type programmes show if you get a builder in and they do a bad job you don't pay them - same with companies.

These CRA systems should ONLY be in place for properly regulated credit agreements such as cards, loans and mortgages. NOT utilities where errors can easily go wrong and customer dissatisfaction is plain to see if you do a quick google.

British Gas started this whole reporting lark and I dumped them the week it started. I remember a thread on here ages ago alerting people to it.

It's all so firms can further bully the customer into the Direct Debit system. That little scheme that gives the a way of scooping what they want from your account --- ooh pay by DD and you'll not miss a payment and it keeps your credit rating good.

Being a non-mortgaged old fuddy duddy though I wouldn't hesitate to with hold payment on my mobile phone if Vodafone misbehave and any threats of ruining my credit rating will simply be ignored.

usefulmale

Exactly Flock. People like British Gas rely on people not knowing their rights and/or being scared of 'debt collectors'

If a bill is in dispute, the 'debt collectors' MUST pass the account back to, say, British Gas, who then must either resolve the issue to the satisfaction of the bill payer, or issue court proceedings so that a judge can examine both side of the story and make a judgement. If the judgement goes the way of British Gas, proper bailiffs can enforce the judgement.

A_Flock_Of_Sheep

Ones of way to avoid any hassle is to have prepayment meters installed and then give the name as the occupier.