Credit Score Misrepresentation

leeh1987

Hi All,

I have an issue with my credit score that i cannot get resolved and need some advice.

I have spent the last 6 years building my credit rating to a healthy score. At the beginning of Feb i paid my credit card off in full. At the time it said estimated interest "£0"

with this in mind i assumed everything was fine. 2 months later i get a physical letter through the door saying i owed money for interest and charges. I immediately called them and explained the situation and the wavered the charges.

However they have put 2 marks on my credit report completely trashing my credit rating. Although factually correct it was in complete faith that i thought the credit card was clear when i originally paid the card off. My credit rating is now a complete misrepresentation of me as a borrower and will stick with me for the next for 6 years, preventing me getting a mortgage and any preferential rates that i deserve. All because of a misunderstanding over £6 interest. (why would i not pay £6 for 2 months) I have spoken to the credit card company and they have said because its factually correct there is nothing they can/will can do. Please can you advise as this is, in my opinion a great miscarriage of justice. Any advise would be much appreciated

Thanks in advance

YorkshireBoy

leeh1987 wrote: »

Any advise would be much appreciated

When they send you a statement, or an e-mail telling you your statement is available to view online, read it!

When you're carrying a revolving balance, you'll need to pay two consecutive statements in full to stop any residual interest.

Understanding both of the above will stop it occurring again.

bargainbetty

What have they placed upon your report? It is likely to be a 'missed payment' marker rather than a default or anything really serious, and while it will remain there it will have far less impact after a few months of regular repayments etc elsewhere.

You do have the option of filing a formal complaint and escalating it as high as possible, and then taking it to the ombudsman, but the point is that you didn't check. If you received an online statement or any other piece of information from them during that time and did not check it, then it will be chalked up as a mistake on your pay that has been fairly reflected.

It is not a misrepresentation. You missed something, and it notes it. Harsh, but technically accurate.

MataNui

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

When they send you a statement, or an e-mail telling you your statement is available to view online, read it!

When you're carrying a revolving balance, you'll need to pay two consecutive statements in full to stop any residual interest.

Understanding both of the above will stop it occurring again.

Your being a bit harsh and may even be completely wrong. For example:
Some companies (Natwest CC being one) dont send out statements if its a 0 balance. I was caught out several times by this as they seem to calculate the PPI (if you have any) AFTER. This means the statement would be 0 (so they dont print and post) but they then add the PPI (so in fact the balance isnt 0 BUT they still dont print and post).

It took several times for me actually figure out why 2 months after clearing my balance i would get a £25 charge for not paying. I was convinced i must have missed the statement. When i finally realised it was every time i cleared my balance and what was happening i was furious.

Thing is you only notice these issues in certain circumstances. In the above example i didnt pay by DD (most people do), I had PPI on the card, I periodically (because of the way i get paid) would clear the entire balance.

leeh1987

Thanks for the responses.

I do accept the fact that i should have checked the account afterwords but i did what a lot of people do after they assumed they have paid off a bill, which is get on with my life. And in my defense the estimated interest was £0. I have had the C/C with this company for 6 years and not missed a payment. I also have a significant bank loan with them that i have paid on time for 3 years. I accept that it's my oversight. It just seems that the sentence does not fit the crime. To be clear i believe the marks are "late payment" marks.

Does anyone have any idea how long these will have a significant impact for?

YorkshireBoy

MataNui wrote: »

Your being a bit harsh and may even be completely wrong. For example:
Some companies (Natwest CC being one) dont send out statements if its a 0 balance.

If they apply interest on the statement date (before sending said statement/e-mail) as all card providers do, how can you have a zero balance?

Thrugelmir

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

If they apply interest on the statement date (before sending said statement/e-mail) as all card providers do, how can you have a zero balance?

My thoughts as well.

YorkshireBoy

MataNui wrote: »

i would get a £25 charge for not paying.

You seem to be recounting experience going back a good while, and not comparing like with like. The circa £25 charges were abolished around 2006, some 8 years ago, following an OFT ruling.

Quite how NatWest applied PPI premiums to peoples accounts nearly a decade ago is relevant now I don't know?

Joe_Bloggs

Yorkshireboy stated:-

Quite how NatWest applied PPI premiums to peoples accounts nearly a decade ago is relevant now I don't know?

However RBS (80% owned by us includes NatWest) has just allocated another £100 million for ppi claims as of 31 October 2014.

MSE Helen Knapman writes:-
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/reclaim/2014/10/rbs-sets-aside-an-additional-100m-to-cover-ppi-mis-selling-claims

Who is to blame for the £16 billion plus ppi fiasco. Where did the concept start and how did it spread ?

Get online, diarise /get a diary and log your spending and check that it tallies with online accounts. I don't spend/save if I can't see the account online.
J_B.

The_Boss

leeh1987 wrote: »

Hi All,

I have an issue with my credit score that i cannot get resolved and need some advice.

I have spent the last 6 years building my credit rating to a healthy score. At the beginning of Feb i paid my credit card off in full. At the time it said estimated interest "£0"
......

Thanks in advance

My advice is that you don't have a credit score as they don't exist. If you're paying for this on a monthly basis then stop now as it is a random made up meaningless number and a total waste of money.