United Utilities adverse credit reporting

Redcharge

Hi All,

I'm having trouble obtaining a mortgage due to some information on my credit file from U U. I understand that they only started sharing information with the CRA's last year.

It all started when I checked my credit report with Equifax last year and I noticed I had a balance with U U of £400. I made contact and arranged to pay. I asked why the balance was outstanding and they told me that they had information that I'd left my property and hadn't give them a forwarding address, this is untrue as I've been at the same property for the last 8 years.

I received no correspondence from U U stating an outstanding balance and wasn't aware of the matter until I checked my credit report. They have made a note of 6 late payments and an AP and also Gone Away on my account.

It's really causing me problems as we have a buyer for our home but are unable to secure a mortgage due to this adverse reporting.

Do I have case to argue to get this removed from my credit report and if so how would I go about getting it removed.

I would appreciate any advice people have and also any experience s people have had of similar situations.


Thanks All

Redcharge

MEM62

Does this charge relate to the property that you are in now? If so, why have you made an arrangement to pay? Surely you need to establish what the charge is for and whether it is genuine first.

You need to get the full details on this first and then challenge any information (such as the gone away marker etc.) that is not correct.

Redcharge

Sorry I missed it of my first post but it's for water services in 2013 for the property that I'm in now. I asked why I wasn't made aware of this and why I wasn't receiving any correspondence from them and they informed me they had information I'd moved away.

MEM62

Well that's your starting point. The AP and Gone Away markers at least are incorrect and you should insist that these are removed.

Then you need to ascertain what the outstanding amount is for, whether the charge is correct and whether you have previously paid it.

GingerBob_3

Up and down the land these utility companies are causing abject misery to large numbers of people - I'm guessing we're just getting the tip of the iceberg here. I cannot see why they continue to be allowed to report their customers to the CRAs. They are using it as a blackmailing tool. Is anyone aware of any campaign to try and get this stopped?

Redcharge

Just an update, I received a call from UU customer complaints department earlier saying they've received a query from Equifax regarding the gone away comment.

She told me that there rep may have gone to the wrong address and are going to remove the gone away statement but the 6 late payments must stay as I was in arrears at the time.

Now I feel I'm being treated unfairly, for the period they've marked me as being in arrears they thought I wasn't living at the address and never sent out any correspondance to me. It wasn't untill I checked my credit report and contacted them and made them aware they'd made a mistake that they put this 6 late payments on my credit file.

Should the 6 late payments be marked as 2013 when the arrears started or is it correct to be marked as June 2014?

Is there anything I can do to have them removed?

MEM62

Have you established that the charge is genuine?

Surely if you were still at the same address you were paging your bills so is this a mistake by UU such as a duplicated charges?

HereBeDragons_2

Have you put a formal complaint together yourself in writing? You said you've had a call from someone in complaints following contact from Equifax about the gone away markers, but it's not clear whether you've made a complaint yourself. The person who rang you may only be investigating the dispute with Equifax over the gone away markers, whereas you need the whole account history investigating.

Don't deal with them over the phone - put a full complaint together in writing, laying out all the facts. Emphasise that you were living at the property the whole time. It sounds like the arrears came about because they incorrectly marked you as 'gone away', and thus stopped sending correspondence/bills to the address you were living in. Is this what happened? Were they sending correspondence elsewhere from that point onwards? If so, where? Why did they cease trying to contact you at your residence in the first place - what triggered it? Were you still paying towards the account at that time, despite bills not arriving? If so, point this out. If not, did you not query why their bills had stopped coming?

Dispute everything - the arrears and the late payment markers. It sounds like you've entered an "arrangement to pay" regarding the arrears - this is a really bad move as it is acknowledging the debt. I don't know all the ins and outs of APs, but I'm sure they are recorded on your credit file and will be there for the next 6 years, badly impacting your ability to get credit. I'm not sure how you go about withdrawing from an arrangement to pay if you've entered one, but it is a priority for you to get out of it. Mention it in your complaint, and say that as you now believe any arrears arose entirely due to their errors managing the account, you do not agree to enter into an AP as your complaint has not been investigated properly and you dispute the debt.

Demand that they remove all adverse markers on your credit files immediately plus cancel the AP, and state that these incorrect markers are negatively impacting your ability to get credit and that you will seek compensation as a result.

Check your credit files with all 3 agencies - Equifax, Experian and CallCredit. These adverse markers may be on more than one credit file and if so you will need to dispute them with those agencies too, not just Equifax. Don't forget to check later on that all your files have been properly cleaned up too.

I would strongly advise making a Subject Access Request, under the Data Protection Act. There are template letters you can find online easily, it'll cost you £10. This should get you a copy of all your account history. You may discover the information on which they based their decision to mark you as gone away, and be able to piece together the chain of errors which they have made. Anything you find in there that is incorrect, challenge it as part of your ongoing complaint. In writing, of course.

Look up UU's complaints process and make sure you follow it to the letter. If they ring you to discuss your complaint, say you will only deal with them in writing.

Redcharge

Thank you very much that's just the information that I was looking for are there any template letters available that I can adjust as I'm not the best at writing letters.

Brooker_Dave

If its all lies you could sue them for libel?

MisterBaxter

Assuming the account was a typical pay in arrears type account it would be normal to pay on demand, if the contract states that you are expected to pay on demand then there is expectation that you will indeed pay on demand. If they did not make any demands for payment then you should argues that all of their markers, and the AP are invalid as you are not in breach of the agreement. This should be raised with their internal complaints and copied to the regulator, the regulator may not want to be involved until it has been through the suppliers own complaints process.

My own experience of utilities isn't positive but typically I have found that where they believe the customer has gone away they simply continue to send demands to 'THE OCCUPIER' if they have been sending such bills and you were the occupier at the time then they will probably be able to successfully argue that they have been sending demands for payment but that they have been ignored.

If you are absolutely certain that they haven't been sending demands in your name or to 'THE OCCUPIER' then you must challenge. If you live in a rented property could it be that the demands have been sent to the Landlord. I deal with commercial property and it is not uncommon for our office to receive demands from utility companies for tenants who have been reported as 'gone away'.