British Gas instalments

Emmad1604

My husband and I moved out of our rented property in April and notified British Gas, who told us we were £200 in credit. They then changed their minds and told us we owed them £200. We were in the middle of buying a house and didn't want to fork out £200 out of the blue, so my husband called them and they offered that we could pay monthly with instalments.. Not once mentioning that it would affect our credit score. My husband agreed to the monthly payments and this was all set up. We have now been rejected for a mortgage because there's an 'arranged payment' mark on our credit score because of British Gas, implying that we struggled to pay. We would never have agreed to the instalment plan if we knew it would affect our credit rating, we just saw it as a direct debit. Having looked on their website, there's nothing on there either. We have paid the debt In full, now we know it's affecting us and have asked them to remove the mark. Where do we stand with this if they won't remove it?

Thanks
Emma

Arleen

The big question is what did you think you were getting into when you've asked for instalment on money that you owe? There is no dispute that you owe them the 200 quid, but instead of settling the account you've asked for instalments - indicating that you cannot front the 200.
And that is what the mark represents, nothing else. And they have to report it, the same way they have to report if the account was just settled in full instead of instalments.
So I would say that chances of getting it removed are rather thin, especially with british gas who are usually as lenient as a steel rod, but you can always call, explain that and ask would they consider doing so.

Thrugelmir

Emmad1604 wrote: »

My husband agreed to the monthly payments and this was all set up. We have now been rejected for a mortgage because there's an 'arranged payment' mark on our credit score because of British Gas, implying that we struggled to pay.

Then why didn't you simply pay the bill in full at the time. Was only £200. So stretching repayment out didn't gain you a lot other than time. You have to accept responsibility for your own decisions when it comes to financial matters.

Richey_

Emma
Feel for you that is awful.
If I was you I would trawl the terms and conditions you agreed and see what it says on there.
It sounds wrong to me also that they never informed you about the repercussions of paying it off in instalments rather than in one go. I'd speak to your husband and ask him exactly what he said to them, ie did he plead poverty or did they just offer it without exposing the implications. If it was the latter I'd be doing a data protection request (will cost you £10) and include on it a request for a copy of the phone call as its in a retrieval system and with that I'd make a formal complaint to them and if that got you nowhere I'd escalate to the ombudsman.

I think key is exactly what you husband / they said on the phone. Also did they send out any confirmation paperwork also after the agreement was set up?
Finally if that was me, I would appeal the mortgage decline on the basis that you had the £200, it is only £200 and you are mid way through a complaint with British Gas. I have no idea in your chance of success but if that was me I'd try. Failing that I'd guess it would be off to a broker who is experienced in adverse credit.
Wishing you the very best of luck, hope it all gets sorted ��

Emmad1604

It's very easy to say why didn't we just pay the £200.. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and we both wish we had now!!

Thanks Richey for your helpful response. They have said they will retrieve the telephone conversation and investigate for us, so I guess that's something.. I've been through T&C's and it doesn't mention anything at all about it being marked as AP on credit files. The way my husband has explained it, they offered up quite freely for it to be paid monthly So if that's the case we should have a leg to stand on. Fingers crossed and thanks again for your understanding!

GingerBob_3

British Gas are serial offenders when it comes to CRA malpractice, of which this is a classic example. One can imagine the conversation "I'm sorry we thought we owed you £200 but now we realise you owe us £200. But don't worry, we can easily set up an instalment plan. Would that be alright?" Of course they presumably didn't go on to say, "but it's worth knowing that such a plan will have a severely detrimental effect on your ability to obtain credit." Don't let these BG blighters get away with it, and if need be, threaten them with legal action.

And they have to report it, the same way they have to report if the account was just settled in full instead of instalments.

No they don't. CRAs allow their customers to report anything; facts, lies and the rest. There is no relevant QC on incoming data. BG could remove the malicious markers any time they want.

Arleen

GingerBob wrote: »

British Gas are serial offenders when it comes to the CRA malpractice, of which this is a classic example. One can imagine the conversation "I'm sorry we thought we owed you £200 but now we realise you owe us £200. But don't worry, we can easily set up an instalment plan. Would that be alright?" Of course they presumably didn't go on to say, "but it's worth knowing that such a plan will have a severely detrimental effect on your ability to obtain credit." Don't let these BG blighters get away with it, and if need be, threaten them with legal action.


No they don't. CRAs allow their customers to report anything; facts, lies and the rest. There is no relevant QC on incoming data. BG could remove the malicious markers any time they want.

You really hate the whole idea behind CRAs don't you? And the whole point behind reporting, and taking, from CRAs is to create and use accurate history of credit accounts - nothing more and nothing less and this is what they did in this case.
They are not judges or kings of credit eligibility, they cannot tell you "this will ruin your ability to get credit" because there is no universal criteria to get credit. But if you do enjoy the green entry in your file from british gas then you also have to "enjoy" the potential downsides of it.

GingerBob_3

Arleen wrote: »

You really hate the whole idea behind CRAs don't you? And the whole point behind reporting, and taking, from CRAs is to create and use accurate history of credit accounts - nothing more and nothing less and this is what they did in this case.
They are not judges or kings of credit eligibility, they cannot tell you "this will ruin your ability to get credit" because there is no universal criteria to get credit. But if you do enjoy the green entry in your file from british gas then you also have to "enjoy" the potential downsides of it.

I don't enjoy anything from BG, because they don't supply my energy. I use a company that doesn't report to CRAs, and I would urge others to do likewise. The reason for this is simple; the fewer non-lenders reporting your accounts, the less likely you are to get shafted with the sort of miss-information we have here.

Emmad1604

Thanks Gingerbob - pretty much how the convo went!

It was a misunderstanding/miscommunication and having been a customer with them for over 10 years, with no missed payments or issues, and no other payment issues with any other lenders, you'd think they'd realise it was a mistake!! They are calling us back tomorrow after investigating so I will
Keep you posted!

Thanks for the support

Emmad1604

Just a quick update - British Gas called this morning and have removed the AP!! We won

GingerBob_3

Emmad1604 wrote: »

Just a quick update - British Gas called this morning and have removed the AP!! We won

Good. Well Done.


Next thing - move suppliers. EDF don't report you at all to the CRAs, so consider going with them.