Which Utilities do not report to Credit Reference Agencies (CRAs)?

CIeanShirt

Hi All,

As the title states- which Gas and Electricity Suppliers do not credit search new customers and/ or report to CRAs? I would ask about Water too, but...

I can’t find anything online in this vein already, however, feel free to point me in the right direction if I’m wrong and there is!

Read on if you want to know the context of my Q and a bit of a rant too.

I moved into a new property recently (a houseshare) that is supplied by iSupply and EON. I had to plump for option four when setting up an account with EON as I refused the credit search, £200 deposit for gas, prepayment meter and so am expected to pay more for my electricity via a standard variable tariff. No thank you. Obviously they report to Equifax too- which is not acceptable.

So I would like to switch us to a supplier(s) that do not follow this practice. It seems to be a trend that has really become the norm since I left the UK in 2013, so am struggling!

Something that hasn’t been reported in this scandal (which is probably more of a London-centric issue) is why my creditworthiness should be dependent on strangers I cohabit with and jointly pay bills? God help becoming a homeowner. Let alone dealing with deposits and spiralling house prices I have to navigate the minefield of house sharing with a credit report unscathed by incompetent utilities/ unreliable housies/ frequent house moves and associated billing nightmares before applying for a mortgage.

I have been in London for the last year and have had to spend incredible amounts of time already fixing a mess created by incompetent utilities (Spark/ EDF/ Thames Water I’m looking at you.) I don't think EDF and Spark do report to CRAs? I would go back to either (even though they collectively compensated my £260 for being so terrible) if that means my utilities are not reported to Equifax and Co.

BTW I work in Finance (not the retail type...) so know allll about credit. I find it scandalous that Utilities have been given the OK by the ICO to report to CRAs...

sourcrates

None of my utility suppliers report to the CRA's, they are :

Yorkshire water

Flow energy (electricity)

None of my previous electricity suppliers did either :

Scottish power

N-power.

Dobbibill

British Gas do.

Dwr Cymru - Welsh Water do. (probably of no use to you if your in London)

Extra Energy does not.

SSE Swalec does not.

I suspect it will only be a matter of time before most of them do.

usefulmale

sourcrates wrote: »

None of my utility suppliers report to the CRA's, they are :

Yorkshire water

Flow energy (electricity)

None of my previous electricity suppliers did either :

Scottish power

N-power.

Yorkshire Water certainly do. They make a big wow of it and their website is littered with threats of reporting and the 'serious' consequences if you don't pay whatever they say.

https://www.yorkshirewater.com/sites/default/files/COP_Personal_Data_Leaflet_WEB.pdf

GingerBob_3

usefulmale wrote: »

Yorkshire Water certainly do. They make a big wow of it and their website is littered with threats of reporting and the 'serious' consequences if you don't pay whatever they say.

https://www.yorkshirewater.com/sites/default/files/COP_Personal_Data_Leaflet_WEB.pdf

Correct. And guess what; if you're a customer you didn't consent to them doing so. So don't ever believe it when the likes of Experian tell you that "you will have consented to this check being carried out" - hogwash! It's open house.

GingerBob_3

CIeanShirt wrote: »

Hi All,

As the title states- which Gas and Electricity Suppliers do not credit search new customers and/ or report to CRAs? I would ask about Water too, but...

I can’t find anything online in this vein already, however, feel free to point me in the right direction if I’m wrong and there is!

Read on if you want to know the context of my Q and a bit of a rant too.

I moved into a new property recently (a houseshare) that is supplied by iSupply and EON. I had to plump for option four when setting up an account with EON as I refused the credit search, £200 deposit for gas, prepayment meter and so am expected to pay more for my electricity via a standard variable tariff. No thank you. Obviously they report to Equifax too- which is not acceptable.

So I would like to switch us to a supplier(s) that do not follow this practice. It seems to be a trend that has really become the norm since I left the UK in 2013, so am struggling!

Something that hasn’t been reported in this scandal (which is probably more of a London-centric issue) is why my creditworthiness should be dependent on strangers I cohabit with and jointly pay bills? God help becoming a homeowner. Let alone dealing with deposits and spiralling house prices I have to navigate the minefield of house sharing with a credit report unscathed by incompetent utilities/ unreliable housies/ frequent house moves and associated billing nightmares before applying for a mortgage.

I have been in London for the last year and have had to spend incredible amounts of time already fixing a mess created by incompetent utilities (Spark/ EDF/ Thames Water I’m looking at you.) I don't think EDF and Spark do report to CRAs? I would go back to either (even though they collectively compensated my £260 for being so terrible) if that means my utilities are not reported to Equifax and Co.

BTW I work in Finance (not the retail type...) so know allll about credit. I find it scandalous that Utilities have been given the OK by the ICO to report to CRAs...

EDF for gas and electricity. They do not report to CRAs. Sky for broadband and TV; likewise (but Sky come with a barrel load of other issues).


Regarding water. The suppliers have taken it upon themselves to smack you with a credit check and report your accounts to the CRAs without your consent. Remember that you don't have a contract with the water supplier, so they seem to have got around it that way. However, these chumps are the easiest to deal with. You tell them absolutely nothing about yourself, other than your surname. And - if they've already sent mail to "the occupier" and it has an account number for the property just set up a standing order for payment to that account and don't communicate with them any more.

GingerBob_3

sourcrates wrote: »

None of my utility suppliers report to the CRA's, they are :

Yorkshire water

Flow energy (electricity)

None of my previous electricity suppliers did either :

Scottish power

N-power.

These two do, and interestingly they are by far the worst offenders when it comes to malicious blacklisting at the CRAs. They should be avoided at all costs.

CIeanShirt

Thanks all.

These two don't:

EDF
Spark - but I wouldn't wish these cowboys on my worst enemies..

Keep them rolling if anyone else has info..

rtho782

I quite like that mine (British Gas) does. I pay by DD and would never miss a payment so it can only benefit me really.

GingerBob_3

rtho782 wrote: »

I quite like that mine (British Gas) does. I pay by DD and would never miss a payment so it can only benefit me really.

Yes, if everything goes according to plan it can only help you to get credit in the future - BUT - and it's a big BUT - utility providers and especially mobile phone providers, have a nasty habit of blacklisting you for mistakes on either side, or for trivial reasons. This board is stuffed full of cases where utility providers have compromised their customers' ability to obtain credit. In many cases it's due to confusion when changing supplier, complex T&Cs that it's very easy to fall foul of, incompetence on the part of the supplier, and also - it has to be said - on the part of the customer. However, none of this should reflect on your creditworthiness, but it often does in a big way.


I would urge everyone to find suppliers that don't report to the CRAs. They cannot be trusted with your financial data, and it's about time utility reporting was outlawed.


I might just add, British Gas are one of the worst offenders.

massayp

I posted a new thread yesterday after switching from Eon (who didn't show on my Credit Report) to British Gas (who did) caused my credit score to drop by 34 points. I know its a small amount, and the score doesn't really count for anything, but it was enough to make me realise paying £15 a month for Experian Credit Expert was probably a waste of time.