Energy switch decreased credit score

massayp

Just cancelled my Experian Credit Expert account!!!
My credit score decreased by 34 points this morning taking me from Excellent into the Good range. The reason....I've just switched from Eon to British Gas. Apparently that counts as a new credit account that's less than 6 months old???????
Been consciously trying to keep my score as high as possible ready for a re-mortgage in May.

[Deleted User]

Don't worry about it. Your score isn't connected to your credit worthiness and will go down as a result of any change.

Just ignore it.

massayp

I know its just an arbitrary figure, but if something that simple can change it, then I don't see the point in having the figure at all. Eon didn't even show on my report, but Welsh Water does. I don't see the point in putting utilities on there.
I'll spend the £15 a month I save on keeping the central heating on for an extra 30 minutes a day

[Deleted User]

massayp wrote: »

but if something that simple can change it, then I don't see the point in having the figure at all.

Exactly. .

GingerBob_3

massayp wrote: »

I know its just an arbitrary figure, but if something that simple can change it, then I don't see the point in having the figure at all. Eon didn't even show on my report, but Welsh Water does. I don't see the point in putting utilities on there.
I'll spend the £15 a month I save on keeping the central heating on for an extra 30 minutes a day

You could try writing to Welsh Water stating that you never gave your consent to report your account to the CRAs or carry out a credit check and you now withdraw any implied consent.

Neutrinno

massayp wrote: »

I know its just an arbitrary figure, but if something that simple can change it, then I don't see the point in having the figure at all. Eon didn't even show on my report, but Welsh Water does. I don't see the point in putting utilities on there.
I'll spend the £15 a month I save on keeping the central heating on for an extra 30 minutes a day

Because if you didn't keep up payments on your utilities then surely this is poor credit worthyness, which a lender would want to know about? It makes total sense having utilities on there and the score is meaningless anyway.

Create a free account with Noddle if you want to save £15 a month but still have access to your report.

massayp

If that's the case then surely all energy suppliers should be doing it. Eon didn't put anything on my record, I don't see why BG should.
If I were to not pay then of course they should be able to record it on my Credit Report, but a simple soft search to asses me would suffice until that point.

Neutrinno

massayp wrote: »

If that's the case then surely all energy suppliers should be doing it. Eon didn't put anything on my record, I don't see why BG should.
If I were to not pay then of course they should be able to record it on my Credit Report, but a simple soft search to asses me would suffice until that point.

Well no, not every company reports to an agency. There are numerous mortgage companies that don't report to credit reference agencies and they can be for debts of hundreds of thousands. Every company is different, if it has bothered you this much then you should of read their T&C's before signing up.

The main reason energy companies credit score to confirm that you actually live at the property where your energy will be supplied. This is to prevent fraud above all else.

massayp

"The main reason energy companies credit score to confirm that you actually live at the property where your energy will be supplied. This is to prevent fraud above all else. "


A soft search would tell them that.


Its not so much the fact that BG have appeared on the report, its more the fact that I've been penalised 34 points for being a customer of theirs for 2 weeks....God knows what it'll do to my credit score when they realise I've been pinching electricity from the neighbours (joke!).

Neutrinno

massayp wrote: »

"The main reason energy companies credit score to confirm that you actually live at the property where your energy will be supplied. This is to prevent fraud above all else. "


A soft search would tell them that.


Its not so much the fact that BG have appeared on the report, its more the fact that I've been penalised 34 points for being a customer of theirs for 2 weeks....God knows what it'll do to my credit score when they realise I've been pinching electricity from the neighbours (joke!).

Yes a softsearch would do that, if they have genuinely done a hard search then it's hard to understand why they feel the need to do that. Back to the first replies though your score going down 34 points isn't going to make any difference to you, take no notice of the points. That alone certainly won't affect your chances of a future remortgage.

Dobbibill

BG report monthly to the CRAs.

Ignore the score, it means nothing to BG and it will not be seen or impact your mortgage.

Good move to cancel the £15 subscription for an irrelevant score.

Use Noddle for your Call Credit report and Clearscore for your Equifax report, both are free.

Worth checking out their privacy policy to see what they share and why

https://www.britishgas.co.uk/privacy-policy.html