British gas credit accounts - why?

GentleGiant_2

Why does British Gas set up not one but two credit accounts.


In other words the same as credit cards.

I am sure Eon did not do this.

D_M_E

Possibly one for gas and one for electricity -this is what they did when I was with them.

Both accounts were on the one bill, though.

GentleGiant_2

What I meant is apart from being two they are credit accounts like a credit card - as opposed to bills such as mobile phones etc.

Ruins credit reports.

SammenForLivet2

Ruins credit reports only if you don't pay or make a mistake on your bill. It allows them to accurately report your payment history to CRA's, and for long term customers, this is normally seen as beneficial. I believe they only do one credit check however.

GentleGiant_2

I do not think you understand.

Big difference between a credit account from BG and a mobile phone account or account from EON etc.

Credit reports see you as opening the equivalent of two credit cards! That is not right.

GingerBob_3

SammenForLivet2 wrote: »

Ruins credit reports only if you don't pay or make a mistake on your bill. It allows them to accurately report your payment history to CRA's, and for long term customers, this is normally seen as beneficial. I believe they only do one credit check however.

Or if they make a mistake and end up blacklisting you at the CRAs, which for utility companies and mobile phone providers is a common occurrence. British Gas are one of the worst offenders for malicious credit reporting; avoid them. It's a good thing if you can find utility providers and mobile providers that don't report you to the CRAs. At the moment it's a pretty restricted list - EDF for energy and Sky for mobile/tv.

Why does British Gas set up not one but two credit accounts.

This particular point is due to the unregulated nature of credit reporting.