Provident Fail

sponge555

Hi people


I opened an account with Provident back in 2006 borrowing £1000, when I opened the account with them, back then they didn't do credit checks or updates on any payment information to the credit file agencies.


I had an agreement with them for 5yrs, It didn't matter if you were behind with payments as it was dealt internally on the doorstep with your regular agent,.


After a couple of years I fell behind alittle with payments..but kept to an agreement arranged between the agent and myself.


Then a couple more years on 2010 they made me sign a new agreement while I was still behind with payments, they said the rules have change where we have to notify agency's about your payment activity.. so instantly the arrears and late payments were recorded on credit file un known to me until today in 2017, had I known this beforehand id have cleared it sooner as it was damaging my credit score.


Ive since cleared the debt with provident and its mark settled on the credit agency's , but I don't think this account should have been marked like this for all these years, Provident refuse to change the information..


Advice please

PaulW922

Hi There. I think it was always in the T&Cs that they could do this, and you were advised of their intention to do so in 2010 when you signed a new agreement. If the information they have provided to the credit agencies is accurate, I cannot really see that you have anywhere to go with his.

Did they really *make* you sign a new agreement?

PixelPound

So you were behind with repayments, signed a new agreement, but never read the T&C. They don't have to highlight the consequences, unfortunately for you. I don't you have much recourse. If you have a credit card and miss a payment or even just make the minimum it negatively effects your credit file, and you don't get told that when you apply!

sponge555

Hi Again


Thanx for the answers, PROVIDENT didn't do credit checks right from the offset.. only checks to verify ID, that was the whole purpose of the company.. so they can lend to people who had adverse or Nil history on there credit file.


So I borrow money from Provident, knowing they don't update payment history.


Fall behind with payments due to my own personal faults.


Keep to an agreement with my agent without defaulting the loan.


Couple of years later they make me sign a new agreement while I was already in arrear.


So basically they moved the goalposts halfway through the agreement.. making my credit file negative for years....surely this cant be right!

sonstream

sponge555 wrote: »

Then a couple more years on 2010 they made me sign a new agreement while I was still behind with payments, they said the rules have change where we have to notify agency's about your payment activity.. so instantly the arrears and late payments were recorded on credit file un known to me until today in 2017, had I known this beforehand id have cleared it sooner as it was damaging my credit score.


Ive since cleared the debt with provident and its mark settled on the credit agency's , but I don't think this account should have been marked like this for all these years, Provident refuse to change the information..


Advice please

So you admit you were in arrears with the company, they told you they were going to start reporting this to credit reference agencies and you signed the new agreement allowing them to do so, then say it's wrong ? Provident probably won't change it as you yourself have confirmed it's factually accurate....

CakeCrusader

Hi, Sponge.

You may want to take a look at this thread here, and post on there. The 'Cash til payday' places (like Wonga) were all investigated for their practices a while back as they didn't bother to check whether their customers were able to afford the repayments, and the Ombudsman has made them repay some monies to the customers; https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5289150

This may help you too; http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/loans/2014/07/provident-is-latest-firm-caught-sending-misleading-payment-demands

My dad was trapped in a cycle of loans with Provident for many years until he died 6 years ago. The minute you're close to paying one off, they offer you more money. If you're broke, you take it, but it means you're paying them off for years and years, and they didn't run any checks to see if he was able to repay (which he wasn't and he often had to borrow money so that he could pay them).