AR/AP markers ruin credit file for friend.

System

The account was not "frozen".

Sorry , I am not making this clear.

My friend started to worry he might be beginning to get out of depth.
As per martins advice he immediately called his lender. Told them his concerns. They had a "chat on the phone" and he was told to pay (for arguments sake) £50 a month. He then (24 hours later) he tells me rejigged his finances, tightened his belt and called them to say, its ok, all is well, i will be fine paying and would like to pay £150 a month. (The minimum payment would have been £100). Does anyone really think it is right he has douzens and douzens or AR marks on his file for 6 years after paying more than the minimum payment? after never missing a single payment? His only crime was to talk to his lender!

Willing2Learn

beany_bot wrote: »

They seem very very keen to get people into AR?

I don't think that is a fair comment. It is highly likely that the card companies just wanted to help their customer avoid defaulting on the agreement, and instead offered an alternate way to break the credit agreement so that your friend could get back on track...It is just unfortunate that your friend was not aware this was happening. Maybe the customer agents that your friend spoke to should have been clearer with specifying the outcome? As stated earlier, your friend should complain that they were misled...without putting all the blame at their door...

System

So my friend has a badly damaged credit file.
All for making perfect payments in keeping with the agreed term of his credit cards.

Seems legit.

MEM62

beany_bot wrote: »

Yes I've told him to do that. I'm shocked the exact same thing happened with 2 credit cards though. They seem very very keen to get people into AR?

Errrr....... No. They are not. They want customers to meet their payment obligations. There is absolutely no upside for the lender when a customer has to enter into an arrangement.

[Deleted User]

How much was owing in total?

They may have left the AP going in order to get the balance cleared down quicker.

It’s still an arrangement to pay.

System

MEM62 wrote: »

Errrr....... No. They are not. They want customers to meet their payment obligations. There is absolutely no upside for the lender when a customer has to enter into an arrangement.

"HAS to enter an agreement."
At what point did he HAVE to enter an agreement? He just called them to discuss his situation and they slapped him straight in an AR. BOTH cards. with him having not missed a single payment. If all your creditors just slapped you AR's without explaining what was going on and without you putting a foot wrong would you just accept it? Just say "well technically I am in AR so it's only fair".

System

So people seem to be bending over backwards to defend and exscuse the CC companies behaviour here. Can I ask you a question.

Do you think it's right to have your credit file ruined by staying within the terms of your agreement and never missing a single payment?

Willing2Learn

beany_bot wrote: »

Do you think it's right to have your credit file ruined by staying within the terms of your agreement and never missing a single payment?

If that is a fair reflection of what happened...then yes...because your friend entered into an arrangement that broke the original credit agreement. Whether your friend was misled when he rang back to increase the AP amount from £50/month to £150/month is a possibility though...

System

Willing2Learn wrote: »

If that is a fair reflection of what happened...then yes...because your friend entered into an arrangement that broke the original credit agreement. Whether your friend was misled when he rang back to increase the AP amount from £50/month to £150/month is a possibility though...

So, the vast majority outside of this forum have no idea what an "arrangment" is or even that it exsists or that it is different from any normal payment. The vast vast majority.
As far as he was concerned he was paying his card, as normal, with a Direct debit amount of more than the minimum payment.

MEM62

beany_bot wrote: »

"HAS to enter an agreement."
At what point did he HAVE to enter an agreement? He just called them to discuss his situation and they slapped him straight in an AR. BOTH cards. with him having not missed a single payment. If all your creditors just slapped you AR's without explaining what was going on and without you putting a foot wrong would you just accept it? Just say "well technically I am in AR so it's only fair".

No, that is not the case at all and you friend does not have to "just accept" anything.

You friend either met his contractual payment arrangement or he did not. If they met them then AR markers should be removed and there are processes for him to request this and escalate the issue if the lender won't play ball. If they did not meet the minimum requirement then the AP markers are a true reflection of the account history and they will remain.