The effects of Utilities Late Payments on Credit Report

gazfocus
gazfocus Posts: 2,374
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edited 26 May 2023 at 8:09AM in Debt-free wannabe
I'll try and keep this brief...

A few years ago, I lost my job which resulted in being unable to pay credit cards/catalogs/etc so ended up with a very poor credit history (late payments on mortgage, multiple defaults, and multiple ccjs).

Over the past 2 years I have been working really hard to improve my credit report, have got credit cards from the usual sub primes like Vanquis and making sure they are paid, not missing any payments on the mortgage for the past 2.5 years, even managed to get a car on finance and have paid that religiously each month). With the final ccj due to drop off my credit report this September, I would finally have a credit report that I'd be largely proud of and confident that I'd be able to obtain better credit if the need ever arose.

However, I woke up this morning to an email from ClearScore to say my 'score' had updated (yes I know they're pointless) so logged onto the app to see what it was....it had dropped by over 200 points, so took a look at my credit report and found that EonNext have added two accounts to my credit report with a status of 'In Arrears', both showing late payment markers for March, April and May this year. 

I found this odd because I moved out of the property with the EonNext account 18 months ago, so logged into my old EonNext account and found that on my old electricity account (which was PREPAYMENT) they reversed a credit in December for £55, so it's showing I owe then £55 on that account. For my old gas account, it is showing I owe them over £1,500. 

I immediately sent EonNext an email to query these and in particular asked for an explanation as to how I can owe then £55 on a prepayment electricity account and to remove the late payment markers off my credit report, but should I not be able to get these removed, how much will they affect my credit obtaining ability?

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  • ManyWays
    ManyWays Posts: 144
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    It is possible to owe money on a prepay account if the standing charges accumulated while you were not putting money onto the meter.
  • EssexHebridean
    EssexHebridean Posts: 21,205
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    You did inform Eon Next that you had left the property I assume? If not, it could be standing charges as above.

    what particular credit are you concerned about the effect on obtaining? If you’re approaching the end of your mortgage deal then the worst case scenario is that you’ll be able to get deals from your current lender (who won’t credit check you) but you might find other lenders are more cautious. 

    Well done for the work you have done to date with repairing the damage done previously. You mention having a car on credit - are you setting aside money for any final payment needed on that, or if not for a final payment, to ensure you are ready to buy with no, or at least less debt being taken on when that car needs replacement? It may seem like a long way in the future, but it’s good practice to work out how long you expect the current car to last, and a rough idea of what you expect to pay for any replacement so you know how much you need to save monthly to account for that. So current car = 7 years lifespan. Replacement car likely to cost circa 8k when bought = you need to set aside £95 a month to make a straight cash purchase on replacement possible. The sooner you start with this, the lower the amount you need to budget towards it each month. 
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  • gazfocus
    gazfocus Posts: 2,374
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    You did inform Eon Next that you had left the property I assume? If not, it could be standing charges as above.

    what particular credit are you concerned about the effect on obtaining? If you’re approaching the end of your mortgage deal then the worst case scenario is that you’ll be able to get deals from your current lender (who won’t credit check you) but you might find other lenders are more cautious. 

    Well done for the work you have done to date with repairing the damage done previously. You mention having a car on credit - are you setting aside money for any final payment needed on that, or if not for a final payment, to ensure you are ready to buy with no, or at least less debt being taken on when that car needs replacement? It may seem like a long way in the future, but it’s good practice to work out how long you expect the current car to last, and a rough idea of what you expect to pay for any replacement so you know how much you need to save monthly to account for that. So current car = 7 years lifespan. Replacement car likely to cost circa 8k when bought = you need to set aside £95 a month to make a straight cash purchase on replacement possible. The sooner you start with this, the lower the amount you need to budget towards it each month. 
    I did, yes. I received the final bill about 18 months ago which showed my balance as in credit. 

    I’m not particularly seeking credit at the moment but will be wanting to apply for a BTL mortgage or holiday let mortgage in the next 6-12 months. 

    The car I have on finance is on HP rather than PCP so won’t have a balloon payment. I paid £12k upfront and had £10k finance on it so would probably do similar next time. The interest rate on my current HP deal is quite high because I had poor credit, so hopefully next time round, the interest rate will be much better. 

    Anyway, a bit of an update, Eon Next replied really quickly to my complaint. They immediately removed the £55 balance from my electric account and agreed to remove the 3 late payment markers from my credit report for that which they said will take about a week to
    update. 

    They asked for more information to investigate the gas account so have sent them what they’ve asked for so far. 

    I’m quite impressed at the speed in which they’re trying to resolve the issue and I guess 3 late payment markers is better than 6 if it proves more difficult to get the gas ones removed. 
  • gazfocus
    gazfocus Posts: 2,374
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    I thought I'd post a little update...

    With regards to the gas account, Eon Next informed me that a payment arrangement was put in place in December for the account and while a payment was taken via direct debit in January, no other payments have been made.

    On speaking to my wife, this is the case (my wife did it as she pays all our bills), she had set up the payment plan but we had to change bank accounts in January so she emailed Eon Next to update the direct debit details. She didn't get a response so sent an email every month to try and get the details changed as she couldn't do it online, and I have asperger syndrome so get really anxious on the phone (the account is in my name only for some reason). Eon Next are saying they never received the emails so asked for evidence that the emails were sent, which we sent to them the same day (screen prints from the 'sent' emails on gmail).

    Anyway, I have just received an update from EON Next to say that the late payment markers are a true representation of our payment record so the data sharing team will not remove them. They are saying they cannot find the emails my wife sent (convenient), that they tried to contact me several times by phone (they already know I get anxious on the phone as I've told them this numerous times in the past). and that they sent notification in March that the direct debit had failed.

    I've now emailed them back saying my wife was aware the direct debit had failed but that was because our bank account details had changed and she had sent them 5 emails in total to try and maintain the direct debit, which we have supplied evidence with. Additionally, my wife has kept the money aside to pay the 'missed' payments so I do not feel the late payment markers are indeed a true representation of the payment record of the account as if there hadn't been some sort of issue with the emails not being received by someone at Eon Next, the direct debits would have been paid as required.

    I have also reminded Eon Next that they made an absolute balls up of my electricity account last year which took months to sort and then again with the reporting of that to my credit report so they can and do make mistakes.

    On the plus side, the late payments for my electricity account have been removed and the account has been removed from my credit report altogether. 
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