Arrangement to pay - Scottish Power

Birminghamboy

Morning,

Earlier last year I spoke to Scottish Power as we were in about £1k of energy debt - issues with meter readings, direct debits etc ( long story). They were actually helpful and said that we could pay it back over time - they set up a payment plan and all was good. 

Last night I checked my credit file and noticed that they have stated that I am in an arrangement to pay. I had no idea that this would happen. It certainly wasn't mentioned when the plan was set up. This was logged in April 2024. Strangely they have not logged any payment data - there are no payments showing and it just says 'up to date'. 

I am annoyed about this as I feel I should have been able to make an informed choice. Had I known I wouldn't have agreed to the payment plan. Is there anything I can do about this? 

ManyWays

How else could you have paid this back? 

Birminghamboy

ManyWays said:

How else could you have paid this back? 

Honestly - I could have asked my parents for a £1k loan, or even used my credit card - neither of these scenarios would have been ideal, but it would have been nice to have been able to have made an informed choice. 

Ayr_Rage

You are in an arrangement to pay, why would you have thought anything different when you set it up?

You made that choice and there is nothing you can do to change the way it is being (correctly) reported.

Birminghamboy

Ayr_Rage said:

You are in an arrangement to pay, why would you have thought anything different when you set it up?

You made that choice and there is nothing you can do to change the way it is being (correctly) reported.

I think that there should have been some information shared regarding how this would be recorded on my credit file as this would have allowed me to have made an informed decision. 

EssexHebridean

I would have thought it might be best practice that this was outlined to you, but ultimately it IS an arrangement to pay and I suspect they have every right to put that marker on the account. Your best approach now as you suggest that you are able to make arrangements to clear the debt is to go ahead and do so, at which point the 6 year clock will start ticking on the markers no longer having an effect. Otherwise, those markers will continue to have an effect until the account is paid up fully and then for 6 years beyond that point. 

I take it that you now have a system in place to give readings regularly or if you now have smart meters doing this for you, to check that the readings recorded and billed are correct? Also to check your banking regularly to ensure that all DDs that should be paid are being made? 

Birminghamboy

I have spoken to Scottish Power today and they are looking into it.

If it does have to remain on my file ( and I expect it will) for 6 years, will the impact of it lessen as time goes on, or will it have the same impact until it drops off? I'd like to think that an AR marker that is a few years old would be less of an issue?? wishful thinking?

TheSpectator

6 years from when the payment arrangement is completed. Still not to late to get that loan you spoke about and clear it now.

EssexHebridean

TheSpectator said:

6 years from when the payment arrangement is completed. Still not to late to get that loan you spoke about and clear it now.

Yes - this is why I said what I did above OP.

Let's say you pay the debt off now - the AP marker should cease and the 6 year clock starts running. In 2031 it will drop off your file.
If you continue with the arrangement and pay the debt off in 12 months - the AP marker will cease at that stage. In 2032 it will drop off your file. 
If (as an extreme example) you continued with the arrangement but it took you 5 years to pay off the debt - the AP marker will cease, and in 2036 it will drop off your file. 

The sooner you clear the debt (and get confirmation from them that it IS cleared) the better for your credit file. 

If you would need to get any form of loan that will cost you interest to deal with this though, it needs further thought, and I'd strongly suggest you avoid doing this! 

Birminghamboy

EssexHebridean said:

TheSpectator said:

6 years from when the payment arrangement is completed. Still not to late to get that loan you spoke about and clear it now.

Yes - this is why I said what I did above OP.

Let's say you pay the debt off now - the AP marker should cease and the 6 year clock starts running. In 2031 it will drop off your file.
If you continue with the arrangement and pay the debt off in 12 months - the AP marker will cease at that stage. In 2032 it will drop off your file. 
If (as an extreme example) you continued with the arrangement but it took you 5 years to pay off the debt - the AP marker will cease, and in 2036 it will drop off your file. 

The sooner you clear the debt (and get confirmation from them that it IS cleared) the better for your credit file. 

If you would need to get any form of loan that will cost you interest to deal with this though, it needs further thought, and I'd strongly suggest you avoid doing this! 

Thank you. We are going to ask my mum to lend us the money to clear the remainder of the debt - we will then pay her back interest free ( this was she has already offered). So lets say that we pay it off next week and our credit file is update in February to reflect this - we then have 6 years of the marker on my file. Will the marker have less of an impact as time passes by, for example, would a lender look more favourably at me if I had an old AP marker showing from a few years ago, rather than a recent one?

TheSpectator

Birminghamboy said:

EssexHebridean said:

TheSpectator said:

6 years from when the payment arrangement is completed. Still not to late to get that loan you spoke about and clear it now.

Yes - this is why I said what I did above OP.

Let's say you pay the debt off now - the AP marker should cease and the 6 year clock starts running. In 2031 it will drop off your file.
If you continue with the arrangement and pay the debt off in 12 months - the AP marker will cease at that stage. In 2032 it will drop off your file. 
If (as an extreme example) you continued with the arrangement but it took you 5 years to pay off the debt - the AP marker will cease, and in 2036 it will drop off your file. 

The sooner you clear the debt (and get confirmation from them that it IS cleared) the better for your credit file. 

If you would need to get any form of loan that will cost you interest to deal with this though, it needs further thought, and I'd strongly suggest you avoid doing this! 

Thank you. We are going to ask my mum to lend us the money to clear the remainder of the debt - we will then pay her back interest free ( this was she has already offered). So lets say that we pay it off next week and our credit file is update in February to reflect this - we then have 6 years of the marker on my file. Will the marker have less of an impact as time passes by, for example, would a lender look more favourably at me if I had an old AP marker showing from a few years ago, rather than a recent one?

Yes, the affect reduces over time. Still worth pursuing getting the marker removed once you clear the arrears, no harm in asking.