Egg filing an 'arrangement to pay' against me

WildWayz

Hi guys

I am just after some advice. Today I checked my credit report on Check My File (I sign up for it on a quarterly basis) and noticed that my Equifax score has decreased from 829 to 554 (4 stars to 1 star).
I was extremely shocked by this and looked into it. For 2 months, Egg have filed an 'arrangement to pay' against my credit score.

Now, I know why they did this - when they cancelled my card (when they were flushing out people), they increased my interest rate from 18.9% to 21.9%, then shut my card down. I used to pay £100ish off my card every month, but they reset it to the minimum payment which when interest charges went on (about £40), sent me over my limit.

I called Egg and explained that I wanted to clear that, and they agreed to move the payment amount from minimum to £80 for 2 months to clear it, then it would drop back down to minimum payment again. I asked if I could leave it at £80 to pay it off faster, but they said they couldnt and I would have to call back in to get them to change it back.

Anyway, at no point did he say that this would affect my credit rating and I entered an "arrangement to pay". In fact, I even asked him if this would affect my credit rating and the advisor said "No".

Anyway, I called them today to ask them why they are filing that negative entry to Equifax. They made up some excuse about me agreeing to it - which I didnt (and wouldnt - I am trying to build a BETTER credit record as I am an ex-bankrupt) - at no stage did they ask me to pay off the amount I went over (which wasnt much) or else I would have done it.

I asked the advisor for a copy of the phone call of me agreeing to have a negative 'strike' adding to my credit file. She said "Not all our calls are recorded".

Where do I stand on this? If they provide a recording of me where they told me about it and agreed to it, then I am fine with that and it would have been my mistake and fault. BUT... if they cannot provide this (this apparently was arranged in March for 2 months), can I legally tell them to remove the strikes on my Equifax record and to remove any negative comments on their system?

We are due to re-mortgage our house in Feb and I dont want blemishes on my credit file (note, I have missed no payments in 5 years on any accounts on my credit file - and my Bankruptcy goes off my record this year too).

If I had gone over and I never called them, then this "arrangement to pay" wouldnt have been lodged (it is a negative remark on a credit report even though I was paying MORE than the minimum payment) - which is why I am angry...

Any help would be appreciated.

speedbird1973

I called Egg and explained that I wanted to clear that, and they agreed to move the payment amount from minimum to £80 for 2 months to clear it, then it would drop back down to minimum payment again. I asked if I could leave it at £80 to pay it off faster, but they said they couldnt and I would have to call back in to get them to change it back.


Sounds like an "arrangement to pay" to me. If £80 a month is less than your min payment (bearing in mind your min payment for that month would be the usual min plus a sum to get your limit back plus charges) then it will show up on your credit file as an arrangement. If you're not meeting your obligations under your contract then it will show on your credit file.

If the £80 "arrangement" is more than the min payment and meeting your obligations you sound like you have a case. Get a hold of their complaints proceedure, follow it and then move on the FOS if appropriate

WildWayz

Thanks speedbird. It is more than the minimum payment and clearing the over limit each time (and then some) but when the next set of interest goes on, it sends me over again (not by much) - so then another £80 was paid to clear it and pay off some.
The 3rd month, it never went over my limit and it has been decreasing since.