@britishgashelp British Gas marked my credit reference file with 6 months late payment

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Hi,

 

I am after some advice.

 

Back in late August 2010 i received an estimated bill from British Gas. I was paying by DD and had dual fuel.

 

The amount of the bill was high.

 

I spoke with BG at the time regarding changing my payments to that my payments covered my usage

- therefore preventing me from having such a high negative balance with them.

 

After discussing with them i decided to move to another supplier and pay the amount due to BG in full.

(i owed in the region of £600 for gas and £350 for electricity).

 

At this point however, i requested that BG send me a final bill, which i would settle when i moved supplier

and i cancelled by Direct Debit.

 

They said that i should pay the estimated bill and then any over payment could be repaid to me when the switch was completed.

I did not like the sound of this as it meant i was paying BG more than i owed them.

 

the switch progressed through September and October and was completed around the 1st of November.

 

During that time i had a number of calls from BG who were still insisting that i paid the bill.

I restated that i would be paying the final accurate bill once i had stopped using their gas and electricity.

 

One customer service rep stated that if i did not pay the bill then there is a chance my credit rating would suffer.

I questioned this and he said that it would be unlikely, but could happen.

I though this was an empty threat as i was not stating that i would not pay my bill,

i was a good customer up to that point and it was not like i did not have money to pay the bill.

 

during the whole saga i never received a late payment fine or anything of the like which would indicate an escalation of the situation

- if i had i would have been on them like a shot as my payments were not late

- just being delayed to such a time that made sense for them to be paid.

 

I ended up with late payment markers on my credit file.

6 months late!!

For both gas and electricity!

 

I noticed this had happened around March 2010 when i was just looking at my CRA file with Experian.

 

I contacted BG by letter and ultimately had a conversation with a lady who was adamant that i was in the wrong

and that she could not change the entry.

 

At the time i was not in need of credit so i let it pass, feeling rather helpless about the whole thing.

 

Now i need to move house and get a new mortgage.

 

I found out the other day that i am really going to struggle (it'll be impossible!) with two 6 month in arrears markers on my file.

 

I am going to take this up again with BG after the bank holiday weekend

but wondered if anyone on here would have advice that may change the outcome from last time.

 

The reason i was told the mark on my file was for 6 months is that the bills are paid in arrears.

 

My billing cycle was March to September.

 

Therefore at the point in did not pay the bill in September i immediately jumped to being 6 months in arrears

(all the way back to March) !!!!

 

This really does not reflect the discussions i had with BG at the time,

and even if it was true that i had not paid the bill then the worst it could be is that a bill due in September

did not get paid until the end of October - 2 months late at the very most.

 

Does anyone have any advice?

 

I am really stressed about not being able to get a mortgage due to some draconian process at a utility company!

 

Thanks in advance

[dx100uk]

surely you would have to have missed the pervious quarter bill too for that to happen?

 

dx

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surely you would have to have missed the pervious quarter bill too for that to happen?

 

dx

 

Hmmm, I certainly didn't miss any earlier payment.. I am with npower now and I only get a bill (and monthly payment adjustment) once every 6 months. I think this was the same when I was with BG.

 

By the way, npower do not update my credit file at all. I think I'll be sticking with them, and advising anyone else interested enough to listen to me that they should avoid BG, and check their credit files if they are a BG customer.

 

Anyone know if I can complain to the Information Commissioner? Anyone had any joy with them?

[spacebug]

Bump..

[dx100uk]

cant see why not

 

though why not make a formal complaint to the CEO first?

 

dx

[Grotesque]

Or a SAR if they don't want to talk.

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So I wrote to BG. I got this reply today. Bear in mind that in September 2010 they marked my credit file as 6 months late!

 

Also, no idea how they failed to contact me. They had my mobile number, house number and email address. The email below reached me OK.. Funny that!

 

 

 

As you’ll remember, you’ve recently been in touch and asked us to look into an important issue.

 

 

 

I’ve tried to contact you, but this hasn’t been possible. As such, I wanted to let you know that I’ve been in contact with our Data Disputes team in order to follow up on your Experian record details, on your behalf.

 

 

 

Upon speaking to them, I’ve been advised that, unfortunately, we’d be unable to amend your records, with regards to your accounts with us.

 

 

 

As there was an outstanding amount on each account that remained unsettled when you initially brought your concerns about the estimated bill you received to us, both gas and electricity account were deemed ‘late’ by 12 September 2010.

 

 

 

When you spoke to us and advised that you would be changing supplier and would pay the final bill that would be calculated upon your transfer, the length of time for the final bill to be calculated was dependent upon your new supplier providing us with a meter reading upon which to base our final meter reading. Whilst I’m aware that the processes that govern the transfer of supply from one energy supplier to another aren’t dictated by you, we were unable to produce a final bill for you until we had received meter readings from your new supplier.

 

 

 

Whilst the transfer was occurring, the debit balance on your accounts with us remained unpaid, with no payment plan in place to ensure that the outstanding amounts were settled. As a result, your credit record notes this and this is why the default notices are currently reflecting on your account.

 

 

 

I’m sorry if the advice you received at the time led you to believe that your Experian records wouldn’t be affected by transferring supply to an alternative provider and settling the resultant final bill. As there was a debit balance that remained unpaid, this has been recorded and I, unfortunately, cannot remove the late payment marker from your account.

 

 

 

Thank you for your letter. As I am unable to take any further action with regards to your enquiry, I’ll now make the necessary arrangements to close your enquiry. If you feel I haven’t answered all your questions, or you‘re not satisfied your enquiry has been completely resolved, please feel free to contact me on the details above. I’d be more than happy to help you further.

 

 

 

If you’d like information about our complaints handling procedure you can view a copy by either going online at britishgas.co.uk/energycomplaints, or by getting in touch and one of our advisors will arrange to send you a copy free of charge.

 

 

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

 

Christopher van der Heyden

British Gas

[dx100uk]

why did they have to wait for the new supplier to forward final readings?

 

that's bunkum and he knows it

 

did you provide that info or at least tell them?

 

dx

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It's a long time ago now, but pretty sure I did. I think their point may be that I told them I would pay the bill when I had stopped using their gas/electricity so that it was all wrapped up in one bill.

 

So annoying! This is stopping me from getting a mortgage!

 

If I could get it down to 1 month late rather than 6 I think I'd stand a better chance with the mortgage company. I do not see how they can justify any late payments let alone 6! They never once charged me a late payment fee. Since when has a company that can charge a late payment fee not charged you!

[dx100uk]

still think its their error

 

tell him you did give it

 

dx

[Grotesque]

Yes a defence which merely passes the buck is *** poor one!!!

Edited September 8, 2013 by honeybee13
Swearword removed.