Arrangement to Pay (AP) Markers

[The Debt Star]

Ok, this forum seems to know its beans about the CRAs so I'll boldly ask what no man knows OTR.

I received this email from EXPERIAN but assume it stands for all CRAs:

"If an arrangement flag is recorded on your account, this is usually retained until the account has been removed."

I take that to mean that an AP marker (on Experian they are added to the preamble with the account info) can stay on one's credit files indefinitely.

Is this so?

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Arrangement to Pay (AP) Markers

I've already answered all these in the main post called credit ref agencies explained mate!

An Arrangement to Pay lasts for 6yrs from the end of the arrangement - exactly like a live account. So say you went on AP in jan 2002 and finished paying the debt in dec 2010 the entry would be there for the period of repayment so 01/2002 - 12/2010 PLUS it'd remain for 6yrs from 12/2010 so it'd stay until December 2016.

Thus I always say sod an AP - instead get defaulted THEN repay it if you want to, that way only 6yrs of adverse data exist as opposed to 14 years, as per this example.

[The Debt Star]

Re: Arrangement to Pay (AP) Markers

ok, so an AP WILL be removed 6 years from the date the repayment arrangement stops, EVEN IF the account remains live (ie not marked "settled")?

In which case I had mis-understood the Experian email (but have to say it is obtuse anyway)

100% agree with ya on the Defalt -v- AP thing. APs are defo NOT the right way to go but at the time I dint know much about such matters and in retrospect would have defaulted the lot.

APs should, imo, be removed when the AP itself finishes!

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Arrangement to Pay (AP) Markers

The AP is removed as it'll go back to the correct status, ie settled/current etc however it's in the trailing account history that usually shows the payments [1] etc that you'll see the old [AP] legend. So with experian itd be 3 years from change of status/end of arrangement but it'd be 6 years with equifax.

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Arrangement to Pay (AP) Markers

To clarify, the AP marker drops off a month at a time, forget the actual account status field and consider the actual payments legend. It's here that shows the [AP] marker and experian hold 3yrs / equifax hold 6 years - of account history. So if you pay it and then re-use the account your file would start with let's say 36 [AP] markers, make a payment on time after the arrangement and it'll change to 35 x [AP] with the most current month showing the new [1]. So after 36 months of payments, all the old AP markers will be gone.

Does that help explain it lol? Think of it as a rolling 36 month history, so it'll store the most current 36 months history; anything over that will drop off.

Equifax is the same but 71 months history (5yrs 11mths)....

[The Debt Star]

Re: Arrangement to Pay (AP) Markers

That's not entireky right ref Experian. It is true of Equifax and Call Credit but not Experian.

Experian put a statement on the file which raeds like this (have just cut and pasted it from my own credit file)

"Special Instruction Indicator: Arrangement
"Special Instruction Start Date: 01/06/2008
"Special Instruction End Date: 01/09/2008"

Now in the above case there is stated to have been an AP lasting 3 months. At the time and afterwards all markers were green "1"s and not red "AP"s.

The statement is fixed in stone in the preamble data about my account (ie account name, start date, end date, type of account (credit card), credit limit etc).

There is therefore no rolling off of this AP and it sits there until the lender takes it off or, if I understand yuo correctly, 6 years and 1 month have passed since 01/09/2008?

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Arrangement to Pay (AP) Markers

What you see is not what lenders see. I've described it in layman terms based on the effect it'll have on you.

The actual format itself is quite irrelevant; other lenders only see the dates in which the arrangement was in place mate.

Regards your question on the 6th anniversary of the AP it'll vanish.

[The Debt Star]

Re: Arrangement to Pay (AP) Markers

so the lenders see a row of markers then and not the above Special Instruction Indicator statement.

ok.

Can you show us what a lender's report from Experian actually looks like? Is there a way to see a specimen of such a thing? I get the impression that lender's reports look massively different from what we, the consumers, get to see?

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Arrangement to Pay (AP) Markers

Sorry not seen the new experian layout fully as I don't have these markers mate. However I also know their online and paper versions differ - the paper ones still format it as I've described above; and I only ever get the paper version.

Thanks for sharing the info, never knew they added a statement like that - but still, that's only for your benefit. A lender sees monthly payment blocks in [paid on time] / [late] / [no pay] etc etc format, for instance.

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Arrangement to Pay (AP) Markers

Mate a lender sees very little. Example as follows:

It shows credit account type - not the lender. It shows the application search - not the outcome. It shows the start balance, last balance and current balance. It shows how many missed payments and the dates. It shows any adverse data in binary format, IE default to bank on X date - satisfied/owing etc

Then it'll have a column called "special indicators" which list any formal or AP markets and the type of account with balance.

That's about it, obviously watered down to explain to you. Put simply, they see 20% of what you see and it's all in table format so not laid out like you see either.

[The Debt Star]

Re: Arrangement to Pay (AP) Markers

would be great to get hold of a copy of a lenders report, how could that ever be done?

if you pm me your email address I'll show you an Experian screenshot for comment.

[The Debt Star]

Re: Arrangement to Pay (AP) Markers

also, would most lenders bounce credit if, for example, there was an AP 3 or more years ago? Not that there is in my case, much more recent, but interested to know if anyone has experience of this.

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Arrangement to Pay (AP) Markers

I will try and find their screen shots. I have them ALL - In my training pack given to me by HSBC! It dhows you all the screens for all the cra's!! But been a while so they'll be slightly different in format now.

A lender only looks back 3yrs mate. If there is a default or ccj then they "may" do a 6 year "full search" otherwise they tend to base lending on the last 3years.

If a lender asks for say your address history over the last XX years, this is what they base it on. So although HSBC do 3yrs, M&S only search back 2 years thus they only ask for last 2yrs addresses.

Make sense!

[The Debt Star]

Re: Arrangement to Pay (AP) Markers

very useful info mate. cheers.