Arrangement to pay Egg Credit Card

[webinteraction]

Hi, I hope this is the right place to post this. I would like to hear your opinions on whether this is a justified use of 'arrangement to pay' marker.

I went over my credit agreement by £35ish. They rang and offered to increase my credit card limit temporarily and asked if i would pay twice my usual monthly payments over the next four months - £25 to £50.I thought fine, it will push me to reduce the balance anyway. This lasted for four months in which it reverted back to normal.

Not once did they inform me this would have any adverse effect on my credit and definitely didn't mention an 'arrangement to pay'. I have looked up the arrangement to pay definition on the ICO website. It states:

"An ‘arrangement to pay’

This involves a temporary, short-term (up to six months) arrangement
where the lender agrees to accept reduced payments. "

Now, i didn't ask them to reduce payments and in fact i paid twice as much! I didn't ask them to halt any interest and they came to me to suggest this arrangement and did not inform of any adverse implications it would have on my credit report.

Do you think this is something i could successfully contest and have it removed from my credit report? I appreciate any feedback.

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Arrangement to pay Egg Credit Card

If the AP only shows for 4mths it won't affect you. It should revert back to normal ie [0] at month 5 / arrears cleared.

have you copied this from CAG? I smell CAG in this post...!

[webinteraction]

Re: Arrangement to pay Egg Credit Card

Hi Never In doubt and thank you for your reply! Yes it has reverted back to 0. I'm interested to know a little more as to why you think it will not affect me as I was led to believe from googling that AP/AR markers has a detrimental affect on ones credit report? Gearing up for a mortgage application hence the motivation to get them removed.

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Arrangement to pay Egg Credit Card

An AP is not derogatory when considered as short-term. However that said if you paid MORE than the amount on the statement then they MUST add a correct marker which would be a [0]. An AP marker is specifically used when you go onto a formal payment plan whereby you pay LESS than the contractual amount due each month for a sustained period.

I'll help sort you a dispute to the CRA if you want?

[webinteraction]

Re: Arrangement to pay Egg Credit Card

Ah i'm glad you agree with me! I have checked three CRAS - Noddle, Equifax and Experian. The AP markers only appear on Equifax.I had read that CRAs can only remove the markers from ones report if they get the retraction from the company that the dispute is between, in the case EGG.Is that correct? Help would most definitely be appreciated! Wish i had found this site along time ago!

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Arrangement to pay Egg Credit Card

Equifax are a nightmare to deal with. If they don't deal direct they'll refer to Egg but we can bully the CRA to act sometimes, especially as you're looking for a mortgage..... Read this for something interesting..... http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2013/108.html

In the meantime, raise an online dispute and copy/paste this in the additional comments section against the entry (credit account).

"I note on my credit file that there are 4 entries reading AP which I understand are an 'Arrangement to Pay marker'. However, these entries are false as I have never entered into any such arrangement with any creditor, let alone Egg. What has occurred in fact was my offering to increase the minimum payment due from £25 to £50. Obviously increasing the minimum payment to help reduce the debt is not an arrangement to pay, especially as I actually doubled the contractually due amount each month, on each of these 4 months in question. Clearly this is an obvious error and needs rectifying immediately as I am looking to purchase a property and if this error in reporting is not resolved then I will consider swift legal redress; I draw your attention to Smeaton v Equifax Plc [2013] EWCA Civ 108 (20 February 2013) in which it is clear that incorrect entries can be quite costly so please do not bother passing the buck because the fact I have raised this directly with you and the fact your monthly insight/CAIS/Principles of Reciprocity feed shows I did double my monthly payment for 4 months is enough for you to realise your mistake and remedy it immediately."

[webinteraction]

Re: Arrangement to pay Egg Credit Card

Thanks for your reply! I have ordered the statutory report this morning ready to raise the dispute with the text you have kindly provided. I notice that for those four months my Credit Limit had temporarily changed from £850 to £950. Would they look at this as slightly weird? Do you think its worth mentioning this in the dispute? I really appreciate the time you take to reply!

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Arrangement to pay Egg Credit Card

Thanks for your reply! I have ordered the statutory report this morning ready to raise the dispute with the text you have kindly provided. I notice that for those four months my Credit Limit had temporarily changed from £850 to £950. Would they look at this as slightly weird? Do you think its worth mentioning this in the dispute? I really appreciate the time you take to reply!

No need, it doesn't matter - you paid MORE than you needed to, ie more than the contractual amount.

If your limit was £1000 then your minimum payment would be £30 - you paid £50 so you've paid way and above more than contractually liable.

[webinteraction]

Re: Arrangement to pay Egg Credit Card

Sorry, one last question! I was just about to press 'send' with the dispute when i realise Egg have not reported how much i have paid each month (see below). I have got bank statements from that year to prove my usual amount and the increased amounts for those months. Should i mention it?

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Arrangement to pay Egg Credit Card

No need. See what they say with my first reply above

[webinteraction]

Re: Arrangement to pay Egg Credit Card

In order to resolve this query, we've contacted the company to examine their data.

This process can take up to 21 days, but as soon as we've got an update, we'll let you know.

[webinteraction]

Re: Arrangement to pay Egg Credit Card

I accidentally posted my previous post on my mobile before i was ready. I wanted to thank you for your help and inform you that they had replied with what i guess to be their standard response (see previous post). We shall see what they respond with but im not hopeful.

[webinteraction]

Re: Arrangement to pay Egg Credit Card

I have received a response from Egg via equifax which reads "Our records show that customer was in an arrangement with our collections team to clear an overlimit balance during this period therefore no amendment to be made to credit file."

I still believe it is misreported as an arrangement to pay but i guess this is the end of the road on this?! Thank you for your help.

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Arrangement to pay Egg Credit Card

Then respond (to the CRA dispute) and state

"how can it be in collections when the minimum prescribed requested amount was doubled? There never was any shortfall, more than the minimum was paid and I was never aware of any collection activity - this data is clearly wrong as can be seen from the credit account data being reported - this clearly shows I overpaid for several months, I did not underpay"