Latest news with #creditreport
CTV News
a day ago
- Business
- CTV News
‘No one wants to see that on their credit report': Direct Energy customers frustrated after being mistakenly reported to credit bureau
'I was so stressed out,' said Terri Wattie, a Calgary resident who recently found a derogatory mark on her credit report, courtesy of Direct Energy. She said she received an email from her credit monitoring app on May 30, alerting her of the mark. 'It didn't equal up,' said Wattie, adding that she always pays her bills on time. 'No one wants to see that on their credit report. It's quite humiliating to get an email like that.' Wattie didn't know the derogatory mark on her credit report was a mistake until she read CTV News Edmonton's story about the incident. 'If it wasn't for that, I honestly would not have had any idea what was going on because Direct Energy did not reach out to me,' said Wattie. In a statement, Direct Energy confirmed that during a reconciliation with its third-party collections agency, ICE Collections, a 'subset' of customers were 'inadvertently' reported to the credit bureau. CTV News Edmonton reached out to ICE Collections but did not receive a response. Kristy Kolodychuk also received a notification from her credit monitoring app, alerting her that a Direct Energy bill had gone to collections. The Fort Saskatchewan resident hasn't been a Direct Energy customer since February 2024. 'I never got any correspondence from Direct Energy,' said Kolodychuk, adding that the company sent her an email after she had called them and asked for one for her records. 'I'm just very surprised that a company like this has some kind of privacy breach and doesn't actually individually reach out to their customers or at least send a mass email the moment it happens,' said Kolodychuk. Direct Energy said the incident was not a breach. 'We want to assure customers that they were not subject to any collections activities,' said Megan Talley of Direct Energy. Had she been trying to get a mortgage or a loan, Kolodychuk said she would be in some 'serious trouble.' Wattie and her husband were planning to buy a new car in the coming weeks. The couple was worried the derogatory mark on their credit report would impact their interest rates. 'If we were applying for a mortgage, everything could have gone out the window,' said Wattie. 'I don't think they realize how much of a stressful situation this is for people.' Direct Energy plagued with problems Since moving customer service centres to foreign countries, customer complaints have ballooned. Lea Williams-Doherty reports. Since the incident on May 30, both Kolodychuk's and Wattie's credit reports were wiped clean of the derogatory mark. 'All erroneous entries have been completely expunged from customers' credit reports,' said Talley. 'It's as if it was never there.' Talley said only those who were actively monitoring their credit reports would have noticed. Direct Energy did not make reports of the incident, and said it was made aware by customers contacting the company directly. Since Kolodychuk hasn't been a Direct Energy customer for over a year, the utilities company agreed to send her a cheque with the $200 credit. But she was perplexed as to why they would still have her information on file. 'Our record retention policy is informed by legal and audit obligations,' said Talley. 'For former Direct Energy customers, that ranges from three to seven years, depending on the type of record.' Wattie was told she would receive a $200 credit to use on her bill as compensation for the incident. But she doesn't think it's enough. '$200 in this day and age is nothing,' said Wattie. 'Half the time, $200 doesn't even cover half of a month's bill.' 'For the stress and anguish I went through over the last week, I really don't think that's sufficient.' She said she might consider a different provider after this incident. Direct Energy said it was sorry for the inconvenience, and if customers still have concerns, to contact its customer service team. Equifax Canada encourages consumers to request and review their credit reports on a regular basis. 'By doing this, consumers can ensure that their report contains accurate and complete information,' said a statement from Equifax Canada. Equifax said if a consumer finds information on their credit report that is believed to be inaccurate or incomplete, they can file a dispute with Equifax and/or the company that reported it.
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Can you pay to remove negative items from your credit report?
A pay-for-delete agreement is a credit repair tactic that could help erase collection accounts from your credit report. It involves offering to settle your debt in exchange for the collection agency deleting the account from your credit report. Credit bureaus discourage the practice, and there are other ways to clean up your report. Debts in collections typically stay on your credit report for seven years and can harm your score for as long as they appear. Some credit repair tactics can potentially get collection accounts taken off of your credit report sooner, but that's generally only if the information is inaccurate. Some people may recommend asking for a pay-for-delete agreement if you have an unpaid account in collections. The practice, however, falls into a legal gray area, and newer credit scoring models make pay-for-deletes less relevant. A pay-for-delete is a negotiation tactic between a consumer with outstanding debt and the third-party collection agency trying to recover the unpaid debt. Not all collection agencies will consider pay-for-delete agreements, but some are willing to negotiate. The negotiation process starts with you calling or writing to the collection agency to ask for a pay-for-delete arrangement. You offer to pay the balance as long as the collection agency agrees to remove the paid account from your credit file. Some collection agencies will agree to negotiate because they only make money when they successfully recover unpaid debt, and a pay-for-delete agreement can be a way to recover debts that might otherwise go unpaid. Others won't negotiate, citing their responsibility under the Fair Credit Reporting Act to provide accurate, complete information to the credit bureaus. If a collection agency accepts your pay-for-delete offer, it will likely expect the payment within a relatively short time frame. After you make the agreed-upon payment, the collection agency should contact the credit bureaus to have the paid account deleted. The goal of a pay-for-delete agreement is to improve your credit score. However, the tactic may be less effective than it used to be thanks to the way some newer credit scoring models handle collection accounts. There are two main types of credit scoring models — FICO and VantageScore. Some FICO models consider paid collections, so a pay-for-delete could make a difference. FICO Score 8, the FICO score lenders most often use, can lower your score if there is a collection on your credit report, regardless of whether the account was paid. In this model, negotiating pay-for-delete can benefit your credit. VantageScore ignores paid collections. That's also the case with newer versions of the FICO model — FICO Scores 9 and 10. FICO states its new models ignore all collections reported as paid in full. With these models, a pay-for-delete doesn't improve your score because there's no penalty for having a paid collection account on your report. No version of the FICO score considers paid medical collection debt or unpaid medical collection debt under $500. Unpaid medical debts over $500 still count, but they have less impact on FICO Scores 9 and 10. A collection agency that agrees to a pay-for-delete can remove the account it reported. That said, any negative information the original creditor reported will likely remain on your report, and could continue to hurt your credit score. For example, imagine you missed multiple payments on your credit card, and the issuer charged off the account before sending the debt to collections. A pay-for-delete could remove the collection account, but the missed payments and charge-off account would stay on your credit report for seven years. Pay-for-delete agreements fall into a legal gray area for collection agencies, and credit bureaus discourage the practice. For those reasons, not all collection agencies will consider pay-for-delete offers. You might find this credit repair tactic isn't worth the hassle. That said, everyone's credit repair journey is different, and it might make sense to ask for a pay-for-delete agreement in some cases. For example, you might negotiate a pay-for-delete if you want to improve your credit score as quickly as possible so you can buy a house or apply for a premium credit card. Overall, your best course of action is to continue building your credit score. Newer actions on your credit are weighed more heavily than older items. The best way to raise your credit score is to consistently use good credit practices, like making all payments on time and improving your debt-to-income ratio. To be effective, a pay-for-delete letter should clearly outline your offer to pay in exchange for the collection agency removing the account from your credit reports. Some companies offer sample pay-for-delete letters you can use as a template. If you prefer to write a letter, include the following information: Account number. Include the collections account number to help the agency quickly find your file. Contact information. Provide your name, address, email address and phone number so the collection agency can reach you to discuss the letter. Payment offer. State the amount you're willing to pay to settle the account and the payment method. It may be possible to negotiate to pay less than the full amount owed. Request debt removal. Request that the collection agency delete the debt from your credit report in exchange for payment. Timeframe to respond. Give the collection agency a deadline to respond to your offer, such as within 30 days. Mail your letter to the collection agency that owns your debt. You can find its mailing address on the debt collection letters it has sent you. Keep in mind: Don't pay for a template for a pay-for-delete letter template. You don't need to use a particular format as long as the information is there. Paying for a template isn't going to make it more likely for your request to be granted. A pay-for-delete letter is not the only way to get a collection account removed from your credit report. Depending on your situation, other options include filing a dispute with the credit bureaus, requesting a goodwill deletion or simply waiting for the account to fall off your report. If you see things on your credit report that are inaccurate, dispute them. That includes collection accounts that belong to someone else or old collection accounts still on your report after seven years. The three credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — work independently. You may need to file a dispute with each bureau reporting the error. All three accept disputes by phone, by mail and through their websites. After receiving your dispute, the credit bureaus typically have 30 days to investigate the issue. They'll send a letter informing you of their decision. If your dispute is successful, the error will be removed from your report. Consider asking for a goodwill deletion if you have already paid the amount and the account is closed. Write the collection agency a letter asking it to remove the negative mark from your credit history as a goodwill gesture. Explain the circumstances that led to the original account delinquency and why you want the collection account removed. Remember, a goodwill letter is a request for a favor. The collection agency is not required to help you clean up your credit file, but there's no harm in asking. If the collection account is being accurately reported, and the agency will not remove it, it won't stay on your report forever. The negative mark will disappear from your credit report when it expires. Collection accounts are removed from your credit report after seven years, whether the debt was paid or not. The seven-year clock starts from the date the original debt became delinquent unless you do something that restarts the clock, such as making a payment. Pay-for-delete agreements are controversial, and collection agencies may not be willing to negotiate. There are other ways to deal with the negative mark on your credit report. You could file a dispute with the credit bureaus if there's an error, pay the debt and ask for a goodwill deletion or get help from a credit repair company if you need help with disputing inaccurate items. Do pay-for-delete letters really work? Some people say they've had success with pay-for-delete letters, though your results will vary. Some collection agencies are not willing to negotiate pay-for-delete agreements. Other agencies are open to pay-for-delete agreements but may or may not accept your proposed terms. It may take time and persistence to reach an agreement. How can I find out what collection agency owns my debt? Accounts that have been sent to collections may change hands multiple times. To find out which collection agency now owns your debt, request copies of your credit reports from Your report will list all collections, including the current collection agency that owns the debt. Can you pay to wipe your credit history? While it's sometimes possible to negotiate a pay-for-delete with a collection agency, it's impossible to erase your entire credit report and start fresh. Negative items, such as missed payments, foreclosures and bankruptcies, will stay on your credit report until they eventually fall off. Some dishonest credit repair companies falsely claim they can erase negative accurate information or even get customers a new credit file. Steer clear of these offers to protect yourself from credit repair scams. Sign in to access your portfolio
CTV News
30-05-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Direct Energy apologizes after some customers inadvertently reported to the credit bureau
Direct Energy says it is working to fix an issue that saw some of its customers accidentally reported to the credit bureau. In a statement to CTV News Edmonton on Friday, the company says it happened during a reconciliation process with Direct Energy's authorized third-party collections agency. 'We are still assessing the full scale of the incident, but we want to assure these customers that they are NOT subject to any collections activity,' Megan Talley of Direct Energy wrote. 'We learned of this issue on Thursday and took immediate steps to resolve this matter. By tomorrow morning, these erroneous entries will be completely expunged from affected customers' credit reports. It will be as if it was never there.' Talley added Direct Energy apologizes to impacted customers, and encourages anyone with concerns to contact 1-866-374-6299 or 1-866-420-3174 for Direct Energy Regulated Services.
Washington Post
28-05-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
Student loans hurt your credit score? Here's how to fix it.
The reprieve is over. The pandemic-related breathing room from student-loan payments is done, and the financial reality of repayment has returned for millions of borrowers. But beyond the strain on monthly budgets, a more significant consequence is hitting those who fell behind: Their credit scores are now dropping because their history of missed payments will return to their credit reports.
Daily Mail
10-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
TONY HETHERINGTON: I inherited a £117 BT debt which ruined my credit score
Tony Hetherington is Financial Mail on Sunday's ace investigator, fighting readers corners, revealing the truth that lies behind closed doors and winning victories for those who have been left out-of-pocket. Find out how to contact him below. R.B. writes: According to my credit agency report, I owe BT £117. It says I defaulted on this in 2019 and every month since then, which is having a bad impact on my credit rating. However, this has nothing to do with me. I have called BT about this many times and it agrees, but it does not seem able to remove the default as it does not exist. Tony Hetherington replies: The frustration you have experienced in trying to sort this out was clear from everything you told me. You contacted all the leading credit agencies, but the only response you received was that if there was no such debt, then it was up to BT to delete it. And BT told you it could trace no such debt. You are not even a BT customer, but you offered to pay the £117 just so the debt would disappear. BT refused your money because it could find no bill to set the payment against. I gave BT your current and previous addresses, including an address from years ago when you lived with your parents – and this turned out to be the key. Unknown to you, your mother was a BT customer, and when she died more than seven years ago, the BT account was put into your name. There is no record now of why this was done, or why the account was not closed by BT. Just as importantly, there is no explanation of why BT could not trace any record of the debt when you complained about it, nor why you were never pursued to pay it. BT told me: 'We have reviewed and located the account in question. Our records show an account set up in Mrs B's name in March 2018, which was moved to Mr B in 2018 after she passed away.' BT has cancelled the £117 bill, so it should disappear from your credit file. It offered you £25 by way of saying sorry. This was a silly amount, given that BT failed for years to take your complaints seriously. After having second thoughts, it has upped its offer to £225, which you have accepted. Is this bond offer too good to be true? R.A. writes: I am sending you a copy of an offer to invest in a Lloyds Bank bond yielding fixed interest of 6.50 per cent. Is this too good to be true? Tony Hetherington replies: This is a scam, but Lloyds Bank is not to blame. The offer you received says it came from Worldwide Capital 4U Ltd. Except that it didn't – that's just another part of the scam. The bonds the crooks claim to be selling were actually issued by Lloyds Bank 15 years ago. They are not aimed at ordinary savers. In a nutshell, this is an investment for professionals. Why would Worldwide Capital 4U be working hard to sell these bonds to the public? They do not plan to deliver the bonds. They will take your money and run. The information they sent you is just window dressing. The crooks claim to be authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, with FCA registration number 975509. And, sure enough, the registration exists and it does belong to this company. But the real Worldwide Capital 4U Ltd is an ordinary business based in Solihull in the West Midlands. It does not even have a website. The crooks, though, have a big, flashy website at where they boast about their upmarket offices. Surprising, then, that their website was set up as recently as February this year, with fees paid for just one year. The site is registered to an address in Burlington, Massachusetts, in the US, rather than the address the tricksters use at One Mayfair Place in London, where anyone can have their mail delivered for £133 a month without really being there. I asked John Nolan, who runs the real Worldwide Capital 4U, whether he had a posh office in London and an all-singing, all-dancing website. 'No, we are not in London and we don't have a website,' he told me. 'I think I had better report this to the FCA. This is nothing to do with us,' he added. Let's see whether the FCA investigates or simply adds the scam to its list of dodgy dealers. Meanwhile, nobody should give a penny to the online crooks.
