Bad credit report, despite bills paid on time

Powershop has reviewed the way it reports to credit agencies after customers were found to have been wrongly reported as being in arrears.

Auckland woman Belinda King was distressed to discover her credit report said she had been behind on her Powershop bills for 18 months, despite having paid on time.

She said she paid by direct debit throughout the period and never missed a payment.

‘‘On querying this with them I was advised that it was to do with the way Powerpacks are purchased and sold.’’

Powershop customers are offered a large degree of flexibility with their power bills.

They can buy ‘‘Powerpack’’ bundles of power when it suits them, and when specials were offered. They also have the option to adjust the due date of their payments within a 10-day period.

But King said having taken that option had meant she was given black marks on her report.

The negative record also meant she was not able to move to another power company.

‘‘If their system is reporting aged debt when it is not aged debt at all, that is a serious issue.’’

She said the flexibility was a key reason why she signed up. ‘‘Nowhere in any of their terms or conditions did it mention anything about the way they credit report or [that] changing your payment due date will negatively affect your credit rating/score.’’

She said she had now been told it was sorted but her credit report instead listed the power payments as ‘‘not reported’’.

While that would not detract from her credit score, it would also not help it in the way having on-time payments recorded would.

A spokesman for Powershop said: ‘‘The only case in which that could have potentially happened historically would be in a scenario in which the customer pushed out their payment date, which we allow them to do.

‘‘We are aware of a few customers that may have fallen into this bucket, have rectified the reporting and no one should have any credit score impact.’’

Consumer NZ head of research Jessica Wilson said customers should not be put in a situation where, through no fault of their own, they could end up with a negative credit report. ‘‘It can have a significant impact on people.’’

She said a bad credit record could make it hard to get a loan from the bank or into a rental property.

If customers were offered payment flexibility, it should not backfire on them, she said.