Credit Reference Agencies

We're often asked questions about credit, from Credit Reference Agencies to credit scores and what it means for you.

Find out more

Explore our frequently asked questions or watch our video below for information on what data we share with Credit Reference Agencies and more.

What does it mean for you

Credit Reference Agencies (CRA)collect data on individuals and companies such as previous addresses, whether or not you’re registered to vote and if you pay your bills on time.

Each CRA will give you a credit score based on the information they have about you.

Other companies use this credit score to help them decide whether to loan you money, offer you a mortgage, a mobile phone contract, credit card, or even a gas or electricity account.

The three main consumer Credit Reference Agencies (CRA) in the UK are:

Experian
TransUnion, and
Equifax.

We currently share data with Experian and TransUnion.

Every month, we share information to identify you, such as your name and date of birth, as well as your address, and how long you have been our customer.

We tell the CRA if you pay your water bill on time or if you owe us money.

We tell you about the data we share using privacy statements on your annual bills, our reminder letters and in our Privacy Policy.

We’ll share your overall account balance, as well as a status. The status is saying whether you are making your payment on time. An OK status means we have shared that you are up to date with your payments with us, a status 1 represents it’s overdue by 1 month or more, 2 for 2 months or more and so on up to status 3. We’ll also share a default status if you are more than 90 days overdue and you have not agreed a payment arrangement with us or paid the outstanding balance.

When you open an account with us for your water services.

We’ll share your information every month for the whole time you are our customer.

Sharing data can help us offer the right support to you.

It helps you manage your finances, by stopping you from borrowing more money than you can afford to pay back. It also helps to detect and prevent fraud.

By sharing data we can:

make sure your information is always correct
protect you from fraudsters (people trying to steal your identity)
help you manage your account
make sure we offer you the right support when you need it
tell you about things that may interest you or help you to save money, and
find and collect money from you if you do not pay and do not contact us.

Paying your water bill on time is a great way to prove to lenders that you’re managing your finances effectively and by us sharing this data it will positively impact your credit rating.

If you don’t have any real credit history of previous loans or credit agreements, paying your existing bills on time will build up a good payment history and make it easier to obtain credit in the future.

We take great care to look after your personal information and share it securely.

We share only the minimum amount of information that we’re expected to.

Under data protection laws, companies can share information about you, either with your permission or without your permission, if there’s a valid and important reason to do so.

You’re not able to ask us to stop, as we don’t need your permission to share your data.

This is because it:

supports companies offering money/credit by only letting you borrow what you can afford
helps detect fraud and anti-money laundering services
is used to confirm a customer’s identity
supports finding and collecting money from customers who have not paid their bills
supports our legal and regulatory requirements under the Water Industry Act 1991.

No, access to your information is very tightly controlled

Only those entitled to do so can see it. There are strict laws and rules that protect your data.

The easiest way to find out your credit score or rating is through a credit report.

You can get a credit report from a credit broker such as Credit Karma.

You have the right to access the information a Credit Reference Agency holds about you. Each Credit Reference Agency can provide you with a copy of the information they hold about you.

If you think you’ve spotted a mistake with your report, you can ask for this to be reviewed through the TransUnion or Experian website.

TransUnion contact details and enquiry form (opens new window)

Experian contact details and enquiry form (opens new window)

As we only share our information, you will need to contact the Credit Reference Agency to ask them about any changes.

You can contact:

TransUnion (opens new window)

Experian (opens new window).

Your credit score helps lenders decide if they will allow you to borrow money, and lots of things can affect it.

If you make the correct payment on time, you’ll build a good credit score, as lenders can see that you are able to pay back the money you’ve borrowed on time.

If you pay your bills late or if you pay less than you should, this lowers your credit score and lenders will consider you a higher risk.

Some things can impact your credit score for up to six years. Examples include if we take you to Court for money you owe and you are given a County Court Judgment (CCJ). We can also ask the CRA to register an overdue balance against your credit file, this is called a Default. If you are made bankrupt, this will also stay on your credit file for a minimum of six years.

It is important to make your payments on time. Forgetting to make a repayment can still lower your credit score, because anyone looking to lend money/credit won’t know it simply slipped your mind.

If you’re struggling to pay your bill, the sooner you talk to us the more we can help. You can get in touch with us on WhatsApp (opens new window) or call us on 0345 733 5566.

If you're concerned about information on your credit report you can ask the Credit Reference Agencies to apply a short statement to your credit file to explain a period of debt, this is called a Notice of Correction.

A Notice of Correction is most often applied for one-off incidents, where there were mitigating circumstances. It explains why a debt is showing up and why this is not reflective of your general approach to meeting repayments.

Examples of why you might request a Notice of Correction include missed payments due to unemployment or illness. You’ll need to contact the Credit Reference Agencies directly to find out more and if this is the right approach for you, these can only be actioned by Credit Reference Agencies and we’re unable to advise what examples they may accept.

Below are the contact details for the Credit Reference Agencies

TransUnion

TransUnion, One Park Lane, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS3 1EP

Tel: 0330 024 7574

Email: UKConsumer@transunion.com

Web: transunion.co.uk/consumer/consumer-enquiries (opens in new window)

Experian

Customer Support Centre, Experian Ltd, PO Box 8000, Nottingham, NG80 7WF

Tel: 0344 481 0800 or 0800 013 8888

Web: www.experian.co.uk (opens in new window)

Equifax

Equifax Ltd, Customer Service Centre, PO Box 10036, Leicester, LE3 4FS

Tel: 0333 321 4043 or 0800 014 2955

Web: equifax.co.uk/Contact-us/Contact_Us_Personal_Solutions.html (opens in new window)

About your credit score and Northumbrian Water

If you are paying by an agreed payment arrangement on time, we’ll share with the CRA’s that you are up to date and this will have a positive impact towards your credit score.

We review your payment amounts at least once a year to make sure you are paying enough to cover your bills.

If a default has already been registered against you before you are accepted onto a payment arrangement, we will continue to report your default to the Credit Reference Agencies each month.

This is calculated on your account’s status.

It is determined by how many months overdue your oldest balance is (i.e. a status 1 represents that the balance is overdue by 1 month or more, a status 2 for 2 months or more, and a status 3 for 3 months or more).

If you’re up to date with your payments, we’ll share this with the CRAs.

If you were previously behind on your payments, we will already have shared this with the CRA for the time you owed us money (unless we agreed with you in advance that you could pay us late).

We will not change the information we have shared with the credit reference agencies unless we consider that we have made a mistake or an error in our processes.

It’s not too late to act, but you need to do so now.

It's really important that you contact us to make payment in full for the total outstanding balance or agree a payment arrangement with us. There are a number of ways to pay your bill.

If you’re unable to pay your full balance, we’re here to help, and we have a number of schemes that may help you reduce future bills. Find out more about our financial support. We may also be able to agree on a payment plan going forward.

If we don't hear from you and payment is not made, we will have to ask the Credit Reference Agencies to register a default against your credit file which will impact your credit score for up to six years.

A default may be registered against you when your outstanding balance is 90 days or more overdue, where you do not have a payment arrangement set up with us and where you have not contacted us to pay the outstanding balance.

We’ll send you a Notice of our Intention to Register a Default to make you aware that we intend to register a default against you and ask you to contact us to pay the balance prior to registration. If you do not agree an arrangement with us or make payment in full, we’ll register a default against you.

Once a default has been registered against you, a separate default record will be created, and we’ll continue to report against the default record until your defaulted balance has been paid in full.

Once you have paid it in full, we’ll notify the Credit Reference Agencies that it has been ‘satisfied’. A ‘satisfied default’ status will remain visible to lenders for the remaining part of the six year period. However, satisfying the default may help towards improving your credit file.

Water companies do differ from other utilities and lenders, this is because we will continue to provide you with an ongoing service after a default has been registered against you. This means any future bills that remain unpaid for 90 days or more with no arrangement in place can be added to your default record, and your default balance will increase.

Where any future bills have been added and the default balance has not been cleared in full, it is possible for defaults to be ongoing for more than 6 years. This may happen if you are continually in default with us with older and newer bills.

Once you’re accepted onto one of our Affordability tariffs or our Debt Support Scheme as you have a low income or don’t have enough income to pay for your essential bills, we won’t register a new default against you.

We’ll continue to report to the Credit Reference Agencies each month by telling them your balance and the age of the balance (status).

If a default has already been registered against you before you are accepted onto a discounted tariff, we will continue to report your default to the Credit Reference Agencies each month.

If you’re on our WaterSure tariff, we’ll continue to report to the Credit Reference Agencies each month by telling them your balance and the age of your balance (status).

If you become 90 days or more overdue and you do not have a payment arrangement set up with us and you have not contacted us to pay the outstanding balance, we may register a default with the Credit Reference Agencies.

If payments are being made to us directly from your benefits through the Water Direct scheme we’ll report to the Credit Reference Agencies each month your balance and the age of your balance (status).

Your status will remain the same as when we applied for payments to be made from our benefits. You will also see an accompanying Arrangement Flag to demonstrate that you are making monthly payments towards the balance.

If a default has already been registered against you before you are accepted onto the Water Direct scheme, we will continue to report your default to the Credit Reference Agencies each month.

Breathing space is a government Debt Respite Scheme which is designed to give you time to receive debt advice and find a solution to sort out your debt problems. 

We’ll continue to report to the Credit Reference Agencies each month your balance and the age of your balance (status).

However, while you are in Breathing Space, we won’t register a new default against you. If a default has already been registered against you before you entered the Breathing Space scheme, we will continue to report this to the Credit Reference Agencies each month.

You may see more than one record from us where you have held more than one account number for a different address.

You may also see more than one record if we have registered a default against you. When we first begin your reporting to the Credit Reference Agencies you will have a current record with us which receives a monthly report.

If we later register a default against you because your balance is overdue by 90 days or more, we’ll create a new current record which covers your balances not in default. If your current record reaches default too, we’ll combine your defaulted balances and close your current record.

This is different from other lenders and utilities, as water companies will continue to provide a service after an account has been registered in default.

Please ask us to update any incomplete or incorrect information we hold about you,

For example, provide us with your full name rather than an initial, any middle name(s) along with your date of birth.

We’ll update our records and update the information we share about you with the Credit Reference Agencies.