Ok, I'm going to ask this question again...

[NASCAR20FAN]

Do utilities report ontime payments?

These guys are all over my credit report with lates and no pays... Do they also reprt when paid ontime?

[SinkingFast]

This is really wierd that you asked this question, Nascar.

I just went thru calling utilities this week for the new place we're moving to. The Gas Company and the Electric Company both required a Credit Check. If we didn't pass, we'd have to put up security deposits.

Toward the end of the week, we had the moving date all set up, so I called to get accts established in our names. Fully expecting not to pass the Credit Checks, I was prepared to have to pay security deposits to both the Electric and Gas company.

We had to pay the security deposit to the Electric Company. We failed their Credit Check. We passed the Gas Company's Credit Check and didn't have to pay a security deposit.

How wierd!!

So I don't know what to tell you about what criteria they use or don't use.

[NASCAR20FAN]

Well I need to know if they report prompt payment history on accounts. I doesn't seem fair that they can trash your credit if you late, but they don't help your credit if you pay on time.

[SinkingFast]

The one, the Electric Company, did a "soft pull" of Equifax and we didn't pass.

The Gas Company did a Pass/Fail type thing from Experian and we passed. The gal said our Credit Report showed we'd had service in the past, and we were good to go without a Security Deposit.

Or maybe it was the other way around. Which ever. We had to pay one utility a security deposit and not the other.

I pulled out our Credit Reports and looked thru them. Not a one of them has any entry from any utility, phone company, nothing. It's all CC's, mortgages, auto loans, etc, that we've had over the years.

I know I've been late or skipped a month here and there on a utility over the years. Wound up having to pay 2 months a few times because I misplaced a bill. But no negatives, no positives, no nothing in the Credit Reports from any utilities.

It must depend on the Utility Company, whether they report or not.

[FilingOnMyOwn]

I've never heard of utilities reporting payments to the credit bureaus. After all, they are not actually lines of credit or anything. But as much as they're charging now, it wouldn't at all surprise me if they started doing that soon. So in cold areas, families would end up spending all summer paying off their winter heating bills lol, and vice versa in hot climates. They do however report accounts once they become deregatory and are in collections, just like your cellular service would if you stop paying the bill. Pulling your credit score to give you service is new to me too, the old school 'credit check' for utilities, used to just consist of them checking to make sure you don't owe them money from an old residence or with an affiliated company.

[fellowpoorman]

Theres nothing about it that is fair, its really a money game,the worse your credit is the more someone can charge.

[NASCAR20FAN]

Theres nothing about it that is fair, its really a money game,the worse your credit is the more someone can charge.

Right, but you would think if companies have the power to destroy you, They should also be made to help you.

[SinkingFast]

I've never heard of utilities reporting payments to the credit bureaus. After all, they are not actually lines of credit or anything. But as much as they're charging now, it wouldn't at all surprise me if they started doing that soon. So in cold areas, families would end up spending all summer paying off their winter heating bills lol, and vice versa in hot climates. They do however report accounts once they become deregatory and are in collections, just like your cellular service would if you stop paying the bill. Pulling your credit score to give you service is new to me too, the old school 'credit check' for utilities, used to just consist of them checking to make sure you don't owe them money from an old residence or with an affiliated company.

New to us too. But, as I learned when we pulled our Credit Reports for the attnys for filing BK, our land line phone company did a credit check on us last fall when we moved here.

And now the new gas company and electric company for where we're moving to did a credit pull. Odd thing is the electric company is a Rural Electric Coop. We were with a Rural Electric Cooperative the whole time we lived in Missouri. We always paid our bills. Now here, we have to a deposit to the REC but not a "public" gas company??!!

[fellowpoorman]

Right, but you would think if companies have the power to destroy you, They should also be made to help you.

Would be nice if thats how it worked, they should help

[no_it_all]

Not sure why this info is a stunner for anyone. To wit: when you rent an apartment they pull a report but your perfect rental payment history never shows up. Nobody seems to complain about that...Utility companies have been pulling a lite version of reports for probably twenty years....Insurance companies also pull reports..higher FICO means lower premiums but your insurance payments aren't recorded by a CRA either....

[SinkingFast]

Not sure why this info is a stunner for anyone. To wit: when you rent an apartment they pull a report but your perfect rental payment history never shows up. Nobody seems to complain about that...Utility companies have been pulling a lite version of reports for probably twenty years....Insurance companies also pull reports..higher FICO means lower premiums but your insurance payments aren't recorded by a CRA either....

A little lesson for a younger person here.

While what you are saying is true today,.......... And yes I know my auto insurance carrier pulled our credit last fall when we signed on. And yes I know my homeowners/then auto insurance carrier did a routine pull last summer,........

Utilities used to not work that way. If you could prove you had satifactory credit/payment history with another carrier before, the utility or phone company just extended and acct and set you up for billing. So when we moved from one state to another, I always got letters of reference from my old phone and utilities companies to pass on to the new ones. Never had a credit check before in my life for utilities or phone. Haven't paid a deposit to establish service in over 20 years. That's back in the days when we were first married and Merlin taught Chemstry. You know the alchemy stuff??!!

Yeah, I know. Welcome to the modern, real world.

[no_it_all]

Thanks for the history lesson!!

[NASCAR20FAN]

Not to break-up all the fun you guys are having, but I got a definate answer for the good payment history question from Duquesne Light. They report goo and bad... So paying that bill early every month is helping me out with my scores.

[no_it_all]

Then why wasn't it on your report? Is it a new company you are dealing with? You mentioned in the original post that the negatives were showing up but none of your payment history..What changed???