Please Help!

[Anonymous]

I need help with two questions:

First, my husband has a low score because of many reasons, but in part because of short length of account average and not a lot of credit history.  I have heard that if I add him onto credit cards that I have that have both good payment histories and long account life (for example, his average account 'age' is 4 years, and I have accounts that were opened 10 years ago), it will show on his report when the account was opened (10 years ago) and not when he became part of the account (now).  Is this true?  I don't want to add him and lower his score by inquiries or showing as a new credit account.  I would appreciate guidance!

Also, last fall I was sitting at a red light and was hit by a girl that was text messaging while driving (got to love that)!  She was obviously at fault, both cars were a total loss, and I signed the car over to her insurance company in December of 2008.  Fast forward to June of 2009, the insurance company finally paid the lien holder.  The account has been paid if full (Insurance, warranty refund and GAP insurance).  It is showing on my credit report that I was 200 days delinquent on my car payment.  I have electronically disputed this, but was wondering what else I could do?  I haven't heard back yet, but haven't had much luck in the past and would like to be proactive and get resolved quickly!  I have all of the legal documentation to support my claim, so I figured I should send a hard copy/letter to the credit agencies.  Has this happened to anyone else and were you able to get it off your report?  How?  Thanks for the help!

Becca

[llecs]

---

chaser wrote:

I need help with two questions:

First, my husband has a low score because of many reasons, but in part because of short length of account average and not a lot of credit history.  I have heard that if I add him onto credit cards that I have that have both good payment histories and long account life (for example, his average account 'age' is 4 years, and I have accounts that were opened 10 years ago), it will show on his report when the account was opened (10 years ago) and not when he became part of the account (now).  Is this true?  I don't want to add him and lower his score by inquiries or showing as a new credit account.  I would appreciate guidance!

Also, last fall I was sitting at a red light and was hit by a girl that was text messaging while driving (got to love that)!  She was obviously at fault, both cars were a total loss, and I signed the car over to her insurance company in December of 2008.  Fast forward to June of 2009, the insurance company finally paid the lien holder.  The account has been paid if full (Insurance, warranty refund and GAP insurance).  It is showing on my credit report that I was 200 days delinquent on my car payment.  I have electronically disputed this, but was wondering what else I could do?  I haven't heard back yet, but haven't had much luck in the past and would like to be proactive and get resolved quickly!  I have all of the legal documentation to support my claim, so I figured I should send a hard copy/letter to the credit agencies.  Has this happened to anyone else and were you able to get it off your report?  How?  Thanks for the help!

Becca

---

Welcome to the forums!

Generally, adding a spouse as an AU will result in a new account being added with the full history showing. If adding a 10 yr account to a 4 yr AAoA, then he'd see an increase if that account being added has a great history.

Unfortunately, insurance companies are generally slow to pay a claim. If not paid between the accident and the payout date, then lates can occur. Bumping for others, but I'd hazard a guess that you could contact the insurance companies and ask for a letter from them explaining the payout dates. You may be able to use that to fight with the CRAs. Another option is to send a GW letter to the auto loan company explaining what happened and mention the payout dates and maybe they'll remove the lates for you. I'd try the GW first.

[ozgirl]

I am not going to address the issue of adding your husband, however, I can speak to the auto claim issue and the 200 day late as I worked in insurance claims for 20+ years (most of it in Auto claims).  This may help you in getting what you need from the insurance company and or lienholder to sort this 200 day late out.  

  It should not have taken more than 5 days to determine if your car was a total loss. Assuming there was no dispute of liability or coverage from the responsible party's insurer, the insurance adjuster would have done a market survey to determine the value of your car.  This is all automated and can be done within 24 hours.  During that time, the insurance company should have made contact with you, advised that it was a total loss, obtained your lien/loan information and contacted the lienholder/leaseholder for payoff etc...Now...here is where it can get troublesome.  Were you upside down on the loan/lease?  Did you owe more than the market value of the car. This can happen for many reasons.  Otherwise, a check for your part of the car would have been issued to you at settlement and a check to the lienholder would have been issued at the same time.    If you want more info on that you can send me a private message. Generally speaking, it is pretty easy to get a fair value on a car and settle a loss within 10 days.  The insurance carrier cannot/will not pay slow on a total loss for a number of reasons.  Mostly because they cannot dispose of the salvage without a clear title to the car.  So, if a car sits  in a salvage yard for days it runs up a huge storage bill.  Was there a dispute on the value of the vehicle? Were you upside down on a lease?  I would imagine that if neither of those scenarios were in play it may in fact have been the leaseholder or lienholder that held up the process in which case you should have no problem getting that late removed.  I can walk you through the process if you want to send me a message

Good luck 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the help!

So, adding my husband to my credit card will show the original account opened date and not the date he was added?  I have two that have great histories and have been opened much longer than his average.  Can this potentially hurt his score in any way?

Do you know of any creditor departments in which I could address a GW?  I have already contacted the lien holder by phone to inquire about sending a letter/documentation and they (basic customer service rep) told me that they have no department and it would have to go through CB's.  Also, like you said, I might be able to request a letter from the insurance company as part of the settlement.     

Thanks again for the quick responce!

[Anonymous]

ozgirl,

Thanks for the response!  Actually, the adjuster did not even go see the car, or deem a total loss, for over a month...believe it or not!  There was never any dispute over liability (I was sitting at a red light) or coverage.  I was indeed quite upside down in the car, because it was less than a year old and I drive a lot for work.  However, I had a GAP insurance policy (for this reason) that covered the difference between the value of the car and the lien amount.  So, there was little dispute over the value.  There was a lot of back and forth, however, with the insurance company saying they lost the paperwork...and found it...and lost it.  I have documentation of all of the back and forth, that was resolved in late January, and still it was June before a check was issued (I have documentation on that as well).  The lawyer also said that property loss usually gets settled really quickly.  Have you heard of the insurance company writing a letter or contacting the lien company to resolve as part of a settlement?  Thanks again for the help, it is hard to know where to start!

[llecs]

---

chaser wrote:

Thanks for the help!

So, adding my husband to my credit card will show the original account opened date and not the date he was added?  I have two that have great histories and have been opened much longer than his average.  Can this potentially hurt his score in any way?

Do you know of any creditor departments in which I could address a GW?  I have already contacted the lien holder by phone to inquire about sending a letter/documentation and they (basic customer service rep) told me that they have no department and it would have to go through CB's.  Also, like you said, I might be able to request a letter from the insurance company as part of the settlement.     

Thanks again for the quick responce!

---

Just about every CC backdates when adding an AU. Seems like there was one though that didn't do this. No matter, I'd guess in 99% probability that the org. open date will be on your DH's report. Worst case scenario: you can always have it removed and everything will go back to the way it was.

I've sent all of my GWs to the address listed on the CRs and I'd never include a department, unless the CR specifically mentioned it. If the GW doesn't work, then you can try sending them to specific persons like the CEO, Pres., etc. Also if you get back some responses, then keep those letters. They'll often contain info like e-mial addresses, fax numbers, and specific departments or divisions by which to include in future GWs.

[Anonymous]

Do you think the cc company would tell me ahead of time?

Thanks, do GW's typically work?  With 'cleaning' up my husbands credit, he was in the USMC for 6 years and his time in boot camp, schools, moving etc, caused late payments, which are indeed valid, however were sometime ago and when he was enlisted.  I know it couldn't hurt, but to GW's typically help in those cases?  

Thanks again!

[ozgirl]

The insurance company will sometimes try to help you arrive at a settlement with the lease company.  There have been a number of instances where I have helped get the lease company to accept less than the actual balance in the interest of settlement.  That does not seem to apply to your situation since you had GAP insurance.  I would write a VERY FIRM letter to the insurance company explaining that you have documentation of all of their delays etc... and that you demand they write a letter to the creditor on your behalf explaining it was their fault etc...Additionally, if you had already signed the title over to the insurer and concluded all of the paperwork in January, you were not the legal owner after the point and had a reasonable expectation that the insurance carrier paid off the lease.  Did you receive any letters from the lease company during this time indicating payments had not been made?  WRITE YOUR LETTER TODAY!  Insurance companies are subject to very strict guidelines regarding settlement timelines.  These codes vary from state to state. It sounds like you are represented for an injury (noticed you had a lawyer).  Perhaps your attorney can help you with the letter.  BTW don't send your letter to the claims office--send it to the regional office.

[ozgirl]

Whoops...I made an error in my response to you.  Obviously, you did not have the title as the lease company had not been paid off.  However, if you had arrived at a settlement and they had you sign a power of attorney, bill of sale etc... (so that they could take the ownership) --all of the transfer of ownership paperwork--then it is ridiculous for the process to take so long.  Again, write a letter...it could not hurt

[Anonymous]

Thanks again for your help!!

The accident was November 4th and they made it out to look at my car the second week of December.  This Bill of Sale (I have copies) was signed before Christmas and sent to them.  They contacted us at the end of January saying they didn't have the paperwork, then said they did a week later, then said they didn't.  I resigned paperwork and resent.  They didn't pay the claim until June.  CRAZY!

I did know it had not been paid.  I was in constant communication with the lien holder trying to get it resolved.  The insurance company said they would only cover a rental for 30 days, so I had to go buy another car and couldn't afford to make payments on two for 6 months.  Also, I was getting such conflicting stories from the lien holder.  One person would say that, because I had GAP, anything I paid I would not get back.  One person said that I should not make payments, but should get on the insurance company to hurry up and pay.  Another said it was my responsibility until they paid.  

I talked to the lien holder again, yesterday and they said there is nothing they can do and they have no department in where to send documentation.  I have electronically disputed this will all three agencies, but in the next few days I am going to sent a written dispute to all three agencies will all of the documentation, and also to the lien holder.  I think it is a great idea sending a letter to the regional office of the insurance company, as well.  I am going to talk to my lawyer and see if that is something he should do, or if I can.  

Thanks again for your help!