One horror story is long delays in receiving payments. People have to wait weeks or even months, struggling to pay for basic necessities like food and rent. It can lead to families falling into debt and facing eviction.
Sure. There are cases where people's universal credit is stopped suddenly without proper notice. They are left in the dark, not knowing why. This can be extremely distressing as they are left without any means to support themselves or their families.
One common element is identity theft. Fraudsters use someone else's identity to open credit accounts, leaving the victim with a mess to clean up. Another is errors in credit reporting. Simple mistakes by the agencies can have a huge impact on people's credit scores and financial lives.
A couple had a joint account. Due to a bank error where they were wrongly charged a large amount which they disputed. During the dispute process, their credit score was affected negatively. They were then unable to get a mortgage they had been pre - approved for because of this sudden drop in their credit score. It took a long time to resolve the issue with the bank and get their score back to normal.
Well, I once missed a credit card payment by just a few days due to a busy schedule. Next thing I knew, my interest rate skyrocketed. It was a nightmare as I ended up paying so much more than I expected just because of that one small mistake.
Medical bills are also a big part of bad credit horror stories. In the US, even with insurance, some medical bills can be huge. If you can't pay them right away, they can go to collections and wreck your credit. It's unfair because you're often dealing with a health crisis at the same time. And then, like many others, simply mismanaging your credit cards by maxing them out and not paying the minimums regularly can lead to a very bad credit situation.
One horror story is when a person's credit card information was stolen during an online purchase. They noticed strange charges on their statement for high - end electronics they never bought. It took months to sort out with the bank and get the charges reversed.
There was a case where a credit bureau had a data error. They mixed up two people with similar names. One person had excellent credit, and the other had a very bad credit history. The person with the good credit suddenly had a lot of denials for loans and credit cards because they were wrongly tagged with the bad credit. It took a long legal battle to get it fixed. The whole process was very stressful for the innocent person as they had to constantly prove their identity and correct the mistake.
One horror story could be unexpected high - interest rates. People might think they're getting a good deal with Care Credit for medical or dental procedures, but then end up with a huge bill due to the high interest that wasn't clearly explained at the start.
One common element is identity theft. This often leads to unauthorized credit accounts being opened, which messes up the victim's credit. Another is unethical lending practices, like hidden fees or sudden interest rate hikes. Also, mismanagement of credit, such as overspending and not being able to pay back debts, is a frequent factor.