dad has put a bill in my name without my consent, it has ruined my credit

Put your credit score in rice.

Put your credit score in rice.

If rice doesn't work, sellotape fixes everything

If rice doesn't work, sellotape fixes everything

Pay your bills on time, have a mortgage I guess. Idk much about it. What’s your credit score like ?

Report him

if you dont know much about it then why are you replying to the thread

clearly didnt read my post properly

ummm i get that you dont want to get your dad in trouble but if the police found out you knew and dint say u could be arrested as well

thats a good point actually

if you dont know much about it then why are you replying to the thread

Before I start, I'm not looking for sympathy but i also don't appreciate any judgemental comments, I am simply looking for advice.

I have used all credit reference agencies to check my score and on one of them found out it was extremely low (like 177/700). I had a look at the report and found out it was because of a water bill that has been put in my name.

Turns out back in 2018 my dad has been paying for the water bill under my name without telling me (before anyone says anything, I have offered many times to pay the bill but he refuses to let me pay for anything..) However my dad is really bad with making payments on time and has missed the deadline for so many payments, and now the bill has been passed on to debt collectors. All payments that I make for my own phone bill and whatever have always been on time, the only issue is this water bill.

From what I understand what my dad did is illegal, however I have a complicated relationship with him and I don't feel comfortable reporting him to the police. He has also been doing the same thing to my mum, however I'm not sure whether she'll be able to cope without him if he does get in trouble. Is there any way I can get rid of this bill without getting him in trouble? I know what he did is bad and I'm really angry at him for being so selfish, but like I said I don't feel comfortable reporting him to the police yet.

I am currently looking for a job but the field i want to go into tends to have jobs outside the city i'm currently living in so i'll most likely have to move out, but I'm worried i'll having trouble finding a place to rent if my credit is so low....

What can I do to try and bring my credit score up?

Hmm...get this bill transferred out of your name in the first instance and make sure the debt is cleared, even if you have to pay it yourself. Can you talk to him about it and tell him he can't do that as it's ruining your credit history? I suspect he did it because his own is bad. Nowt you can do about the past history attached to your name, just wait it out I think...takes about 3 years I think to drop off and to be deemed clean for credit. Ironically I've heard anecdotally the more credit cards you have, the better your credit history - might be worth getting a couple (just avoid spending) to rectify your history? Don't worry about renting, you could just explain the circumstances and show 3 months of bank statements to prospective landlords.

thank you for actually giving some advice! I will definitely get the bill transferred out of my name. The thing is I'm pretty sure he knew what was doing, he has gotten into a lot of debt under his own name so i imagine thats why he put that bill under my name. It apparently takes 6 years for that debt to cleared off my report which is frustrating. I also tried to get a credit card awhile ago but I got rejected so i'm not sure what to do...Surely these landlords would need proof that that bill was not supposed to be in my name right? wouldn't that mean getting my dad in trouble?

You're correct about it taking 6 years to clear of your name.
Also if it's been passed to debt collectors then you'll either have a CCJ against your name or soon will have unfortunately which will sink it even further

You have a massive problem if you're moving though, landlords do credit checks and are guaranteed to be rejected unfortunately which means you don't have the option of moving I'm afraid to say.

You're only option are to either:
1) Say nothing, stay where you are and get a job close to home with a high likelihood he'll end up doing it again and again.
2) Report him to the police for fraud which means it will stop him doing it and you'll also be able to get it removed from your credit record immediately without waiting six years.

I don't see why you're uncomfortable reporting him to the police TBH, it's a total betrayal of your trust and it's even worse that it's your father who has done so.

Also as the poster has said above, eventually you will have to declare bankruptcy or even worse have the water company get the court to declare you bankrupt.
If that happens then all your money will be taken by the courts as well as any possessions of value you have including your car etc and the only type of bank account you'll be able to open is a basic bank account. Also if you get a job then the court will order money to be taken from your paycheck every month or however often you're paid.