6 months or 12 months

friendlygiraffe

Hello

I noticed after using the Credit Checker tool on this site that if you've missed repayments in the last 6 months it affects your score

But in the "Improve your credit score" article it says missed payments within the last 12 months ( or longer ) can harm your score

Which is most likely?

Thanks

Moggles_2

Welcome to MSE!

None of us - including the credit reference agencies - knows precisely what criteria are used by individual companies. Lenders do not disclose this information. Have you checked your credit reports lately to see what's actually on there? For help, see page 1 of the *How to obtain credit reports* sticky

There's a difference between late payments and missed payments. Payments that are missed altogether can wreck your credit rating for years. Have you received a default notice from your lender? If not, perhaps yours were simply late.

Late payments are viewed as negative only if you attract more than a couple in a short space of time. Even then, the effect is fairly short-lived. Each one drops off your file after 36 months in the case of Experian, 48 months with Equifax.

It's your payment history with all your creditors over the last 6 years that counts, with particular emphasis on the most recent 12 months, so the significance of late payments diminishes as they recede into the background.