Nationwide "Missed Payment"

nickhack

Hello,

In the process of attempting a remortgage I have uncovered a raft of problems with a number of different companies. I will break them into different threads as they aren't specifically related

1. Moving current account and missed mortgage payments
In September/ October last year I took advantage of Alliance and Leicester's offer of cash and a high interest rate for moving my current account to them. They made a big deal of their 'switching team' handling the switching which they didn't do too bad a job of, however:

On 26th October (two days before the usual direct debit payment date) my mortgage provdider - Nationwide - wrote to say they had recieved the instruction to move my current account details however due to the proximity to my payment date they would be unable to setup a DD for October's payment. They requested payment within 7 days via a cheque.

I duly wrote and sent a cheque on 29th October which went out of my current account in due course and I thought no more of it, until...

I received a letter saying my mortgage account was in arrears and I was to be charged £15. I got straight on the phone and Nationwide apologised saying as no payment was received in the month of October an automated process had come online and sent me the letter/ made the charge on my account. She assured me the charge would be refunded (which it was) and all would return to normal.

Fast forward to April 06. An application for a mortgage with Northern Rock set up by the good people at Countrywide (I will get to a thread about my issues with them in due course!!!) is denied due to (and I wish I could remember the exact phrase) 'unspecified mortgage somethings or other' (I'm still waiting on the letter). In 5 years of paying mortgage payments my only anomaly of any kind has been the October change-over of my current account.

I have just spoken to Nationwide who now inform me that although the charge was refunded (surely an admission of an error on their part?) they stood by the fact that no payment was received in october therefore there was a missed payment entry on my account. I asked whether this would be mirrored on my credit history and she replied positively. When I asked whether Nationwide took responsibility for sending me a letter implying I had 7 days to make a payment when they knew full well that unless payment was received in four it would result in a missed payment, she had no decent reply and so I resolved to take this further.

Has anyone any experience of this type of situation? I'm not even sure if my 'missed' Nationwide payment has affected my recent application to Northern Rock but I am certainly fuming that it has been entered on my credit history when I have acted entirely as requested by Nationwide and have spent 6 months labouring under the impression that the matter had been resolved.

Any info gratefully received



Nick

Joe_Bloggs

It is advisable to consult your credit reports before trying to obtain major amounts of credit. This costs £2 each for Experian and Equifax. Some brokers can do this check instantly online for a fee. See the how to obtain credit reports here.

I do not see the need to shut down an existing current account to open up another one. You only need migrate the direct debits. Nationwide's internet banking is an excellent product. They also very fast transfers between themselves and other financial institutions and have good cards for use on holidays abroad.
The Nationwide probably wrote you a letter on Mon 24th October 2005, You received it Wed 26th and did nothing until Sat Oct 29th. The letter was probably received Tue 1st November. Then it had to clear, say 5 working days that is November 7th. It is unfortunate that the migration took place two days before the mortgage repayment. A debit card payment could have got there instantly.
Perhaps this is a warning for all to treat mortgage payments very seriously. If you don't you may be stuck on SVR or have your home repossesed.

J_B.