Late payment on miniscule amount

Assorted_Biscuits

I am currently in the process of buying a house. Mortgage has been agreed and we should complete by the end of the month. Our mortgage advisor has stated that the lender will do a final credit check just before the funds are released. Which would be fine except for the fact that yesterday I found an unopened letter from my credit card company, dated 20/8/14, stating that I owed them money and was late with my payment. I was sure that I had cleared my account , hence not opening the letter, but apparently I still owed them £1.49! I rang this morning and paid it but was told that it might effect my credit score.

So, I have two (and a half) questions...

a) It's not going to mean we get refused our mortgage is it?

b) When we move, we are intending on getting an interest free card (either John Lewis store card or that Halifax 18 month 0% CC) to get a few of the items we need for the new place. Will this late payment shennanigan jeopardise that? I tried this site's eligibility checker this morning and it said that there should be no problem with the Halifax one...

Also, do you think it best to apply from our present house before we move (15 years a tennant) or our new house (home owner of a matter of days)?

Thanks in advance.

Tixy

a) there is a small possibility that it could. I would start by seeing if a late payment has actually been recorded on your credit file, by getting an up to date copy of your file (n.b. do not use noddle in this instance as the report you can see is only updated once a month).

b) if recorded on your credit file then despite the small amount the fact that it was recent could affect a potential lenders decision for the next few months.

c) if you apply before you complete on the mortgage then it could possibly affect your mortgage application. Applying after you move will mean the potential lender will factor in the new address move/not being on the e.r, which could have a negative impact on their decision, particularly if you are a new customer to the lender you plan to apply to.

The_Boss

You don't have a credit score by the way and the fact it was in your opinion a "miniscule" amount has no bearing as the issue relate to account handling.

Assorted_Biscuits

The_Boss wrote: »

You don't have a credit score by the way and the fact it was in your opinion a "miniscule" amount has no bearing as the issue relate to account handling.

Do lenders take the size of the amount in to account? Is there anything I can do to limit the likelihood of having the mortgage turned down? I'm sh*tting it! Would the fact that this site's Credit Card eligibility check gives me the thumbs up mean that I should be OK?

Re. the credit/ store card, we will actually be in possession of 2 properties (our rented one and our bought home) for a couple of weeks so I might wait until the mortgage is (hopefully) released but then apply from our long standing rental address. Good/ bad idea?

Thanks for the responses so far, by the way.

Tixy

Assorted_Biscuits wrote: »

Do lenders take the size of the amount in to account?

To a certain extent yes.

Assorted_Biscuits wrote: »

Is there anything I can do to limit the likelihood of having the mortgage turned down? I'm sh*tting it!

First check if it is showing on your file with any of the 3 agencies, experian, equifax and callcredit.
If it is then I would talk to your motgage advisor and explain the oversight and say that you can provide proof that the amount has been paid off in full if required.

Assorted_Biscuits wrote: »

Would the fact that this site's Credit Card eligibility check gives me the thumbs up mean that I should be OK?

Not necessarily. It principally checks your callcredit file, whereas your credit card provider may have recorded a late payment on e.g. experian

Assorted_Biscuits

Just looked on Equifax and everything seems ok, loads of green boxes and things saying 'up to date'. These things are updated pretty much automatically, aren't they? Please God say it's ok!

Tixy

Is this particular credit card account listed on equifax? Assuming so what is the date of the last update to that account?

roubaix

Mostly I have found a lag time of about 4-6 weeks for my credit accounts when they are reported.

Barclaycard seems to have an even greater lag of about 3 months for me.

Hopefully your mortgage will be through before your late mark appears.

Assorted_Biscuits

Tixy wrote: »

Is this particular credit card account listed on equifax? Assuming so what is the date of the last update to that account?

Yes, it was and it was last updated in August. When I got home from work today, they'd sent the exact same letter again, saying please pay up or we'll default you. This makes me think that they haven't done anything to my credit rating (although when I tried to use the card at the weekend it was rejected, so they may have just stopped that). Can't believe I'm getting all this stress because £1.49! Definitely setting up a DD next time I get a card.

Assorted_Biscuits

roubaix wrote: »

Mostly I have found a lag time of about 4-6 weeks for my credit accounts when they are reported.

Barclaycard seems to have an even greater lag of about 3 months for me.

Hopefully your mortgage will be through before your late mark appears.

Fingers crossed! We're hoping to complete by the end of the month so if they have given me a black mark (and I'm still not convinced they have) we might be OK.

Apart from regularly checking my credit record (which I'd been led to believe wasn't a good idea) is there any way of finding out for sure if my record has been effected?