Number of worries...

Giggycone

Good evening everyone,


My wife and I are looking at getting a mortgage early next year and in preparation for this I checked my credit report. It looks better than last time I checked it however the score has decreased somewhat. I know from reading the forums that the score isn't what future lenders focus on, it's more how many accounts, types and any defaults. Now I have two areas of concerns - I have two defaults both settled now (One a year ago and the other just now). One for £52 (Mobile Phone last payment)and the other was originally £450 (Credit Card). Now I know that they are to remain on my account for 6 years however I have seen on various forums that I could potentially ask the lender to remove them from my file if I ask - explaining the impact on my ability to get a mortgage etc. Now before I am berated for attempting this route, I would like to explain that my inability to pay this was due to separating from my wife temporarily which brought with it considerable financial hardship. I was also unable to get extra funds from my bank as I already had an overdraft. This leads me to my second concern - during this period I also utilised Wonga for my sins as I felt I had little choice. I always paid on time and they show on my credit file as satisfied and settled.


My questions here today are can 'satisfied and settled' accounts be removed from my credit file? Also any advice on how to get myself into a better position ready for the mortgage application in a year?


Many thanks in advance.


Richard

thebritishbloke

The "score" the CRA's try to sell you is completely meaningless. Yes, they've used an algorithm to determine your score, but actual lenders never even see that score. They get the raw data and make their own decisions on it.

There's no harm in asking a lender to remove them, but they're supposed to report a truthful account to the CRA's, so to be honest, you're looking at 99-1 against that they'll remove them. You don't need to justify to us why the defaults happened, they happened, you sorted them - job done.

Do you have a credit card? If not, get one - you might be able to get a Vanquis or Aqua card. Set up a direct debit to pay it in full every month, use it for something like fuel, don't put anything on it that you won't be able to pay off straight away. Only time heals these wounds.

You might have to go through a mortgage broker to get a decent mortgage next year, as a 1 and 2 year old default will probably stop you from getting some high street deals.

kirstybum

It's sometimes possible to have them removed but depends on the company. I had one removed by a lovely man at virgin but Vodafone and lowell completely refused. It's worth a try

Candyapple

2 recent defaults and a payday lender on your credit files you'd be hard pushed to find any high street lender to give you a mortgage hence as thebritishbloke stated, you would need to seek the advice of an independent mortgage broker to see who would be willing to offer you one. In the meantime, you would need to save a larger then normal deposit to compensate for this.