Credit Rating

katiejc

My partner went overdrawn by £21 in January, he was charged £75 by his bank which he only just discovered. Having phoned them, they've said it's an issue at their end and have refunded him the money. However, they said that the £21 will show up on his credit check, which we're doing on Friday in the hope of getting a mortgage asap. Is there any way we can amend the situation? Will it even be an issue being such a small amount and the fact it's only happened once? Also - he realised instantly and transferred money from another account over within the hour. But I don't know if this shows up on the statement! Really worried now! :eek:

benjus

If the issue was caused by the bank they should remove any negative markers on the credit record.

Get hold of the 3 credit records asap and see what they say. If you don't get anywhere talking directly to the bank, you can also contact the credit rating agencies to ask for it to be removed.

It will take a bit of time to remove it though, probably not by tomorrow. Are you getting a mortgage via a broker? If so, he/she should be able to advise. For example, if it only appears on one of the credit reports you could just avoid lenders that use that credit report in their application process.

I suggest you post on the Mortgages branch of the forum as there are many mortgage brokers on there that deal with this sort of thing all the time.

katiejc

benjus wrote: »

If the issue was caused by the bank they should remove any negative markers on the credit record.

Get hold of the 3 credit records asap and see what they say. If you don't get anywhere talking directly to the bank, you can also contact the credit rating agencies to ask for it to be removed.

It will take a bit of time to remove it though, probably not by tomorrow. Are you getting a mortgage via a broker? If so, he/she should be able to advise. For example, if it only appears on one of the credit reports you could just avoid lenders that use that credit report in their application process.

I suggest you post on the Mortgages branch of the forum as there are many mortgage brokers on there that deal with this sort of thing all the time.

It was his fault that he went £21 overdrawn, but the banks fault that they then charged him £75 for it. They said after 3 months it wouldn't show up, meaning it'd be fine now, but they told him it wouldn't clear until July?! We're getting our mortgage (hopefully) via Taylors/Countrywide.

katiejc

I've moved this post to the Mortgages section - not sure how to delete it here!

Gordon_Hose

If he went £21 overdrawn then that is what will show. There is no way to "amend" this as it is a true reflection of his account.

katiejc

Gordon_Hose wrote: »

If he went £21 overdrawn then that is what will show. There is no way to "amend" this as it is a true reflection of his account.

But his bank told him if it was over 3 months ago, which it was, it wouldn't show. Is this correct?

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

katiejc wrote: »

But his bank told him if it was over 3 months ago, which it was, it wouldn't show. Is this correct?

Sadly not. Your credit history will show for 6 years.

katiejc

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays wrote: »

Sadly not. Your credit history will show for 6 years.

Ah. We both checked our ratings on Experian and they looked fine, but I guess I'll find out whether they actually are or not tomorrow!

Malmo

We both checked our ratings on Experian and they looked fine

It doesn't work like that. The Credit Reference Agency ratings mean nothing to lenders, who use their own criteria and algorithm to score customers. Ignore the number that Experian shows you. You should obtain your statutory reports from Equifax and Callcredit / Noddle aswell to give you a full picture.

You need to check if the status information for the affected month reports an overdrawn balance.

Also, does your partner have a formal/arranged overdraft with the bank?

katiejc

Malmo wrote: »

It doesn't work like that. The Credit Reference Agency ratings mean nothing to lenders, who use their own criteria and algorithm to score customers. Ignore the number that Experian shows you. You should obtain your statutory reports from Equifax and Callcredit / Noddle aswell to give you a full picture.

You need to check if the status information for the affected month reports an overdrawn balance.

Also, does your partner have a formal/arranged overdraft with the bank?

Ok thank you. No he doesn't.

benjus

Have you actually checked the credit reports to see if it's reported? If so, is it on all 3 of them? As already mentioned, ignore the credit score as it's worthless.

Remember that the mortgage lender will probably want to see 3 months' bank statements - can you do this yet without showing the unauthorised overdraft?

Some lenders are very fussy about current account conduct - make sure you make the situation clear to your mortgage broker.