Missed payment - default on file?

BlueEngineer

Hello,

I have a credit card (Amex) and I usually manually make a payment on this monthly. I got an text from Amex today saying I had missed a payment and the a payment was due for the minimum amount. The payment was due 3 days ago so I paid the full balance off today. I've also set up a direct debit so this doesn't happen again!

My question is, will this show up as a default on my credit file? Will it affect me getting a mortgage in the future? I've never missed a payment on anything before so I'm unsure how defaults work. Thanks.

Ebe_Scrooge

Yes it will show up on your credit file, yes it will affect your mortgage application.

That said, one late payment on an otherwise clean history will not usually cause too much of a problem.

The best thing is to ring them. Many lenders will be prepared to remove the marker from your credit file, if it's a one-off in an otherwise clean history, and you've made the payment very soon after the default. They're not obliged to do so - the late payment is factually correct, but there's no harm in calling them and asking very nicely.

<Edit> Well done for setting up the DD - always the recommended thing to do. Just watch your account carefully for the first month to make sure it goes through OK, and be prepared to make a manual payment if there are any hiccups.

Mulder00

Not necessarily. I have had this happen to me before with my Tesco card and after phoning them, they said nothing will show up. It might be different between companies but the way they explained it to me is that the payment will show as paid for November (using your case as an example) since you've paid in November and they can't report it as unpaid until 1 December.