Late payment on credit file when all payments have been on time

Pam1010

So I took out a loan with Street UK in 2013 and all payments were regular and on time on the 18th of every month. In July 2015 I fell on some hard times and called Street UK before my payment was due to let them know I was struggling. They agreed to set up a payment plan by giving me a 2 month grace period and then making double payments from August to catch up on the 2 months grace period. Everything was agreed and they even sent me a letter confirming this arrangement. I asked the gentleman if this would affect my credit and he assured me it wouldn't as I had been in touch before I missed a payment and working with them to fix the matter. Well, fast forward to 04/05/2016 and there is 2 late payments recorded on my experian credit file to STreet UK in the last 6 months which will be October and November 2015. All payments were on time during those months! Are they allowed to record missed payments they agreed to give a grace period in order for me to get my finances together? I thought a late payment is recorded after 30 days of no payment? This has taken off 208 points off my credit score, points I have worked so hard for in the last year, they did not come easy! I am so discouraged with all this credit scoring and how companies have so much power to just ruin your life even when you play by the rules

[Deleted User]

Pam1010 wrote: »

Are they allowed to record missed payments they agreed to give a grace period in order for me to get my finances together?

Yes, they are, as you broke the terms of the agreement.

But they should have told you this.

On the plus side, your missing 208 points is neither here nor there, as they didn't exist in the first place. Ignore the score.

Pam1010

Sadly NatWest will not ignore my credit score when I apply for a business loan...
Can I appeal this as they said it would not affect my credit on the phone and did not mention it in any of the letters they sent? I have just gone through all the letters they sent me and there is no mention of team reporting a late payment to a credit agency.

[Deleted User]

Natwest will have no choice but to ignore your credit score, as they can't even see it. It's a little secret between you and the CRA that would have no relevance to anyone else.

You could try appealing, but your chances are slim.

Pam1010

You mean banks can't even see credit scores??!! I have been stressing myself out for nothing all these years! Other than this late payment my payment history with all my active accounts is really good even though my credit score is marked as poor right now.
If banks can't see your score, why is there so much emphasis on improving your credit score of you want better rates to for financial products?

[Deleted User]

All lenders see is your credit file - ie the data on it. Whether you've missed payments, how much you owe, whether you're on the electoral roll and so on. A credit score would tell a lender nothing about how you manage your accounts and whether you meet their criteria.

The only people who tell you to check credit scores are the CRAs. Funnily enough, they tend to charge for this.

Go figure...

Pixie5740

Credit scores are just a marketing tool to entice suckers into paying for credit repair products, or £14.99 a month just to marvel at their score.

Lenders use your credit history along with other data such affordability, your history with that lender themselves plus a bunch of other things and it gets plugged into an algorithm to come up with their own way of scoring you.

Pam1010

Well I feel like a muppet as I have been paying Experian and Equifax for a monthly report. My money is better spent on takeaways! I honestly thought they could see my score and suffered from anxiety everytime my score went down a few points for no apparent reason. Thanks guys and thank you for this forum!

redpete

Pam1010 wrote: »

Well I feel like a muppet as I have been paying Experian and Equifax for a monthly report. My money is better spent on takeaways! I honestly thought they could see my score and suffered from anxiety everytime my score went down a few points for no apparent reason. Thanks guys and thank you for this forum!

Don't get too happy. Lots of people say that credit scores don't mean anything, which isn't quite true. The score is a CRA's way of representing your credit history in a single number. Stuff that makes your score worse will often make a lender less likely to lend you money.

In your case the late payments are a true record of your credit history; Lenders who get information from a CRA will see that you have made late payments and it might make them less likely to lend you more money.

And maybe the money you will be saving on your monthly subscriptions to the CRAs will be better spent on buffer savings for the next time you "fall on some hard times" rather than takeaways.

JimmyTheWig

Pam1010 wrote: »

Sadly NatWest will not ignore my credit score when I apply for a business loan...
Can I appeal this as they said it would not affect my credit on the phone and did not mention it in any of the letters they sent? I have just gone through all the letters they sent me and there is no mention of team reporting a late payment to a credit agency.

Your payments were late compared to what you originally agreed. This, then, counts as being late.
I don't think that there is any need for them to have mentioned this in their letters.

They were wrong on the phone to say that it wouldn't affect your credit file. When asked, they should have told you that the late markers would be applied. You could argue that had you had been told the truth then you'd have done something differently. In which case they should do something about it.
The problem you've got is, presumably, you have no evidence of them saying this on the phone.
If they say they didn't say it then you're pretty stuck.
But worth phoning them and telling them what happened, asking them if they can remove them.

Pixie5740

I still maintain the credit scores are meaningless. It has been known for someone with defaults to have a "perfect" 999 score. I get my Call Credit report free via Noddle and Clear Score use data from Exquifax so you can view your credit history (and random number) there for free. I maybe pay £2 for my statutory Experian credit 1-2 times a year just to check that it's correct.

I'm only interested that my credit history has been reported accurately and that I don't have any negative factors such as defaults and late payments before I apply for a mortgage or loan.