Missed payments due to illness

neil_s

Hi guys,

I have a generally good credit history, with (aside from the subject of this thread) no missed/late payments, less than 5% credit utilisation (balances paid off in full each month), and I generally get accepted for whatever I apply for (incl. Amex Gold/Platinum within the past year).

In 2014 I switched current accounts from HSBC to Co-Op, changing direct debits etc. Shortly afterwards I became quite seriously ill for close to a year, and had to quit work. Luckily I managed to keep finances stable within this period.

However I didn't realise that I hadn't cancelled one direct debit from the HSBC account. I ended up (unauth) overdrawn by a couple of pounds, which spiralled to a massive £34 with charges. In fairness they did write to me, but I was going through so much other more important stuff in life (i.e. waiting to hear whether I had a chronic and serious neurological illness) that these letters weren't opened until it was too late.

I wrote to HSBC, who after much wrangling refunded the charges; I paid them the remaining £2 and closed the account. However my credit file still shows three consecutive months defaulted payments on an overdraft.

I was thinking of escalating my complaint to the ombudsman. I'm in my mid twenties, am on a very good career path and will be looking to purchase a house in London within the next few years. I could do without this black mark on my credit file if there are potential grounds to remove it.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

tomtontom

Your credit file should be a true representation of the way you have conducted an account. If these markers are correct then the ombudsman will not tell the bank to remove them.

You can add a note to your file to explain the reason for the markers, but some lenders do not like this. If you're not looking to apply for a mortgage for a few years then I would leave it, ensure your conduct is spotless in the future, and explain your reasons if an underwriter questions the historic markers.

National_Debtline

Hi Neil_s,


Great advice from TomtonTom above. I would echo what he has said and just add a couple of things. These few missed payments would normally be marked with a number 0-6 to show the first few 'missed payments'. If they actually defaulted the account you may be able to get that changed to something slightly less damaging, through a complaint.


But the older information is on your file, then generally the less impact it will have on your overall credit worthiness. So if you are not going for a mortgage for a few years then I wouldn't worry too much. Good Luck,


Laura
@natdebtline

takman

If you were not working then you must have had plenty of time to open letters and deal with your finances. It's quite irresponsible to just not open the letters and ignore them then want to waste the obudsmans time by making a complaint!.

neil_s

takman wrote: »

If you were not working then you must have had plenty of time to open letters and deal with your finances. It's quite irresponsible to just not open the letters and ignore them then want to waste the obudsmans time by making a complaint!.

It was more the fact of being in hospital that was the issue. And, of course, losing the function of one side of your body makes letter opening rather more difficult than you might imagine.

But thank you for your concern. :beer:

takman

neil_s wrote: »

It was more the fact of being in hospital that was the issue. And, of course, losing the function of one side of your body makes letter opening rather more difficult than you might imagine.

But thank you for your concern. :beer:

That's abit different than "waiting to hear whether I had a chronic and serious neurological illness"!. But I still don't understand why you just left an account open when you switched and never checked it until you received letters that said you were overdrawn.

I really don't think you have any grounds for a compliant, the bank didn't know you were ill and couldn't open your letters!

Brock_and_Roll

At the end of the day, it is only a tiny (but entirely accurate) blemish on the OPs credit file and in all likelihood, if everything else is ok in the OP credit profile, will have absolutely naff all negative effect on the OP's ability to get credit at competitive rates...and of course as time passes, so any impact will be reduced anyway,