One Day Late Payment

gonthemicrobe

Hi all

Did a balance transfer to a new HBOS credit card in February. Shortly after opening the account I set up a monthly direct debit of £80 to the card.

On April 10th I got a message informing me my payment was late and that I would be charged a penalty fee. Turned out the DD would not activate until this month. Probably my mistake for not checking, but annoying. I then paid immediately by debit card and from now on my DD will take care of it.

How much damage will this do to my credit rating and given it was an honest mistake and I'd already set up a DD, is there any scope for me to minimise the damage? I was hoping to get a mortgage later in the year and wouldn't want to miss out on it for something like this.

Dobbibill

It depends what date in the month they report it to the CRAs - you may be lucky. Keep an eye on your credit report for the next few months to be sure.

It may be worth giving them a ring and explaining (nicely) your error/misunderstanding - they may refund the late payment fee as a one off too. Very often holding your hands up and admitting you're in the wrong goes a long way.

nickcc

I also got charged a late payment fee from the post office credit card. I took the card out for use on holiday as there was no transaction charges, I also set up a payment to now tv which I forgot about. I'd always used vouchers I'd purchased for now tv but one month they ran out so ended up with a £6 something cash charge against the card.

The point of my post is to highlight the fact that if you don't use the card during the previous 12 months your direct debit is cancelled so I ended up with a late payment charge of £12 for a £6 something late payment. The post office refunded this charge after I complained that I wasn't aware that my direct debit had been cancelled.

gonthemicrobe

Called the bank, was polite and apologetic and they refused to do anything. Didn't seem to care at all that I'd set up a direct debit a month before the event. As I've banked with them a good 15 years I'd have expected more goodwill than that.

Is that my chances of a mortgage obliterated then? I've not had another late payment in years and had a faultless credit rating before all this.

Superscrooge

Sorry to hear the bank were unsympathetic.

There are a couple of mortgage brokers that post on the 'Mortgages and Endowments' board and from previous posts, it is unlikely that one missed payment will be the deciding factor as to whether you get accepted for a mortgage.

If you do get a late payment marker on your credit file it might be worth adding a 'Notice of Correction' explaining the circumstances?

Consider posting on the 'Mortgages' board if you want further reassurance?

gonthemicrobe

Thanks for that I'll get on it!

[Deleted User]

gonthemicrobe wrote: »

Is that my chances of a mortgage obliterated then?

Yep. That's it for life now. Permanent mortgage ban.

Of course it's not. Just don't make a habit of it.

Dribiddi

When I took out my first credit card I didn't really understand how they worked and got a call from nationwide saying I was late with 1st payment.
I made the payment over the phone and the guy basically said words to the effect of "we'll let you off this time"
If I were you I'd give them a call back and explain circumstances again, you know what it's like in call centres sometimes it's just your luck who you get see if someone takes pity. Failing that if they can't show some discretion raise a complaint, often complaint teams will have more discretion and will be happy to give you the benefit and get the complaint closed

MDMD

I've got exactly the same issue (caused by a min payment DD not being set up properly). Payment was due on Friday and I just noticed this morning. Full balance paid today (was interest free but that will probably be lost now).

Although I've noticed I was wondering if I should call the bank now to see if I can get any goodwill from the bank (TSB) or wait until they process everything in case the weekend means they treat it as on time. Would calling now alert them to the fact? I also saw something on an old thread about CRA reporting batch processing dates meaning you can sometimes get away with it.

I must admit I like the AmEx approach of setting the DD a few days before the due date.

Should I close the account too?

[Deleted User]

What would be the rationale for closing the account?

MDMD

Deleted_User wrote: »

What would be the rationale for closing the account?

Two reasons - to satisfy my own annoyance (they cut the limit by 75% a few months ago with minimal notice) and so show the account as settled in case it impacts anything