Mortgage Declined - 1 missed payment, 4 years ago

fsasam

Hey,
I've recently had a mortgage application declined due to my credit score and payment history. My affordability is all fine and apart from the credit score and payment history - they say they would be happy to lend.

Back in 2013 I moved out of the country for about a year for work - I opened a new bank account where my salary was getting paid into. During the switch over, I missed 1 payment, of £204.99 for a loan with Tescos bank in May 2014.

This was my error as I didn't make sure I transferred enough money into my UK current account on time.

As I was out of the country, I didn't receive ay letters from Tescos about this, and wasn't aware of the payment being missed - due to not paying attention to my outgoings. My DD carried on as normal the following month and I continued to pay each month.

I called Tescos about a year ago to update my records. I did the same for all creditors to try make sure I had everything up to date after moving around rentals for a few years. When I spoke with them they told me about the missed payment and I made an agreement to pay this off over the next couple of months.

This account has now recently reached the end of it's term and is closed. (not yet reflected on my credit file)

My credit history is all fine except for this one account. It's now showing a "1" - for 1 late payment - on this account, every month for 3 years. So showing 36 late payments on my credit file.

I've been told by the mortgage advisor that this is the reason the mortgage is declined.

My grief is that I don't believe this is an accurate depiction of my credit history, or and accurate reflection of my payment history with Tescos for the loan. I obviously take full responsibility that a payment was missed - that was my bad, I get it.

However after calling them to ask if they can adjust my file in anyway to change if from 36 late payments, to 1 missed payment back in 2014 - they say they wont do it as the accurate report is that I have 36 late payments on this account.

I'm struggling to get my head around it, as I paid 59 of my 60 payments on time - surely they can adjust a report to reflect a more accurate picture of what happened here?

I'm going to send a letter to Tescos too try and appeal to their goodwill. See if they can look at it with a fresh set of eyes and see it in a different light.

Has anyone else experienced a situation like this? Or is there any advise someone could share which may help to get this improved. (I understand time heals all, however I'm just a bit peeved about waiting as it's already 4 years old)

Sorry for such a long rant here - really, thank you if you made it this far.

Sam :j

dunstonh

I've been told by the mortgage advisor that this is the reason the mortgage is declined.

Is that a mortgage adviser at the lender or a mortgage broker?

(expectation is that a broker would have put you with a lender that would not have an issue with it. Whereas in-house adviser only has their own product)

My grief is that I don't believe this is an accurate depiction of my credit history, or and accurate reflection of my payment history with Tescos for the loan. I obviously take full responsibility that a payment was missed - that was my bad, I get it.

<emotion removed>
you failed to manage your finances resulting in the non-payment of a loan which you corrected late.

However after calling them to ask if they can adjust my file in anyway to change if from 36 late payments, to 1 missed payment back in 2014 - they say they wont do it as the accurate report is that I have 36 late payments on this account.

Can you clarify, did you make up the late payment or have you effectively remained 1 month in arrears for the last 3 years?

A report is a factual record. It will only be changed if there are errors.

I'm struggling to get my head around it, as I paid 59 of my 60 payments on time - surely they can adjust a report to reflect a more accurate picture of what happened here?

If it was late and brought back up to date you would have a late indicator. If a payment was missed as it bounced and not made up then you would remain in arrears to this day.

Has anyone else experienced a situation like this? Or is there any advise someone could share which may help to get this improved.

If you are using a mortgage broker, this would likely be a non-issue. If you are going direct to lender then you have issues.

Lemonsqueezer78

One clarification - and maybe it will be no consolation, but perhaps it will help to adjust your thinking - they were not reporting "36 late payments". They were reporting that your account was "in arrears for 36 months". Which it was. It was in arrears by the equivalent of one months payment for a full 36 months.

That said, I agree with Dunstonh in all but one respect... banks and financial service companies can and do update credit files on a goodwill basis from time to time. Its rare, yes - but this place is littered with examples of that happening and so it is not unheard of. Just far less likely to happen if there has been no real error on the part of the of the bank. All you can do is complain [politely] and see if that gets you somewhere. Do some grovelling... it can occasionally work. If it doesn't then there isn't a whole lot you can do about it.

fsasam

thanks for the reply dunstonh.

Is that a mortgage adviser at the lender or a mortgage broker?

Yes, the mortgage advisor at Barclays - they offer a Family Springboard Mortgage. We don't have a deposit and don't want to borrow it directly from parents, as committing to that repayment and a mortgage would be tough.

<emotion removed>
you failed to manage your finances resulting in the non-payment of a loan which you corrected late.

Exactly

Can you clarify, did you make up the late payment or have you effectively remained 1 month in arrears for the last 3 years?

Unfortunately yes, I was in arrears for the 3 years - which is why 36 late payments are showing up to as recently as last year.

So does this mean that this is an accurate portrayal of my credit history? 1 missed payment can be so damaging, for so many years?

I've working under the impression that, as it was credit score related - fail once fail everywhere.

Maybe I should contact a broker - as you can probably tell - financials aren't exactly where my skills lie.

fsasam

Thanks LEMONSQUEEZER78,

I do get it yes, I see where it's coming from.

Goodwill and groveling was more what I was hoping to get from them

I can't shake that, to me, the punishment seems a little harsher than the crime.

[Deleted User]

fsasam wrote: »

I've working under the impression that, as it was credit score related - fail once fail everywhere.

The credit score they're talking about isn't the pretend one you see via the CRAs. It's their internal scoring.

J.murph

I had 2 late payments on car finance last June and July due to trying to change my dates for the payments coming out.i applied with halifax 7 months after it happened and got my mortgage. Late payments don't seem to be as bad as defaults with halifax.

dunstonh

Unfortunately yes, I was in arrears for the 3 years - which is why 36 late payments are showing up to as recently as last year.

Thats the killer. As effectively, you were not late with a payment. You went into arrears by 1 month and remained in arrears. On paper, that suggests you couldnt afford to make up the missing payment.

Its not likely to be a killer with a broker. Dont use an online broker. Use a local one. Online ones like to cherry pick the easy stuff and dont tend to do a good job on problem cases. The local broker will not have the factory line targets the online ones have and can give you more time and effort. Dont use estate agent brokers either (too much sales and not so much advice)

John-K_3

fsasam wrote: »

Hey,
I've recently had a mortgage application declined due to my credit score and payment history. My affordability is all fine and apart from the credit score and payment history - they say they would be happy to lend.

Back in 2013 I moved out of the country for about a year for work - I opened a new bank account where my salary was getting paid into. During the switch over, I missed 1 payment, of £204.99 for a loan with Tescos bank in May 2014.

...

My credit history is all fine except for this one account. It's now showing a "1" - for 1 late payment - on this account, every month for 3 years. So showing 36 late payments on my credit file.j

Your take is that you missed one payment. Another (valid) take is that you made 36 late payments, and cared little enough about honouring your obligations that you never checked, or had your mail forwarded.

Both are versions of what happened, but the truth is it took you many years to make up the shortfall that happened owing entirely to you not bothering to make sure you were paying properly.

Banks do not like to lend money to people who just cannot be bothered to ensure that they pay back on time. Yes, in your case it was a genuine oversight, but, to be blunt, so what? They do not care if it is malicious or careless, they just look at the facts.

I would suggest trying a broker, who can look at your circumstances, and possibly find a lender who will not feel that what you did is at the serious end of the scale.

fsasam

Thanks dunstonh - appreciate the advise- I'll have a look around and ask some questions.

I had 2 late payments on car finance last June and July due to trying to change my dates for the payments coming out.i applied with halifax 7 months after it happened and got my mortgage. Late payments don't seem to be as bad as defaults with halifax.

J.murph - Thanks for sharing, that's good to hear. Hopefully I can start to notice my score creeping back up with each month.

John-K - way to kick a man when he's down :rotfl:

I appreciate all the advise here. I'm going to send my letter off to Tescos still - see if a little charm could work for me. I'll ask around mortgage brokers and see what they think also - otherwise I guess I just need to ride it out.

:money:

[Deleted User]

fsasam wrote: »

Hopefully I can start to notice my score creeping back up with each month.

Hopefully not, as it may mean you have gone bankrupt.

They really are that meaningless.