Lloyds and my Credit Score!

jodie789

Can anyone give me any advice - would be very grateful.
I was self-employed until covid, doing 2 jobs. I lost both of them during the lockdowns and my finances went a bit haywire.
I got behind and was late for 2 payments on my Lloyds credit card.
I then got a new job - going back to full employment (which was really lucky as I'm older in age), and paid what I owed, but,
I now have 2 late payment marks on my score and it has wrecked my ability to finally sort out my finances as I wanted to switch my cards to 0% offers and all those have been closed to me.
But the worst thing is I really wanted to move house and get a new mortgage etc.
I feel desperate that this run of bad luck during covid is now going to affect my score for 6 years and may prevent me from moving.
I felt almost beside myself when I saw my new score as I have wanted to move for so long.
Is there anything I can do about it. Is it worth writing to Lloyds and begging them to remove it etc?
How long does it take for your score to recover if  you stay on track? Is it 6 years?
I feel like the credit score system has a stranglehold on my life?
thanks very much.

Batesy1976

Your score is irrelevant.

what matters is what is on your file and as it is not inaccurate it won't be removed.

Late payments are a negative but the impact lessens over time.  It certainly won't take 6 years to get a mortgage.

Speak to a broker and you could potentially get a mortgage right now.

cymruchris

First things first - as much as you're worrying about your 'score' don't. Read the sticky at the top of the 'Credit File & Ratings' board where it tells you in more detail that it's a general indication of your creditworthiness and nothing else. It can go up, down, down some more, up, down drastically, up a bit and then not move for a year. 

In the grand scheme of getting a mortgage - from my understanding 2 late payments won't exclude you from getting a mortgage (considering those who are just a couple of years out of bankruptcy can get mortgages albeit at not the best rates).

The records on your files are accurate in terms of that's what happened. So it's unlikely that writing to Lloyds without good reason to remove them would result in anything changing. 

One thing that might affect your mortgage chances more though is if you have credit card debt. Roughly how much debt do you have sitting across your cards (and loans if you have them?)

Now that you're back in employment and getting a salary, you need to focus on doing whatever you can to get your balances down. If you really, really want that mortgage and to move home - what costs can you cut in the short term? Do you have Sky? Netflix? Superfast broadband? Expensive mobile contracts? You need to reduce your outgoings as much as possible to get your debt down. Every £1 you don't spend can go on those debts.

Do you have 'stuff' around the house that isn't being used that has a value? Old phones in drawers, an old laptop, an old iPad, a couple of boxes of new shoes you've never worn? If so - get them cleaned up and listed on ebay - money off your debts is more important than stuff sitting in a cupboard. You can replace 'stuff' later when you're in a better financial position.

It is likely that you won't get a traditional 0 percent card if you have a couple of missed payments, but as your stability continues, and you keep making (preferably significantly more than the minimum) payments - you may find they'll open up again to you further down the line. 

When you lost your job did you ask for a payment holiday?

There is a possibility that you could be eligible for a zero percent sub-prime card over a short period such as 9 months - but as soon as the zero percent ends - sky high interest kicks in - so you could go for one of these if you qualify to get a 9 month interest free period on some of your debt - but you'll have to ensure that you have the funds to kill the card balance when the 9 months arrive.

jodie789

Batesy1976 said:

Your score is irrelevant.

what matters is what is on your file and as it is not inaccurate it won't be removed.

Late payments are a negative but the impact lessens over time.  It certainly won't take 6 years to get a mortgage.

Speak to a broker and you could potentially get a mortgage right now.

Just to let you know, they did remove them after I went to the Ombudsman - see my latest post! So that rule is not set in stone, but yes, I was pleasantly surprised and it took some effort!  But thanks anyway for your help!