Markers on my credit file whilst in a payment holiday!!!

M47

Hello guys,

just wanted to hear your opinion on a dispute I currently have with my mortgage company.

BACKGROUND

I had a small amount of arrears just before the first lockdown and put an arrangement in place a month or 2 before the pandemic began. I was told by my mortgage company that once this arrangement was put on place, that I would not receive any late payments on my credit file so long as I stuck to it and kept to the arrangement and for the months I stuck to it I didn’t receive any late payments.

Then when the government announced payment breaks I was offered a payment holiday by my mortgage company. I understood  that a payment holiday would be a time period when I would not have to make my normal monthly payments and I would not receive late or missed payments during that time period. So I took my payment holiday for 6 months in total.

After my payment break ended I continued making my usual monthly payments on time in full. However I noticed that my mortgage company added missed payment markers on my credit file for the whole duration of the payment holiday and for 3 months after the payment holiday ended.

 I made a complaint and they are refusing to remove the missed/late payment markers due to the previous arrears on my account.

 I feel that they had an obligation to explain that my credit report would be damaged if I took the agreed payment holiday and they haven’t given an explanation as to why they had additionally given me late / missed payment markers on my credit report after the holiday ended.

 I feel that this is really harsh, I have complained to the ombudsman, and am awaiting a response.

but I would really appreciate your opinions on this?

Do you think I have a good chance in getting all of the missed payment markers removed from my credit report?

thanks in advance 

ACG

Assuming the arrears became no worse during the payment holiday on your credit report, I would say what they have done is correct.

They have a legal obligation to show a true and accurate reflection of your payment history. Lenders were required to ensure this payment holiday did not appear as arrears but as you were already in them... My personal opinion is that if the arrears did not become any worse then they have not done anything wrong. 

MWT

M47 said:

...I was told by my mortgage company that once this arrangement was put on place, that I would not receive any late payments on my credit file so long as I stuck to it and kept to the arrangement and for the months I stuck to it I didn’t receive any late payments.

Were the arrears fully cleared and you were current again before you took the payment holiday?

M47

No they were not fully cleared however I did have an official arrangement in place. My thing is, I do not expect them to ignore the arrears as they did exist, however there is a BIG difference between me missing payments against thinking that I had a payment break. I feel that the mortgage company had an obligation to let me know that by me entering into a mortgage holiday, my credit would take a massive hit. That’s my point and I do not feel that it’s accurate information to report to the credit reference agencies as I didn’t simply miss payment, I was tricked into thinking that I had a payment cushion 

Cscott139

What does it show on your credit file? has the number of missed payments increased on the report or is it just reporting the payments that you were already with?

RelievedSheff

Your credit file was already taking a "massive hit" by being in arrears so the payment holiday really won't have made much difference.

Your mortgage company is obliged to report the true status of your account to the CRA's which in this case is what they have done.

I'm not sure why you feel you have a complaint against them!!

MWT

I suspect that you will find the bank were accurately reporting the arrears on your account, but the credit reference agency shows these as 'missed payments'.

There are example judgements from the Financial Ombudsman that refer to exactly this situation:

"So we found that the bank had sent accurate information to the credit reference agencies – because they were reporting the arrears that were building up on Mr S’s account. The credit reference agency that Mr S had requested his credit report from recorded arrears as “missed payments”."

Even if you have an arrangement in place, it is still accurate for the arrears to be reported, so I suspect that the 'missed payments' extending beyond the point where your holiday ended are simply reporting the arrears until they were cleared...

kingstreet

M47 said:

Then when the government announced payment breaks I was offered a payment holiday by my mortgage company. I understood  that a payment holiday would be a time period when I would not have to make my normal monthly payments and I would not receive late or missed payments during that time period. So I took my payment holiday for 6 months in total.

Please tell us how you gained this understanding. What was the source?

Did your lender tell you a Covid payment holiday would not be reported to CRAs?

M47

kingstreet said:

M47 said:

Then when the government announced payment breaks I was offered a payment holiday by my mortgage company. I understood  that a payment holiday would be a time period when I would not have to make my normal monthly payments and I would not receive late or missed payments during that time period. So I took my payment holiday for 6 months in total.

Please tell us how you gained this understanding. What was the source?

Did your lender tell you a Covid payment holiday would not be reported to CRAs?

Hello 

this is written on the Experian website 

“

Will a payment holiday affect my credit rating?

A payment holiday won’t appear on your credit report and should not affect your credit score. Usually, missed payments would be reported by the lender to the credit reference agency.”

This is also the general understanding of a payment holiday 

[Deleted User]

What status is showing on the credit report?  If it is showing as a 1 then this doesnt mean that its reporting a missed payment every month.  This shows that at that point the mortgage was a maximum of 1 payment behind

ACG

Lets assume you were 2 months in arrears, it should just have shown as 2 2 2 2 2 2 each month on your credit report. Assuming that is how it shows, that is correct. Regardless of the covid holiday, you were still 2 months in arrears during that period - so factually it is correct. The numbers did not increase once you were taking the covid holiday, which is exactly how it should be. 

Should they have told you? Arguably and I suppose that is the argument you have but it would presumably not have made any difference as you did not have the money anyway so you are no worse off because of it. 

I think it showing as 2 2 2 2 2 is better than 2 2 2 0 0 0 2 2 anyway. 
Also, ignore your credit score. It does not exist. 

If I was investigating this complaint for the bank, I would have rejected it I think - sorry, I am not trying to be awkward.