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Rating dropped, about to apply for mortgage

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jayutd
jayutd Posts: 21 Forumite
Fourth Anniversary 10 Posts
edited 24 January 2022 at 10:04PM in Credit file & ratings
Hi,

My partner and I have been looking to purchase a house for over a year and finally found one, we have put a reserve down and going though the motions. I was about to apply for a mortgage through a lender this week, when I found out my credit score has dropped two ratings, I had a near perfect score with Experian and it’s now dropped to “fair” within 1 month.

It turns out the credit card I closed 2 months ago, had a pending charge for a car park purchase and it didn’t show up on my statement until the following month. It didn’t show on my online banking dashboard as I closed the account.

The outstanding amount was only £6 but it has really knocked my score down. Will this prevent me from getting a good rate mortgage?

I did try to pay it off when the statement was sent after 1 month, but the customer advisor said it was a mistake and I had nothing to pay, I’m picking this up separately as a complaint.

is there anything that can be done in the mean time? I’m pretty gutted that after being careful all year, I’ve messed up at the last hurdle.
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Comments

  • Luckily for you, the three digit scores are meaningless and only provided for entertainment purposes.  
  • jayutd
    jayutd Posts: 21 Forumite
    Fourth Anniversary 10 Posts
    Luckily for you, the three digit scores are meaningless and only provided for entertainment purposes.  
    Seriously? What’s the point I them then lol?
  • To try and sell people credit cards. Lenders dont see it.
  • jayutd
    jayutd Posts: 21 Forumite
    Fourth Anniversary 10 Posts
    So no difference between 0 and a 999 score?
  • Since no one, except you, can see the made up number...yes!
  • penners324
    penners324 Posts: 3,511 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    You get the credit card provider to report your account as £0 owed. What's happened to the £6 on it?


  • Ebe_Scrooge
    Ebe_Scrooge Posts: 7,320 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    jayutd said:
    Luckily for you, the three digit scores are meaningless and only provided for entertainment purposes.  
    Seriously? What’s the point I them then lol?
    As others have said, the score is nothing more than a marketing gimmick.  Being charitable, it is - at best - an indication that something has changed in your credit circumstances.  The score will gradually rise over a period of stability, and will fall in response to any change in your credit circumstances, whether good or bad.  Open a new account, take out a new loan, close a credit card - your score will fall.  Win the lottery, pay off your mortgage and all your debts, sit pretty with zero debt and twenty million quid tucked away in the bank - your score will fall.

  • jayutd said:
    Luckily for you, the three digit scores are meaningless and only provided for entertainment purposes.  
    Seriously? What’s the point I them then lol?
    The point is that the CRAs want to move us to the US style system when a score is the be all and end all of your life, by normalising credit "scores" in the mindset of the public, it becomes easier to "incentivise" politicians to support them.
  • jayutd
    jayutd Posts: 21 Forumite
    Fourth Anniversary 10 Posts
    You get the credit card provider to report your account as £0 owed. What's happened to the £6 on it?


    They said it’s not possible to change, I know it’s BS so logged a complaint. They said they have 40 days to respond which doesn’t help with my mortgage application
  • jayutd
    jayutd Posts: 21 Forumite
    Fourth Anniversary 10 Posts
    So lenders might mind if I’ve missed two months of payments?
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