Late payment and credit score

Andreafrench22

Hello, I am looking for some advice.  I made a purchase on a credit card (Santander) that I hadn't used in a while (the card had zero balance).  As this was not an interest free card I opened a new 0% balance transfer credit card with another lender and transferred the balance (£ 1,472.23).  I didn't check the Santander account after that as I thought I had cleared the balance.  

Yesterday I noticed an email from Santander (I get lots so tend to ignore them) but this one said "Notice of Sums in Arrears", this shocked me into checking my online account.  I was shocked to discover the balance transfer payment had been made 2 days  after my minimum payment date and I had incurred interest of £28 and 2 late payment fees of £12 each taking my balance to £53. 

I contacted the bank through online chat (telephone lines had closed) to advise this was a genuine mistake and offered to pay the balance immediately, but was there anything they could do about the late payment notice as I was concerned about my credit rating.  I have (or had an excellent credit score and never missed a payment in my life).  I was advised there is nothing they can do quote "Sadly we can only apply to have your credit record amended if a Santander error has taken place - as we provide a statement to you each month letting you know the due date and the payments weren't made by this date, unfortunately we do have to report the late payment to the credit reference agencies and can't have those revoked"  I asked how I can raise a dispute/complaint about this and was advised "It is not something I can dispute as this is only possible if its a Santander error".

I understand this is my error but the charges £53 for a payment that was 2 days late is an approx. APR of £1315% is excessive to say the least, nevertheless I have now paid this and my main concern is the impact this will have on my credit rating.  Is there anything I can do about this?

JonVarnas

I do have to ask. If you wanted to make a purchase and not have to pay interest for a while, while not just apply for a card that had 0% on purchases and just use that?

Phoenix72

They are obliged to report the facts, the fact is that, through your own fault, you made a late payment. That's the harsh reality of not checking your statements/balance.

It will likely have an impact on your make believe credit score but nobody sees that. However a late payment marker may have a short term affect on your ability to obtain further credit. My advice would be to chalk it down to experience and ensure it doesn't happen again. The effect of it will pass over time.

Ayr_Rage

@andreafrench22 you'll just have to accept it, Santander have correctly reported the facts.

Advice, don't ignore ANY emails from financial institutions you have accounts with.

Nasqueron

What many people don't seem to be aware is that if you don't pay the card in full (where there are no promotional rates), then interest calculations are done on the full balance which is why it's high. The late fees cannot be used in an APR calculation as they are 2 different things. 

Brie

re your credit score - don't worry about that as you're the only person that sees it.  What the banks and other creditors look at is your credit history/report.

On an Experian credit report there's a traffic light system.  All payments made on time and everything fine then it's all green showing for each month.  Late payment or less than the minimum one month - that gets a yellow.  A series of missed payments then things go red.

Your report will show a yellow for the month with the missed payment and will show the outstanding balance on the account.  Assuming you pay all the fees to clear the account and any subsequent interest that might accrue then it will return to green.  So a creditor will look at this and think "oops they missed a payment but got it sorted promptly."  Each month that passes will make this less of an issue and will get less and less likely to be noticed at all.

From what you see - yes your credit score will take a hit but will recover so don't worry about it.  

Hopefully you've set up at least minimum payments by DD for the card the money has been transferred to so you avoid any other issues.  

Gandalf644

OP - Do check your account after the next statement has been produced as although you have in effect 'paid off' the card, there maybe a small amount of 'trailing interest' on the card balance which would show on your next statement.

I am certain you don't want another 'late payment' marker for this.