Missed payments removal from credit file

savingsavy

Hi, 

I am looking to get a mortgage with my husband and we are looking at improving our credit file. 

In 2018 my husband's employer started making significant unlawful deductions from his wages. This became a regular occurrence. This led to the onset of my husband's mental disabilities (as defined under the Equality Act 2010). 

It took a while to identify there was a problem and get treatment while fighting his employer. It took years and went to the Employment Tribunal.

We settled with his employer. My husband has since been able to manage his disabilities better with ongoing treatment. It's not perfect but we are getting there.

As a result since 2018, a lot of British Gas bills got missed. 

Although the situation has now improved, it looks very bad on his credit file. We have the deposit for a mortgage and we are worried about how this looks. 

We are thinking of approaching British Gas and asking them to remove the missed payments given the extenuating circumstances we faced at the time (onset of disabilities and unlawful deduction from his wages).  

Are there any templates we can use? What do you think must be included? 

Kind regards

TheSpectator

To be blunt, it's British Gas responsibility to report the factual circumstances of what happened, i.e. you missed payments. The time to approach them was 2018 not 6 years later.

Edit to add, based on your other threads you (or your husband) are just out an IVA?

savingsavy

TheSpectator said:

To be blunt, it's British Gas responsibility to report the factual circumstances of what happened, i.e. you missed payments. The time to approach them was 2018 not 6 years later.

Edit to add, based on your other threads you (or your husband) are just out an IVA?

Yes, we are just out of a joint IVA, it dropped off our credit file earlier this year. Some CRAs have not updated the records for my husband's credit file yet. We have provided them with the IVA closing pack and certificate. 

I appreciate your bluntness, it is true. Unfortunately, at the time we were dealing with so many issues, financial issues, the onset of disabilities for my husband which has been a long journey to trial treatment and manage as well as personal issues within our relationship. There were no thoughts to his credit file. We are just now starting to pick up the pieces of our lives.

I have considered just explaining this during our mortgage application but I worry that it will highlight us as a greater risk. 

savingsavy

It may be worth mentioning that British Gas were a contributing party to my husband's stress and the decline of his mental health by cutting off our electricity and demanding payment for a significantly inflated bill, as per this thread here: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6102976/british-gas-says-we-owe-1600-as-we-have-not-paid-electricity-for-2yrs-and-getting-away-with-it/p1

ACG

You can ask them. 
Whether they will or not is down to them. When I worked for a bank and we received requests like this, the standard line was "we are legally obliged to provide a true and accurate reflection of your account." (said with a bit of empathy and compassion but ultimately it is basically a "no"). I will be honest though, if I got someone like your situation who came on the phone being nice, I would just bang through a request and I think they were always put through - but we are talking 12 years ago. 

Get a copy of all 3 credit reports, sometimes they may only report to 1 or 2 of the credit agencies - so you might be able to wangle it on a technicality. Always a bit of a gamble in case they start to use a different agency. 

Failing that, building societies will probably be your friend here. Not the big ones, but the smaller ones who do everything on an individual basis. If your struggling though, speak to a broker. I dont think some arrears on a gas bill is going to prevent you getting a mortgage, it might just make it a little more expensive. 

savingsavy

Thank you @TheSpectator and @ACG for your help here, I'll give it a go and see where it goes. 

savingsavy

ACG said:

You can ask them. 
Whether they will or not is down to them. When I worked for a bank and we received requests like this, the standard line was "we are legally obliged to provide a true and accurate reflection of your account." (said with a bit of empathy and compassion but ultimately it is basically a "no"). I will be honest though, if I got someone like your situation who came on the phone being nice, I would just bang through a request and I think they were always put through - but we are talking 12 years ago. 

Get a copy of all 3 credit reports, sometimes they may only report to 1 or 2 of the credit agencies - so you might be able to wangle it on a technicality. Always a bit of a gamble in case they start to use a different agency. 

Failing that, building societies will probably be your friend here. Not the big ones, but the smaller ones who do everything on an individual basis. If your struggling though, speak to a broker. I dont think some arrears on a gas bill is going to prevent you getting a mortgage, it might just make it a little more expensive. 

@ACG I see you are a mortgage advisor from your signature. My husband and I had a joint IVA that was settled in earlier this year with a full and final payment. The IVA dropped off our credit file a few months ago. Since then we've come into some money and have enough for a deposit on a house. A family member pointed out that the IVA is still be reported in the background and therefore limits the range of mortgage providers available for the next 6 years even with the IVA off our credit file. 

Are you able to explain if it is true and maybe give us a few pointers on things we can do? We are first-time buyers and are currently renting. 

TheSpectator

savingsavy said:

ACG said:

You can ask them. 
Whether they will or not is down to them. When I worked for a bank and we received requests like this, the standard line was "we are legally obliged to provide a true and accurate reflection of your account." (said with a bit of empathy and compassion but ultimately it is basically a "no"). I will be honest though, if I got someone like your situation who came on the phone being nice, I would just bang through a request and I think they were always put through - but we are talking 12 years ago. 

Get a copy of all 3 credit reports, sometimes they may only report to 1 or 2 of the credit agencies - so you might be able to wangle it on a technicality. Always a bit of a gamble in case they start to use a different agency. 

Failing that, building societies will probably be your friend here. Not the big ones, but the smaller ones who do everything on an individual basis. If your struggling though, speak to a broker. I dont think some arrears on a gas bill is going to prevent you getting a mortgage, it might just make it a little more expensive. 

@ACG I see you are a mortgage advisor from your signature. My husband and I had a joint IVA that was settled in earlier this year with a full and final payment. The IVA dropped off our credit file a few months ago. Since then we've come into some money and have enough for a deposit on a house. A family member pointed out that the IVA is still be reported in the background and therefore limits the range of mortgage providers available for the next 6 years even with the IVA off our credit file. 

Are you able to explain if it is true and maybe give us a few pointers on things we can do? We are first-time buyers and are currently renting. 

It is true that any lenders included in an IVA etc will retain that info internally so your range of providers may be restricted and the IVA will remain on your credit file for 6 years. Getting the late payment markers removed may do nothing to improve your position.

ACG

I made a big post about this on our website recently. 
Most lenders need 6 years discharged before they will consider you. (this covers about 90% of the market). 
Some need 3 years, 1 year or for it just to be satisfied at time of application/by completion. 
Other lenders work from the date of registration. 

If it was registered over 6 years ago and it has been satisfied - you should have a couple of lenders, but probably less than a handful. One for a broker, but rates could range from normal up to around 7-8% depending on the details and who was included in the IVA.

savingsavy

ACG said:

I made a big post about this on our website recently. 
Most lenders need 6 years discharged before they will consider you. (this covers about 90% of the market). 
Some need 3 years, 1 year or for it just to be satisfied at time of application/by completion. 
Other lenders work from the date of registration. 

If it was registered over 6 years ago and it has been satisfied - you should have a couple of lenders, but probably less than a handful. One for a broker, but rates could range from normal up to around 7-8% depending on the details and who was included in the IVA.

Any chance of getting a link to the post you wrote please?
I am looking for a mortgage broker now as well as per your advice.

ACG

savingsavy said:

ACG said:

I made a big post about this on our website recently. 
Most lenders need 6 years discharged before they will consider you. (this covers about 90% of the market). 
Some need 3 years, 1 year or for it just to be satisfied at time of application/by completion. 
Other lenders work from the date of registration. 

If it was registered over 6 years ago and it has been satisfied - you should have a couple of lenders, but probably less than a handful. One for a broker, but rates could range from normal up to around 7-8% depending on the details and who was included in the IVA.

Any chance of getting a link to the post you wrote please?
I am looking for a mortgage broker now as well as per your advice.

I dont think I am allowed to self promote so probably cant post the link, but I have just checked and its not actually been published yet. I was writing a few up earlier in the month and publish one a week but that one has not been made live yet. Sorry.