Mortgage company credit marks

pebblepuss

Not sure this is something I can discuss here but I will give it a go!
My husband died 4 months ago. It was a massive shock but I still managed to organise all the bills and the incredible amount of bureaucratic bumf that comes with living today. Previously my husband did it all as I still worked (self employed, coming up for pensioner too). I was very aware that I could not default on anything, especially the mortgage. 3 months in, I had sent my direct debit detail to the mortgage company but they couldn't organise it in time so they asked me to pay the next payment on the 31 December. It was Christmas/New Year and I was organising a wake for my husband on the 3 January. Somehow I got mixed up and thought it was 31 January. I paid on the 5 January and the next day they phoned me up to say that they were giving me a credit mark because of the late payment. I wrote a 'goodwill' letter saying how difficult things had been for me over that time and asking them delete it but got an email back saying that they had done everything correctly so they wouldn't. 
There are a lot more ins and outs to our relationship with the mortgage company including a previous staff member buying our last house, asking for a discount and we refused ...
With all that, I was essentially wondering if there is any other way I can get them to delete it. My mortgage is up for renewal at the end of this year and I have never had one by myself before. Also, I am a pensioner ... soon ... a women (I have always been aware that it makes a difference) and self employed so I fear all this including the credit mark will make it really difficult. My Credit score is really good otherwise .... I don't know if this is all too personal ... Tried the Citizens Advice Bureau, 2 weeks ago, no reply to my particular query ...

DullGreyGuy

The CRA is a factual record of your credit history, it is unfortunately factually correct that you made a late payment. It would have been nice of them to delete it as a gesture of goodwill but gestures of goodwill by definition are not mandatory. 

The normal route is to complain stating you will take the matter to the Financial Ombudsman on the basis that its easier for them to delete it than have to pay the £650 that the FOS charges for all complaints irrespective of if they are upheld or not. Personally would say that companies are less bullied into decisions by threats of the FOS than they used to be and dont want to develop reputations that they roll over for anything under £500. 

Outside that you can put a note against it with the CRAs to explain the circumstances. For straight through processing applications like a mobile phone or store credit they clearly dont do anything but for more considered applications like mortgages maybe they are. 

Finally a single late payment marker is not a terrible blemish on an otherwise perfect record. Some of the richest people I know are pensioners so thats neither here nor there, not sure why you think there is rampant sexism in the mortgage industry especially at your age where you are statically likely to be healthier for longer, similar self employment isnt a problem for many lenders as long as you've got history of sustained profits... I got a decision in priciniple for up to £750k of mortgage based on my self employed income but it's over 15 years now with little fluctuation year on year. 

CliveOfIndia

As above, it is unfortunately an accurate record of the facts - nothing more, nothing less.  Yes it would have been nice if they'd showed a little compassion and exercised some discretion, but the bottom line is they've done nothing wrong.  But one minor blemish in an otherwise solid credit history will have a miniscule effect on any further credit applications.

pebblepuss said:

 ... a women (I have always been aware that it makes a difference)

I'm not sure where you've heard that little gem.  But any company who discriminated based purely on gender would quickly find themselves in very hot water.

pebblepuss said:

My Credit score is really good otherwise

Pay no heed to your score, it's nothing more than a meaningless marketing gimmick.  A lender will be looking purely at the data contained within your file (they can't even see the comedy score dished out by the CRAs).

pebblepuss

Thanks guys, I guess I am overthinking it and it may not be such a problem when it comes to it ... we shall see ...