Credit File

[foodluva]

I recently took out a personal loan with a reputable loan company. They told me that my first payment was due 31st Oct. Tonight I received an extremely rude call from their Collections Dept advising that I had defaulted on my first payment as my payment was due 31st September.. After a huge fight (during which she threatened that my credit rating would be affected) the agent checked my notes and did a huge U-Turn on discovering that I had indeed been given the wrong date of first payment. She apologised immediately and said she would void the extra charges they had made in respect of the late payment. I immediately paid the instalment by visa. Incidentally, there were cleared funds in my bank account on 31st Sept but my bank have advised that the direct debit has never been claimed so I am assuming that although the loan was due 31st Sept, the person who advised me of the 31st Oct due date had set up the direct debit for that date as well -hence the arrears.

My question is, does 1 defaulted loan payment really affect my credit rating? I have never defaulted on anything in 20 years and my credit rating is 1st class.. Of course, I will be requesting that my credit file be unaffected but I was just curious to know whether a mere 1 defaulted payment would actually be recorded (4 days late and paid immediately)?

[bednobs]

you can check yourself by ettinga free experian check - if you pay for the monthly thing your creditors update it as to whether the payment is on time r not

[Oneeyedvic]

Your credit file (Whcih you can apply for a copy for from Experian, Equifax and Call Credit) will show a series of numbers like this:

001100012322100

The zeros mean that you have paid on time, the 1s that you are one month in arrears, the two's two months in arrears etc.

Your file will therefore show:

1

So long as this sorts itself out, it will then show

1000000

If you applied for credit this month, then it may affect your rating, however, in 6 months time, it will have a negligible affect.

[Oneeyedvic]

Just to be a bit pedantic - you have not defaulted, you are merely late in paying.

A default will have a number '8' in the above sequence, and will seriously affect your credit rating.

[foodluva]

Thanks for everyone's replies! They have assured me that my credit file will be unaffected. Apparently they don't report a late payment until it is 15 days overdue. Mine was only 4 days overdue due to their ineptness!

[Kathyan]

There isn't a 31st September!