Mortgage lender and government screw up my credit rating
Discussion
Ok, looking for a little advice on how to sort out this problem I became aware of today.
The scenario:
Had a phone message off a company I have a credit card with yesterday, asking for me to contact them, as my account had been flagged for review.
I called them first thing this morning to be informed that as part of a credit rating review, they were reducing my credit limit on my card. They went on to tell me that there is an entry on my credit rating stating I am in arrears with my mortgage, and that once my credit rating is clear, they will happily increase my credit limit back up to what it was.
I then phoned my mortgage lender, to see what this was all about, as it was the first I'd heard about it.
Turns out that as I had been receiving mortgage interest payments from the government, the mortgage company had reduced my payments by about £100 a month, which I was quite aware of, and most grateful at the time.
However, when I returned to work in November, the mortgage company did not receive any notification from the government that this was stopping (even though I received notification, spoke to my mortgage co, and they said they would do everything once the department for work and pensions sent through the notification to them. I needed to do nothing.)
It now turns out that due to this, they have not increased my mortgage payments by the £100, and as such, I am now in arrears on my mortgage by £500, and come next week when my next mortgage payment is made it will be £600 and they have made an entry on my credit rating without informing me that I am in arrears.
Firstly, I am extremely annoyed that they didn't even have the decency to inform me that my mortgage was in arrears after the first short fall, but also that the only way I found out was through my credit card company informing me.
Can anyone shed any light on how I can resolve this, as I had a very good credit rating up to this point, and don't want to loose that. I am obviously going to pay off the short fall as soon as possible, and contact the DWP first thing on Monday in order to get them to send the necessary letter to my lender.
Will this be enough to restore my credit rating, or am I going to have this hanging over me for years, that I defaulted on my mortgage for 5 or 6 months, even though it wasn't for the full months payment, and wasn't my mistake.
I know that some people will say that I should have noticed that they were not taking the full amount, but £100 is not a huge amount to over look when I have had to take a £4k a year pay cut to get back into work. I just saw my mortgage going out at a figure that was "about right".
The scenario:
Had a phone message off a company I have a credit card with yesterday, asking for me to contact them, as my account had been flagged for review.
I called them first thing this morning to be informed that as part of a credit rating review, they were reducing my credit limit on my card. They went on to tell me that there is an entry on my credit rating stating I am in arrears with my mortgage, and that once my credit rating is clear, they will happily increase my credit limit back up to what it was.
I then phoned my mortgage lender, to see what this was all about, as it was the first I'd heard about it.
Turns out that as I had been receiving mortgage interest payments from the government, the mortgage company had reduced my payments by about £100 a month, which I was quite aware of, and most grateful at the time.
However, when I returned to work in November, the mortgage company did not receive any notification from the government that this was stopping (even though I received notification, spoke to my mortgage co, and they said they would do everything once the department for work and pensions sent through the notification to them. I needed to do nothing.)
It now turns out that due to this, they have not increased my mortgage payments by the £100, and as such, I am now in arrears on my mortgage by £500, and come next week when my next mortgage payment is made it will be £600 and they have made an entry on my credit rating without informing me that I am in arrears.
Firstly, I am extremely annoyed that they didn't even have the decency to inform me that my mortgage was in arrears after the first short fall, but also that the only way I found out was through my credit card company informing me.
Can anyone shed any light on how I can resolve this, as I had a very good credit rating up to this point, and don't want to loose that. I am obviously going to pay off the short fall as soon as possible, and contact the DWP first thing on Monday in order to get them to send the necessary letter to my lender.
Will this be enough to restore my credit rating, or am I going to have this hanging over me for years, that I defaulted on my mortgage for 5 or 6 months, even though it wasn't for the full months payment, and wasn't my mistake.
I know that some people will say that I should have noticed that they were not taking the full amount, but £100 is not a huge amount to over look when I have had to take a £4k a year pay cut to get back into work. I just saw my mortgage going out at a figure that was "about right".
In my recent experience it's always your fault for not noticing something, never their fault for having screwed it up in the first place.
I know you can sometimes get things removed from your credit history, but I'm not sure if your circumstances qualify. Have a look at Equifax/Experian and see what their procedures are. I wonder if you were able to provide a letter from the government department admitting the mistake (I doubt it!) that might go in your favour.
Good luck!
I know you can sometimes get things removed from your credit history, but I'm not sure if your circumstances qualify. Have a look at Equifax/Experian and see what their procedures are. I wonder if you were able to provide a letter from the government department admitting the mistake (I doubt it!) that might go in your favour.
Good luck!
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