A woman from Hampshire was left shocked after her mortgage application was rejected because of an unpaid £3.99 delivery charge that she had forgotten about. Kelly Miles, 33, discovered a 'big red mark' on her credit file when she and her ex-partner tried to buy a new home. After investigating, she found that the missed payment was the sole reason she could not obtain a mortgage.
The charge originated from a 'buy-now-pay-later' scheme she used a year earlier to purchase an iPad mini as a birthday gift. While she successfully repaid the £500 cost of the device within the six-month period, the small delivery fee remained unpaid, leaving a significant blot on her financial record.
Ms Miles, a mother of two and advice charity manager, urges others to check their credit score every month to avoid similar mistakes. She said: 'Young me decided I wanted to get my ex-partner an iPad mini and I bought it on a buy now pay later. That part of it was fine, it was on a six-month agreement and I paid it in six months. Me and my ex lived in a rental property at the time and the landlord wanted to serve us notice on that rental property. We wanted to buy so we went ahead and put the mortgage application in, which is when we discovered this big red mark on my credit file.'
She added: 'It turned out the iPad mini that I'd bought on buy now pay later had a £3.99 delivery charge to be sent to me, which apparently I didn't pay at the time of purchase. But I never had notification of this – I don't remember seeing a single letter. Basically this £3.99 charge that I hadn't paid for delivery had been put on as a mis-payment so I'm meant to have paid it, but each time I've missed the payment, it's put that massive red mark on my credit file. On that basis I couldn't get accepted for a mortgage and my ex-partner had to buy the house without me.'
Ms Miles felt 'disappointed' and 'frustrated' because the issue was out of her control. She had to be more careful with other credit, as any further refusal would add more marks to her file. The experience put her off using buy-now-pay-later schemes, and she now checks her credit score at least once a month. She said: 'Before then though I was never in any debt – this was the only buy-now-pay-later thing I'd ever bought, so I almost had no reason to check my credit score regularly. We're looking to buy next year so I'm very conscious of my credit score at the moment and making sure that there's nothing creeping up on there. I'm not someone who's in debt so you would always automatically assume that your credit score must be good, but it wasn't.'
She advises others to check their credit score soon after taking out any new credit product, such as a buy-now-pay-later scheme, credit card, or loan, to ensure the information is correct.
