Credit Score Basics > How long do late payments stay on your credit file?

How long do late payments stay on your credit file?

Wollit Team2 minute read · Updated 1st July 2024

In the UK, late payments remain on your credit report for six years from the date they were recorded. This means that even if you make up the missed payment, the record will still be visible to lenders for the full six-year period.

During this time, having one on your credit file can have a significant impact on your credit score and your ability to get credit.

However, this impact gets smaller over time as more recent payment history becomes more relevant to lenders.

What counts as a late payment?

A late payment is recorded when a bill is paid after the due date, usually 30 days late or more.

If a payment is made within a grace period, such as 14 days after the due date, it may not be reported as late. However, late fees may still apply in these cases.

This is why it’s important to pay off a late payment as soon as possible. You should also reach out to the lender and see if they have already reported it. In some cases, they might not report it if you pay it quickly enough and you can show that it was late because of error or one-off situations.

How do late payments affect your credit score?

Late payments can cause a big drop in your credit score, and the recent or multiple late payments have a bigger impact still.

However, the impact of late payments on your credit score gets smaller as they age. Recent late payments will be more important for the credit reference agencies and lenders than those from several years ago. Lenders in particular focus more on your recent credit history when making lending decisions.

This is why it’s so important to keep working on your credit score despite having “adverse events” like late payments recorded on your credit file.

The good news is that now there are many apps can help you build and improve credit. One such app is Wollit.

Wollit works by reporting a fixed-fee monthly subscription as a loan repayment to all credit reference agencies. This helps you build a history of timely debt repayments, which is the main factor that matters for your credit score.

On top of this, Wollit can also report your monthly rent payment to Experian. This can add another line in your credit report that shows lenders you pay your bills on time, helping you reduce the impact of a single late payment in your overall credit file.

Can you remove late payments from your credit report?

Removing a late payment from your credit report is only possible in very specific circumstances, for example if the payment was made within a grace period or if there was an error in the reporting. In these cases, you can contact the lender directly or the credit reference agencies to dispute the late payment.

However, if the late payment was accurately reported and outside of any grace period, it will stay on your credit file for the full six years.

This doesn’t mean that you’re out of options.

One thing you can do is to add a “Notice of Correction” to your credit report. This is a short note of up to 200 words that you can add to your credit report to explain why you were late making a payment. Lenders might understand if you paid a bill late because you lost your job or became ill.

While this doesn’t fix your credit score, it does give you a chance to tell your side of the story and to provide some context for lenders reviewing your credit file.

The other thing is to work on improving your credit score. You can do this in a number of ways, but one of the most effective is via a specialised credit-building app like Wollit. Eventually, having a single late payment a long time ago will matter less than having a history of timely debt repayments recently.