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The default date is the day a lender registered a default on your credit file, and it’s the single most important date for working out when that default will drop off, exactly 6 years later. It’s easy to assume this is the date you first missed a payment, but it usually isn’t.
If you’re trying to work out when an old default will disappear, or whether a recent one is even correctly dated, understanding how the default date is set matters more than the balance or the type of account.
Why the default date is usually later than your first missed payment
Based on Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) guidance, lenders normally wait around 3 to 6 months of continued missed payments before registering a default, giving the account a chance to be brought back up to date first. Mortgage lenders generally have more discretion over the exact timing than other lenders.
| Stage | What typically happens |
|---|---|
| Payment missed | Account becomes overdue, lender may add a late payment marker |
| Arrears continue | Further late payment markers, usually shown as months in arrears |
| Around 3 to 6 months | Lender may send a default notice, giving a chance to remedy the arrears |
| Default registered | Default date set, 6-year period begins |
So a payment missed in January might not become a registered default until, say, June or July of the same year, once the lender has decided the account has broken down. That later date, not January, is what the 6 years counts from.
A worked example
Imagine a personal loan payment is first missed in April. The account is a month behind by May, and two months behind by June. If the arrears aren’t resolved, the lender might send a default notice in July, giving at least 14 days to put things right. If nothing changes, the default could be registered around August or September, roughly 4 to 5 months after the first missed payment. August or September, not April, is the default date that starts the 6-year clock.
The exact gap varies between lenders and account types, which is why checking your own credit report is more reliable than assuming a fixed number of months applies in every case.
What the default date does and doesn’t affect
| Affected by the default date | Not affected by the default date |
|---|---|
| When the default drops off your credit file (6 years later) | Whether you still owe the debt |
| How long other lenders can see it | Whether it’s marked satisfied or unsatisfied |
| Your right to dispute it if it’s wrong | The balance outstanding |
Paying off a default doesn’t move the date, and settling it after years of being unpaid doesn’t restart the clock either. The date is fixed once it’s correctly recorded, and only a successful dispute can change it. Our guide on what a default is covers the broader picture of how defaults work.
Debt sales and the default date
When a defaulted debt is sold to a debt collection agency, the debt collector takes over collecting the money, but the default date should not change. It also shouldn’t register a fresh, later default for the same underlying debt, which would otherwise keep it on your file for longer than it should be. If a sold debt shows a default date later than the one the original lender used, that’s worth querying, since it can make an old default look newer than it actually is. Our guide on what happens when your debt is sold explains the mechanics of a debt sale in more detail.
Checking your own default dates
Because the exact date decides when an entry disappears, it’s worth checking carefully rather than estimating. Get your free statutory credit report from Experian, Equifax and TransUnion, since the same debt can occasionally show slightly different dates on different agencies if it was reported at different times.
Once you have the date, you can use the credit file date calculator to see exactly when it will drop off, rather than working it out by hand.
Does the default date ever move once it’s set?
Once correctly recorded, the default date shouldn’t move. It stays fixed even if you later agree a payment plan, settle the balance in full, or the debt is sold to a different company. The only time it should change is if it was wrong in the first place and a dispute confirms the correct date, or the account is proved not to be yours at all. Treat any unexplained change to a default date you weren’t expecting as a reason to check your file closely, rather than assuming it’s a minor administrative update.
If the date looks wrong
If a default date seems too recent, too old, or inconsistent with your own records, raise it with the lender named on the account first and ask them to explain how it was calculated. If they can’t, or the account isn’t yours at all, you can escalate a dispute with the credit reference agency. Our guide on how to remove a default sets out when a default can be corrected or removed early, which is only when it’s genuinely wrong.
What this means for remortgaging
An adviser working with adverse credit will usually ask for the exact default date on each account, not just roughly how old it is, because lenders can take different views depending on how close a default is to dropping off. If your default is nearing 6 years, it may be worth waiting if your circumstances allow it. If not, our page on remortgaging with defaults explains what else is likely to be considered alongside the date, such as whether the default is settled and what type of account it was on.
Frequently asked questions
Is the default date the same as the date I stopped paying?
Not usually. Lenders normally register a default a few months after the arrears begin, based on Information Commissioner's Office guidance, so the default date is typically later than the date of your first missed payment. Check your credit report rather than assuming.
Can the default date change if my debt is sold?
It shouldn't. When a debt is sold to a debt collection agency, the original default date stays the same, and the new owner shouldn't register a second, later default for the same debt. See our guide on what happens when your debt is sold.
What if my default date looks wrong?
Raise it with the lender named on your credit file first, and ask them to explain how the date was set. If they can't justify it, or the account isn't yours, you can dispute it with the credit reference agency. Our guide on correcting errors on your credit file sets out the process.
Does paying off the debt change the default date?
No. Paying, even in full, changes the status to satisfied or settled, but the default date itself, and the 6 years counted from it, stay the same.