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A missed payment marker stays on your credit file for 6 years from the date it was recorded, the same 6-year principle that applies to defaults, CCJs and other adverse information. Each missed payment is recorded separately, so if you missed several payments over time, each one has its own entry and its own 6-year clock.
What a missed payment marker actually shows
When you don’t make a payment by its due date, the lender or credit provider you owe usually records this on your account with the credit reference agencies within the following month or two. This shows as a marker against that specific month, sometimes described as “1 month in arrears”, “2 months in arrears” and so on if the situation continues. It’s a factual record of what happened on that account in that period, rather than a summary judgement on your overall creditworthiness.
Missed payments versus a default: what’s the difference?
| Missed payment marker | Default | |
|---|---|---|
| What it records | A specific payment not made on time | The lender treating the whole account as broken down |
| When it’s usually recorded | The month the payment was missed | Typically after about 3 to 6 months of continued arrears |
| How long it stays | 6 years from when it was recorded | 6 years from the default date |
| Can several exist on one account? | Yes, one for each missed payment | Usually only one default per defaulted debt |
A single missed payment doesn’t automatically lead to a default. Many accounts recover after one missed payment is caught up, with no default ever registered. A default is a separate, more serious step that a lender takes once it considers the account has genuinely broken down, and it’s covered in more detail in our related guides on remortgaging with defaults.
Why the exact date matters
Because each missed payment marker runs its own 6-year clock from when it was recorded, an isolated missed payment from several years ago may have already dropped off your file, or be close to doing so, even if you’ve had other credit issues more recently. Checking your actual credit report, rather than relying on memory, is the only reliable way to know which markers are still showing and when each one is due to be removed. The credit file date calculator can work this out once you know the date a payment was missed and recorded.
Does it matter how the missed payment happened?
Lenders sometimes distinguish between a payment missed because of a genuine one-off issue, a bank error, a change of account details, or an isolated cashflow problem, and a pattern that reflects ongoing difficulty. The credit file itself doesn’t record the reason, only that a payment was missed, so it’s the pattern and recency across your file as a whole that tends to matter most to a lender, alongside your current income and outgoings.
If you’re at risk of missing a payment, contacting the lender before the due date is usually better than missing it and explaining afterwards. Lenders dealing with a borrower in difficulty must treat them fairly and consider forbearance options, such as a temporary payment arrangement, which can sometimes avoid a missed payment being recorded at all, or result in an arrangement to pay marker instead, which some lenders view differently to an unrecorded, unresolved arrears situation.
How missed payments interact with your wider file
A single missed payment marker doesn’t sit in isolation from everything else on your file. Lenders assessing a mortgage application typically look at the whole picture together: how many accounts you have, how they’ve generally been managed, your current income and outgoings, and the loan-to-value of the borrowing you’re asking for. An older, isolated missed payment on an account that’s otherwise been managed well for years reads very differently to an underwriter than a recent missed payment on an account already showing signs of difficulty.
Disputing an inaccurate missed payment
If a payment was genuinely made on time but shows as missed, this is usually a processing error, such as a payment made just before a bank holiday or a change of payment method. You can raise this directly with the lender first, and with the credit reference agency if it isn’t resolved. Getting a genuinely inaccurate entry corrected before you apply for a mortgage can make a real difference, since a lender has no way of knowing an entry is wrong unless it’s already been corrected or flagged as disputed.
What this means if you’re remortgaging with missed payments on file
If you’re coming to the end of a deal and know you have one or more missed payments recorded, it helps to check exactly which ones are still showing, how old each one is, and whether they’re isolated or form part of a pattern. A single older missed payment tends to matter less to most lenders than several recent ones, particularly alongside a generally well-managed file since. Our page on remortgaging with missed payments covers what a specialist adviser is likely to ask, and how to improve your credit score before you remortgage has practical next steps if your deal isn’t ending immediately.
If missed payments reflect a wider difficulty rather than a one-off, free and independent help is available from MoneyHelper, StepChange and National Debtline, and speaking to your current lender early is always worth doing before a payment is missed rather than after.
Frequently asked questions
Does one missed payment ruin your chances of a mortgage?
Not necessarily. A single, isolated missed payment, especially an older one on an otherwise well-managed account, is viewed very differently by most lenders to a pattern of repeated missed payments or a default. The rest of your file and your current circumstances matter alongside any one marker.
Do missed payments and defaults count separately?
Yes. A missed payment marker records that a specific payment wasn't made on time. If missed payments continue, a lender may later register a default on the account, which is a separate, more serious entry with its own 6-year clock starting from the default date, not the earlier missed payment dates.
Can I get a missed payment removed from my credit file?
Only if it's inaccurate. If a payment was actually made on time but recorded as missed due to a processing error, you can dispute this directly with the lender and the credit reference agency. A correctly recorded missed payment can't be removed early just because it's inconvenient.
How many missed payments before a mortgage lender is concerned?
There's no fixed number that applies across all lenders. A single missed payment several years ago is treated differently from several recent ones on the same account, and lenders weigh this alongside your current income, outgoings and the rest of your credit history rather than applying one rule.