The prospect of being paid late or large bill payment like car repairs or a new boiler can hit borrowers hard.

The consequences of these scenarios are often felt the most when it comes to meeting regular outgoings, such as credit commitments and utility payments.

Missing these can negatively impact credit records and therefore the ability to secure borrowing in the future.

Debt and missed payments aren’t the only reasons why your client may fail a lender’s credit score. Credit score fails could occur if your client has:

• Access to too much credit, or has not taken enough credit in the past to establish a robust history
• A higher debt to income ratio than expected
• Issues with linked addresses, or frequent change of address
• Previously taken a payday loan, often as a result of being incorrectly advised that this would help to build their credit score
• Been the victim of fraud
• Been in their current role for a short period of time or has had too many jobs
• Mis-keyed information within the application. Date of birth is a frequent source of this problem.

Some of the reasons listed above can lead to your lenders cascading your clients to a more expensive product.

Many borrowers believe that their credit score could make or break their mortgage application, but it’s time to give them good news…

Credit scores don’t tell the full story

Not all lenders use what can be an arbitrary number as part of their affordability assessment.

Credit scoring is an automated process, so it doesn’t look at an individual’s circumstances in full.

A more human approach to underwriting

What is included within your clients’ credit report is what we’re interested in, alongside other key documents such as bank statements and a written summary of any past financial difficulties.

This approach to underwriting gives your clients, the very best chance to secure to the mortgage that they need to get on the property ladder or to help re-organise their finances.

Specialist lenders, like Pepper Money, are increasingly offering mortgages for clients who have failed a credit score at rates that are not much more than those offered by high street lenders.

They can look beyond a credit score and support the search for an affordable solution that works for your client.

Check out our affordability calculators to see how much your clients could borrow and give our BDM team a call to discuss a case.