Credit fraud is fraud committed using victim's a payment card, such as a credit card or debit card, or stealing personal data to open a fake account. This includes stealing cards, using stolen account information to create “clone” cards, and opening new accounts using stolen personal information.

Credit fraud can prevent your mortgage application from proceeding. As a mortgage brokerage, we base our mortgage applications on the criteria of the lender to whom the application is being submitted. Lenders will use credit profile data to decide whether they deem the applicant is within their risk tolerance. This is why a letter from the credit provider to confirm you have credit fraud will not be sufficient to progress your mortgage application. Finding a lender that would meet your requirements based on the assessment they would make on your credit profile can be extremely difficult.

It's common for customers to think it is the credit data providers (i.e. TransUnion) that are responsible for updating incorrect credit data, however, it is actually the credit provider that needs to make the update. Therefore, you need to raise it directly with your credit provider, such as American Express. It may be you need to escalate your request to more formal channels, for example raising it as a complaint or contacting them via their Fraud Team.

You would be able to find details of the correct contact details on any letter you had been sent from your credit provider. It is important that you state clearly the impact this is having on your wellbeing, as well as your ability to take out new lines of credit, in this instance your mortgage.

It may take up to 1 month for your credit report to reflect any changes made by your credit provider. This may mean we will have to look to proceed with your mortgage application in a month's time once the changes have been made.

There may be some other specialist brokers or mortgage lenders who are willing to process the application, however, they will likely be subject to higher rates and not able to offer the product you need to get on the ladder (for example, an Income Boost).

Therefore, it makes sense to focus on removing the credit fraud rather than lock into a higher rate with a specialist lender.

At a minimum, in order for us to consider other lenders for your application we need the latest missed payments to be removed from the credit provider. Some lenders may consider an application if the fraud was over 2 years ago, but this isn't guaranteed. Once the latest missed payments are removed, we should be in a much better position to review your mortgage options.