Devastated teacher, 28, refused mortgage on dream first home because of PARKING TICKET she was told had been cancelled
A TEACHER has been denied a mortgage for her dream first home because of a parking ticket she was told had been cancelled.
Sarah Arrowsmith, 28, had a poor credit rating because of a Country Court Judgement she was totally unaware of.
Now her and fiance Ross Tredger are devastated, as the three-bedroom house they had set their sights on has been sold to someone else.
The young teacher from Burton upon Trent, Staffs, got a ticket when she left her car in a Halfords car park overnight.
Private firm Parking Eye said she had stayed over the time limit at the retail park in Derby.
Can a parking ticket affect your credit score?
If the issue is settled outside of court, it won’t affect your credit score at all.
Even if the issue does go to court, it’ll still only appear on your credit file if you lose the case, then you fail to pay the county court judgements (CCJ) within 30 days.
It’ll be the unpaid CCJ that appears on your credit report, not the reason you were served it.
Unpaid CCJs do tend to wreak havoc to credit scores, so it’s highly advisable not to let the issue drag on for this long. In this case, as well as having to deal with the consequences of a damaged credit score, you’ll have to pay additional fines and court costs.
If, like Sarah, you shouldn’t have got the ticket, you can contact the credit agency and tell them there’s a mistake on your file.
They can either delete it or make a note on the file so it doesn’t affect your credit score.
She said: “I contacted Halfords and they said, ‘You’re exempt from paying this.’ They rang Parking Eye and said it was cancelled.”
Despite two more requests for payment, Halfords continued to insist the fine had been cancelled.
Meanwhile Sarah moved to new address and hadn’t received letters alerting her that the case had gone to county court, with the original £60 fine increasing to £197.
We’re absolutely devastated that this mistake has prevented us from getting a mortgage. It’s hard enough for young people to get on the housing ladder
Sarah Arrowsmith
She said: “The first I heard about it was when our mortgage application was denied. I was in tears. We had done all of the checks and were about to submit our offer.
“I had to look up what a CCJ was. I am a very law-abiding citizen and I always pay off my credit cards each month.
“We’re absolutely devastated that this mistake has prevented us from getting a mortgage. It’s hard enough for young people to get on the housing ladder.”
Sarah and Ross, 30, are now trying to get the judgement removed from her credit file before they start house-hunting again.
She said: “All this for a parking ticket.
“We just wanted a nice house to start our life together. I now feel my whole life has been put on hold.”
Halfords said: “We are really sorry to hear the impact that this situation has had on Sarah.
“We have been able to see from our records that as soon as Sarah brought the parking fine to our attention we made it clear to Parking Eye that because her car was in our care and booked in for a service, the ticket and fines should be rescinded.
“We have been in touch with Parking Eye on Sarah’s behalf and have urged them to cancel these fines with immediate effect.”
Parking Eye said it had “no record of receiving any communication”.
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