A family has been left ‘horrified’ as they claim they are being forced to sell their ‘much-loved’ home after missing a mortgage payment by just three days. Dr Brian McDonough and his wife Jessie allege that their property is now on the market due to Metro Bank downgrading their credit score following the missed payment.
The couple, parents to two young children, say they can ‘barely afford’ the enormous interest rate imposed on their credit cards after missing one mortgage payment two years ago. They assert that Metro Bank placed a marker on their credit score after a single late payment, causing their credit card payments to skyrocket.
Dr McDonough, an academic from Andover in Hampshire, stated he has ‘never missed a payment’ in 20 years. He said: “In February 2022 my wife got a new job, and we did not know we missed a mortgage payment, when her pay day changed.”We didn’t know that it hadn’t come out of her account. Metro Bank didn’t text us, they didn’t email us, they didn’t telephone us, they didn’t write to us for six days and when they phoned us on the sixth day after the payment was due we paid within 20 minutes – but they still marked our credit files.”
In my eyes you don’t mark someone’s credit file without at least asking for the money first – at least letting the person know there’s an outstanding balance.
Dr McDonough has branded the situation with Metro Bank a ‘scandal’, despite the Financial Ombudsman confirming that the bank was within its legal rights to add the marker.
Currently, his family is unable to downsize or rent due to failing credit checks caused by the marker from Metro Bank. Although they have sufficient equity in their home to consolidate debts, Metro Bank is denying them additional borrowing because of the marker they imposed. A spokesperson for Metro Bank expressed empathy for Dr. McDonough and his family’s predicament, stating: “We have sympathy for the situation Dr. McDonough and his family are facing. As a responsible lender we follow our policies and procedures which do not allow us to lend to any customer without the necessary credit checks, reports the Manchester Evening News.
The spokesperson added that the bank had offered assistance with mortgage payments, but Dr. McDonough did not pursue these options, though he can arrange another appointment in the future.
However, Dr McDonough has dismissed the bank’s efforts as inadequate, saying: “I’ve no problem with paying the mortgage payments – it’s the interest on our existing debt which is now double our mortgage payments – a direct consequence of the mortgage marker Metro Bank placed on our files. They refuse to help with this because their computer credit checker will fail us.
“He elaborated that a Metro Mortgage Adviser had apologised for the marker, admitting it was a ‘mistake’, but then the Bank ‘sanctioned’ him, claiming he was ‘wrong’. “The bank applied the marker in 2022, then removed the marker in 2023, at first saying it was a mistake they made, but then saying it was removed to support us going forward,” Dr McDonough explained.
However, he revealed that this marker caused their credit card interest rates to skyrocket from 0 percent to 30 percent. Dr McDonough expressed frustration that banks like Metro refuse to consolidate 0 percent credit cards into a mortgage and are now unwilling to consolidate the family’s debts, as the automated credit checks disqualify them. “They are basically leaving us homeless because they rely on a computer,” Dr McDonough lamented. “The robots are failing us. I love my house – it is the home to my two beautiful children.
Local MP Kit Malthouse has intervened twice with letters to the bank pleading for assistance for the family, yet Metro has not provided any aid. The family’s request for a meeting with the Managing Director of Metro Bank was denied, and they are now forced to sell their home in Portland Close, Andover.
They plan to move in with Dr McDonough’s parents in Liverpool until their financial standing can be restored.
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