24/06/2026
Thinking of applying a mortgage? π‘
My biggest piece of advice. π©βπΌ
Pay your Direct Debits. π§Ύ
What's happened? π€
If you have ever saw 'RETURNED DIRECT DEBIT' on your bank statement - it means you didn't have enough funds in your bank account to pay your bill. The request to take the funds, was declined by your bank and your bill remains unpaid.
What did you do? βοΈ π·
You may have called the company direct and paid by your debit card. You may have paid online, or you may have waited for the company to request the payment again...but you've paid the bill. The company's happy, you're happy. You are all squared up.
What does a Mortgage Lender think? πΈ π΅οΈ
They see RETURNED DIRECT DEBIT as a red flag π© which requires more investigation
It could mean you are not managing your money very well
It could mean you are over spending
it could mean you are over committed
it could mean you don't quite have enough money to maintain your life
It could mean you simply don't care about your finances.
How does it impact A Mortgage Application? π π€
A mortgage lender does not want to own your home. They simply want to lend you the money, so you pay them interest. The interest is their business and how they make money.
They do lots of checks to make sure that you can afford the loan and that you are a low risk. Everyone is a risk, but they want you to be as low risk as possible. (different lenders have different risk appetites, but thats a different story for a different time)
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They understand everyone can slip up, and simply forget a payment was coming out. But if it happens regularly then they will see this as a missed payment. Not simply a missed direct debit and will be unlikely to lend you what you need.
What can you do? π π
Look at your direct debits and check the dates they come out.
This is easily obtained from you banking app, your statement or your online account.
Look at when you are most low on funds. For most of us, its usually just before pay day or it could be directly after a large direct debit is taken.
Do you have a direct debit which you keep missing, keep forgetting about, never have the money in and just pay when you can?
Change the payment date to a date you know you have money in your account
Cancel the direct debit, and pay another way. Bank transfer, online, debit card are all other ways.
If you have a DD coming out and know you can't pay...two things you can do. Call the company and ask them to delay the request, or cancel the direct debit (if its imminent I would recommend this) and then call the company you owe the payment to and arrange payment another way.
If you still don't understand the fuss as to why it matters? Think about how you would feel if you were thinking of lending someone a large amount of money and they kept missing payments. Would it make you feel nervous? Probably.
But don't fret...
There are lenders who will say yes, if you have missed payments...
They just don't always give the best interest rate.
A good mortgage adviser will guide you and find the best interest rate for you.
