Pepper Money has established the most common reasons for people to have an adverse credit record as part of its Adverse Credit Study, in association with YouGov.

The most common reason, shared by 73% of people with an adverse credit record is a simple missed credit payment, and 43% of all adults who have missed a credit payment say they have missed more than one.

The second most common reason is missing several credit payments, resulting in a Default, which has been experienced by 35% of people with adverse credit. 27% have entered into a Debt Management Plan and a similar number (26%) have unsecured arrears.

22% of people with adverse credit have had a CCJ registered against them in the last three years, and this has increased from 18% since the research was last carried out in autumn 2020. The least common reason for adverse credit is secured arrears, which has been experienced by 18% of people with adverse credit.

The latest round of the Pepper Money Adverse Credit Study, carried out by YouGov, found that 6.29 million people in the UK have experienced some form of adverse credit in the last three years.

Paul Adams, sales director at Pepper Money, said: “There are well over six million people in this country who have some sort of adverse credit on their file from the last three years. Often it’s simply the result of a missed credit payment, or multiple missed payments. Over two million people have received a Default, and nearly 1.4 million people have received a CCJ – including, of course, Boris Johnson, according to recent reports.

The ways in which people can get an adverse credit record and the circumstances that lead to it are diverse, but the unifying factor for all of these customers is that there are mortgage lenders able to make sensible decisions based on their individual circumstances and provide opportunities to borrow the money they need to meet their goals.

“At Pepper Money, we take just this approach. Every application is assessed by an expert underwriter who takes the time to understand a customer’s circumstances and their ability to maintain mortgage payments. This means we don’t exclude customers just because their circumstances seem complex. Instead, we look for reasons to lend and deliver a more inclusive approach to mortgages for a more diverse range of customers.”