3.2 million UK adults missed some form of major payment over the last two years as the pandemic hit some household’s finances hard, according to research from The Mortgage Lender.

This equates to 6% of people who missed their usual payments, including on major expenses such as their rent, mortgage, or credit cards. Four in 100 UK adults admit to having missed multiple payments, representing a significant proportion of the population who’ve been financially squeezed throughout the pandemic and who may have fallen into adverse credit.

Young adults are more likely to have experienced financial difficulty throughout the pandemic, as the age group most affected by job instability. 11% of 18-34-year-olds missed at least one usual payment in the past two years, nearly four times the amount of over-55s (3%). And 6% of young adults admit to having missed multiple payments.

Prospective homebuyers are more likely to have accrued adverse credit recently, with 10% admitting to having missed one or more payments in the past two years, putting them at risk of having a mortgage application rejected.

Across all adults who admitted to missing a payment, the average number of payments missed was three, with 31% missing five or more.

Looking at what bills had been missed, the majority had missed a credit card payment, at 45% of all missed payments. People identified the other payments they’d missed as following:

• 40% missed a utility bill payment
• 27% missed paying their council tax
• 25% missed their rent payments
• 23% missed personal loan repayments
• 7% missed mortgage repayments

For those individuals who missed a payment and are now looking to re-mortgage, they could face additional difficulties with the potential to tick over onto a standard variable rate (SVR) – particularly a concern with current high interest rates.

Peter Beaumont, CEO of The Mortgage Lender, said: “The past two years have impacted many people’s jobs and salaries, putting a squeeze on household finances, and with the rising cost of living there is even greater pressure on the nation’s finances. This can all lead an individual to miss a regular payment which then could have a knock-on effect on their access to credit down the line.

“In such a volatile economic climate, it’s important that more people are prevented from falling down a rabbit hole of financial difficulty. The lending market needs to become better equipped to deal with the greater quantities of people who are emerging from the pandemic with adverse credit histories.

“Rather than penalising people for the consequences of an unprecedented event, the industry should be working together to support those who’ve missed payments so that people, especially aspiring homeowners, aren’t locked out of the market.”