A few months ago I got an online Experian credit report as I was anticipating applying for a mortgage within the next 6 months. Everything was normal except for one thing that got me worried.
There was a credit card registered to my previous address ( I hadn't lived there for about 9 months) and it showed that I hadn't paid the bill for 3 or 4 months. The card was with a company that I didn't believe I had a card with so I was obviously worried about fraud.
As the card was registered to my old address, I went back there the day after to pick up any old post and hopefully find the bills for this card. The bills were there and it looks as though it was a card I must have applied for but then never used and forgotten about. Luckily, no money had been spent on my card, in fact, the card had NEVER been used. The problem had arisen because they had sent a letter to my old address (of course my fault for forgetting about this particular card and thus not notifying them of my new address). The letter stated that the originally free card was now going to have a £20 annual charge. Of course as I didn't get this letter I couldn't object or cancel. However, there were now bills dated after this letter with the £20 charge on them, and it is this that has caused the 3 or 4 months of an unpaid bill. When I called the company, they told me that my card was being canceled the week after anyway because they had noticed I had never used it, they were also just wiping the £20 fee.
I assume that this will stay on my credit report regardless of them canceling the card and wiping the £20 debt. Is there any way to remove this? Will it effect a mortgage application? Can credit card companies suddenly add an annual fee without you have to sign something to agree to the change of terms?