A teacher has been refused a mortgage on her first home — all because of a parking ticket she was told had been cancelled.
Sarah Arrowsmith’s credit rating was poor because of a County Court Judgement she knew nothing about.
Now the three-bedroom house she and fiancé Ross Tredger had set their hearts on has been sold to someone else.
Sarah, 28, got a ticket after leaving her car at Halfords overnight. Private firm Parking Eye said she had overstayed the limit at a retail park in Derby.
She said: “I contacted Halfords and they said, ‘You’re exempt from paying this.’ They rang Parking Eye and said it was cancelled.”
There were two more demands but Halfords told her each time that the ticket would be cancelled.
Sarah changed address in the meantime and had no idea that the case had gone to county court with the original £60 penalty mounting with costs to £197.
“I never received a letter from the court about the CCJ,” she says. “The first I heard about it was when our mortgage application was denied. I was in tears. We had done all of the checks and were about to submit our offer.
“I had to look up what a CCJ was. I am a very law-abiding citizen and I always pay off my credit cards each month.
“We’re absolutely devastated that this mistake has prevented us from getting a mortgage. It’s hard enough for young people to get on the housing ladder.”
Sarah, of Burton upon Trent, Staffs, is now trying to get the judgement removed from her credit file before she and Ross, 30, start house-hunting again.
“All this for a parking ticket,” she said. “We just wanted a nice house to start our life together. I now feel my whole life has been put on hold.”
Halfords said: “As soon as Sarah brought the parking fine to our attention we made it clear to Parking Eye that because her car was in our care and booked in for a service, the ticket and fines should be rescinded.”
Parking Eye said it had “no record of receiving any communication”.
