Default

A default is recorded when a payment is significantly overdue (generally 30 days or more), and the lender has taken steps to recover it. It stays on your credit file for five years from the date it's listed, even after you pay it. A paid default reads better than an unpaid one, but both are visible.

A default doesn't permanently close the door on refinancing. Lenders weigh how old it is, whether it was paid, and what your repayment behaviour has looked like since. An old, paid default behind a year of clean history is a very different file from a fresh, unpaid one.

See Refinancing with bad credit for how lenders read imperfect files.