These loans cater to customers with county court judgements, debt management plans, individual voluntary arrangements and payday loans — as well as those who have missed payments on utility bills, credit cards, mortgages or secured loans.    

The mutual’s broker-only arm says its amendments “simplify underwriting requirements, and in many cases extends criteria to cover a wider range of borrowers”.  

Its changes include:  

• Credit card, current account, utility payments – Previously, accepted borrowers who were up to three months late with payments over the previous 12-month period. New criteria will accept borrowers whose payments are up to five months late over this time frame    
• Payday loans — Previously, would not lend to borrowers who had taken out a payday loan in the previous 12 months, this has now been cut to a six-month period  
• Mortgage payments — Will now consider borrowers who were up to two months late with repayments over the previous two years. Previously, this was restricted payments that were only one month late over a two-year period  
• County court judgements — Previously one judgement was allowed in the prior two-year period, up to the value of £250. This is now extended to two judgements over a three-year period, with a total value of £500    

Hinckley & Rugby Building Society senior product and proposition manager Christopher Holmes says: “The Credit Flex mortgage offers an affordable, flexible solution to those with previous credit problems, who are often rejected by mainstream lenders.”