95% Mortgage with a default?

Hi all,

Me and the wife are looking to buy our 1st house, we are in a relativley good financal position, with joint earnings around 50k pa. And both with excellent credit scores on experian.
But we would like some advice on the possibility of getting a 95% mortgage with a default on my credit file.
The default is for £145 and is 18 months old, we've been told by one broker that the chances of getting a mortgage is very slim as most lenders wouldn't consider us, not until the default is over 2 years.
We read that some people have had success with writing to the creditors and getting a default removed, so we have written to them and pleaded with them to remove the default as it is for such a small amount and was settled immediately i was aware of it! (A family member had taken a catalogue in my name and then not paid)

Is there any hope for us or are we stuck for the next 4 1/2 years until the default expires?

Thanks in advance for any help and infomation!

Paul