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Why are Lloyds doing this?
moneysavingallday
Posts: 615 Forumite
I've got a second current account at Lloyds (my main one is at HSBC). It is a Platinum current account with some sort of interest paying thing on it called Advantage or Advance. At present I am working 2 jobs and so have two streams of income. Approx £4000 a month has been going into the Lloyds account by BACs. I keep a balance of around £3000 in there and also have their Internet Saver with a balance of about £2500 in it. I opened the account on 30th August this year.
I went in there today to see whether this current account is really working for me and to see what other options there are. The Advisor was pretty hostile to me and said, "I doubt we can offer you any more products at this time." She showed me the screen. it said that my 'Risk Band' is 5. The Risk Band is on a scale of 1 to 9 with 1 being excellent and 9 being awful. 5 is obviously not very good. She also showed me where there was a note saying 'Credit Policy Decline'. I asked her what that meant and she said that clearly it means there is something very wrong with my Experian report. But I have checked my Experian, Equifax and CallCredit reports today and yesterday (I monitor them) and there is not anything on there negative at all. Not one thing. I asked the woman why, if there is something wrong with my credit history, did Lloyds give me an overdraft limit (£200) when I first opened the account. She replied that something must have deteriorated on my file since then. I asked her to be more precise but she said she does not have access to people's credit files. She was not at all polite.
How bad is a Risk Band 5?
Anyone heard of a Credit Policy Decline marker before?
Might I have better luck leaving Lloyds and going elsewhere? I already have an acc I'm happy with at HSBC but I like to have a second, backup account. I don't feel at present that Lloyds deserve my business. Any suggestions for a backup account elsewhere?
To give you a picture of my credit files, I have the following showing on the CRA files
HSBC Current Account, no arrears, never overdrawn
Lloyds Current Account, no arrears, never overdrawn
Contract mobile phone
£600 loan with OUSBA (open university tuition budget acc), no arrears, up to date with payments
The only possible thing I can think of is that I am not on the Electoral Register till December. But if that was an issue why would Lloyds have opened me the account and given me the £200 overdraft in the 1st place?
I went in there today to see whether this current account is really working for me and to see what other options there are. The Advisor was pretty hostile to me and said, "I doubt we can offer you any more products at this time." She showed me the screen. it said that my 'Risk Band' is 5. The Risk Band is on a scale of 1 to 9 with 1 being excellent and 9 being awful. 5 is obviously not very good. She also showed me where there was a note saying 'Credit Policy Decline'. I asked her what that meant and she said that clearly it means there is something very wrong with my Experian report. But I have checked my Experian, Equifax and CallCredit reports today and yesterday (I monitor them) and there is not anything on there negative at all. Not one thing. I asked the woman why, if there is something wrong with my credit history, did Lloyds give me an overdraft limit (£200) when I first opened the account. She replied that something must have deteriorated on my file since then. I asked her to be more precise but she said she does not have access to people's credit files. She was not at all polite.
How bad is a Risk Band 5?
Anyone heard of a Credit Policy Decline marker before?
Might I have better luck leaving Lloyds and going elsewhere? I already have an acc I'm happy with at HSBC but I like to have a second, backup account. I don't feel at present that Lloyds deserve my business. Any suggestions for a backup account elsewhere?
To give you a picture of my credit files, I have the following showing on the CRA files
HSBC Current Account, no arrears, never overdrawn
Lloyds Current Account, no arrears, never overdrawn
Contract mobile phone
£600 loan with OUSBA (open university tuition budget acc), no arrears, up to date with payments
The only possible thing I can think of is that I am not on the Electoral Register till December. But if that was an issue why would Lloyds have opened me the account and given me the £200 overdraft in the 1st place?
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Comments
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5 is right in the middle, if your not happy change and by what you said about them i would change. HSBC also operate a behaviour score as well go into branch and ask them what it is there. Try Abbey they have a good interest rate on there current account at the moment, i would recommed halifax as well but Lloydstsb are in merger talks with them.0
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Credit policy decline doesn't mean theres anything on your credit file thats adverse. (Theres a separate reason for the called : "Credit Bureau Data") Credit policy decline just means that you don't meet the criteria for a certain type of credit facility.
Reasons include :
Low amounts paid in, high or frequence OD usage, recent (last 12 months) charges on account for being overdrawn, gambling, not using LTSB as your main account, or simply not having the account long enough.
Solutions include:
Resolving any issues mentioned above... and waiting at least a month... Band 5 is just a number so I wouldn't get too worked up about it, there are some people in band 1 who aren't allowed any credit, as well as people in band 8 who are still eligible for stuff.Credit card debts = £750
Mortgage Remaining = £822270 -
Credit policy decline doesn't mean theres anything on your credit file thats adverse. (Theres a separate reason for the called : "Credit Bureau Data") Credit policy decline just means that you don't meet the criteria for a certain type of credit facility.
Thanks for explaining this. It is perhaps as simple as me not being on the Electoral Register then or not having much credit history. The silly !!!!! in the branch should not have said to me "there must be something bad in your credit file then"Reasons include :
Low amounts paid in, high or frequence OD usage, recent (last 12 months) charges on account for being overdrawn, gambling, not using LTSB as your main account, or simply not having the account long enough.
I pay in at least £4000 a month. Never been overdrawn. No charges. No gambling. However account has only been open about 2 months...Solutions include:
Resolving any issues mentioned above... and waiting at least a month... Band 5 is just a number so I wouldn't get too worked up about it, there are some people in band 1 who aren't allowed any credit, as well as people in band 8 who are still eligible for stuff.
This all makes sense. However I was very unimpressed by how rude their staff were!0 -
ts_aly2000 wrote: »I wouldn't worry too much. My rating of Lloyds is around about an 8. They're awful. I'd rather keep it all in my secret hiding place.
You mean they're a rubbish bank?0 -
i believe LTSB score is based on a 3 month period so expect your score to go up considerably next month.
The first score you get will br a rough and ready and quite conservative.0 -
moneysavingallday wrote: »However I was very unimpressed by how rude their staff were!
I agree there is no excuse for this ever.
But it could be one individual - I don't think that you should blame a company made up of thousands of people for the behavior of one person.
If it was me I would complain about that person. Depending on how they deal with the complaint gives a good view about how good a company they are, or not as the case my be. Dependent on the outcome either stay with them or find another bank
Good luck!0 -
Credit policy decline doesn't mean theres anything on your credit file thats adverse. (Theres a separate reason for the called : "Credit Bureau Data") Credit policy decline just means that you don't meet the criteria for a certain type of credit facility.
Reasons include :
Low amounts paid in, high or frequence OD usage, recent (last 12 months) charges on account for being overdrawn, gambling, not using LTSB as your main account, or simply not having the account long enough.
Solutions include:
Resolving any issues mentioned above... and waiting at least a month... Band 5 is just a number so I wouldn't get too worked up about it, there are some people in band 1 who aren't allowed any credit, as well as people in band 8 who are still eligible for stuff.
Is credit policy decline the same as a strict lending flag
I am a lloyds risk 3 but I can't refinance or restructure my borrowing in anyway shape or form.:rolleyes:0 -
Credit policy decline doesn't mean theres anything on your credit file thats adverse. (Theres a separate reason for the called : "Credit Bureau Data") Credit policy decline just means that you don't meet the criteria for a certain type of credit facility.
Reasons include :
Low amounts paid in, high or frequence OD usage, recent (last 12 months) charges on account for being overdrawn, gambling, not using LTSB as your main account, or simply not having the account long enough.
Solutions include:
Resolving any issues mentioned above... and waiting at least a month... Band 5 is just a number so I wouldn't get too worked up about it, there are some people in band 1 who aren't allowed any credit, as well as people in band 8 who are still eligible for stuff.
Just a quick question...
... does gambling include playing the National Lottery online? I punt a tenner once a fortnight on the National Lottery online with my Nationwide Debit crad. Just moved to Lloyds TSB and just got their debit card today. Don't want my score to be affected by this one little thing (if this is the case I'll keep my Nationwide account open for that! LOL)
Any ideas?I spent 25 years in the mobile industry, from 1994 to 2019. Worked for indies as well as the big networks, in their stores also in contact centres. I also hold a degree in telecoms engineering so I like to think I know what I’m talking about 😂0 -
I pay my lotto by direct debit from my RBS account and they've not complained. However I only play 1 line on Sats so like £4-5 per month lolJust a quick question...
... does gambling include playing the National Lottery online? I punt a tenner once a fortnight on the National Lottery online with my Nationwide Debit crad. Just moved to Lloyds TSB and just got their debit card today. Don't want my score to be affected by this one little thing (if this is the case I'll keep my Nationwide account open for that! LOL)
Any ideas?Kavanne
Nuns! Nuns! Reverse!
'I do my job, do you do yours?'0 -
You can't do anything to change your score with Lloyds, it randomly changes every month.
When I opened my account they offered me a £5000 cc, £2000 od and the highest packaged account, then when I decreased my OD to £100 as I never use it, my rating went to a 7, then a 10, then a 4, now a 7.
I went in and asked what I could do as wanted to convert to a student account and was told, nothing, it changes randomly and when it is less than a 6 again they would convert my account.
I'm never overdrawn, pay salary in, have savings and a cc which is paid in full every month. Have DDs/SOs and everything, but nothing changes. I've now been a 7 for the past 4 months.
So I switched elsewhere as not even appealing decisions for credit, accounts etc Lloyds wont do nothing until the score changes.
There scoring is prob the worst I've seen as it has no correlation to what actually happens in the account.0
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