can someone give me a quick bit of advice?

sezdav

Hi, about 5 years ago i had nearly £20k of debt and didnt have a clue what to do about it. With the help of this site and you guys advise i now only have £2.5k left to pay and feel very incontrol of my finances.

However, my best friend (who has always had lots of savings and never needed to use her cc) told me last wk that she had spent all her savings and owed £3k on a llyods cc which is charging her crazy amounts of interest. So i gave the money saving experts speech and she promised to cut back her spending.

We applied together on line for a capital one credit card, 0%for a good few months. Online it said they would get back to her. When they did it was regected.

She earns around £12k a year, is not a home owner and only has her cc and a loan for £5k (car loan) to pay back each month. She has never missed a payment and has no ccjs or simillar. Her bank account, loan and cc is all through llyods. She is on the electoral role.

Can anyone explain why they think she may have been rejected? What should she do.

I remember that gut renching feeling that she has right now and id do anything to help her become debt free and more importantly in control.

Thanks in advance guys. x

1313

There are various reasons why she did not get the card. There are of course the usual credit reasons, sometimes though you are rejected because you do not fit a certain profile that they are looking for.

I would try some of the other 0% cards that are available, then if rejected the reason will be financial related.

sezdav

Thanks 1313. I think thats a good idea. Will try for another card with her (she doesnt have internet) and then i think if rejected she should check her credit file.

Just not sure which card would be best to apply for. capital one used both rating agencies i see so not sure which card to suggest to her. Also its such a shame they ahve all slapped 2% fees on. But hey ho, Better than paying crazy interest on £3K!

southernscouser

Don't apply for too many cards at the same time though. Lenders, when credit checking will see this and it may make you look desperate.

The general feeling is to only apply for maybe 2 cards a month or two.

YorkshireBoy

sezdav wrote:

Will try for another card with her (she doesnt have internet) and then i think if rejected she should check her credit file.

With respect, you're going about this the wrong way around, and your friend's credit rating could be made worse than it possibly already is.

If there's a problem with her file, which could be easily corrected/repaired before making a second application, then the subsequent third application in a short space of time is very likely to be declined simply because it's a third application in a short space of time.

For the sake of a 4 day wait, I'd suggest applying online for the £2 paper copy statutory reports from Experian & Equifax first before applying for any more cards.

sezdav wrote:

Also its such a shame they ahve all slapped 2% fees on.

There are still plenty of options for "no-fee" BT's. See here...

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1122985312,39518,

and here...

http://www.stoozing.com/0fees.htm

Also, be very careful not to apply for another card from the Lloyds stable. See here for a list of "who owns who"...

http://www.stoozing.com/cards.htm

Lenders like to see you put down "roots". Your friend is on the electoral roll which is good, if not essential these days for the better offers. Being a home-owner also looks good on an application form - perhaps verified by mortgage payments on a report. This is possibly where your friend is losing "points".

Finally, and this could be the main reason for her being declined, I understand that lenders get nervous when your unsecured indebtedness (whether available or used credit) approaches 100% of your salary. Your friend "knows" that she already has £8K against her £12K salary which is 66%. If she has spare available credit on the Lloyds card and/or available credit that she's simply forgotten about, then the situation is worse. How does she know she hasn't any more available/unused credit anywhere else? The only answer is to check her credit report before potentially losing her last chance at credit for the time being.

skintchick

Hmmm, Yorkshire Boy. Am puzzled. I have £30,000 worth of available credit, yet earn only £20,000 and NEVER get turned down for anything! Is this cos I own a house?

YorkshireBoy

skintchick wrote:

Hmmm, Yorkshire Boy. Am puzzled. I have £30,000 worth of available credit, yet earn only £20,000 and NEVER get turned down for anything! Is this cos I own a house?

I made my comments based on what I'd read on here, and on my own experience of obtaining cards.

My current situation with regard to "debt"/income ratios is 53% used out of the 98% available which is "visible" on my credit report, and I've been referred or declined on a couple of recent applications.

My belief is that lenders are starting to tighten up now in their desire to be seen as responsible lenders.

RealInvest0r

This site may be of help. It not only deals with mortgages but all kinds of debt help. https://www.BestKeptMortgagesecrets.com

sezdav

Thanks for your advise. Have taken it all on board.