75% Mortgage Declined by Scottish Widows due to Experian Credit Score

Greystan

PLEASE HELP! I have had an offer on a house accepted but Scottish Widows have declined to lend us 75% of the value of a property, offering us a 60% mortgage instead (which is not enough). They have said this is due to a credit score from experian that was 41 points too low. There are no affordability issues but on my application but I did not disclose a PCP that I had set-up in Nov 08 for a car (£15000 outstanding) and I did not realise that £5,500 that I had on a credit card in Jan 09 was still showing on my credit report (I had paid it off well before my mortgage application). I now only have 2 active credit cards with £1800 of debt on them and credit limits totalling £17,200. My wife also had an outstanding debt of £2,400 on a credit card that I did not disclose prior to the application as I thought she had paid it off. She has now paid it off and also has 2 cards with £0 outstanding on them and a combined credit limit of £6,700. Since paying off most of our outstanding debts, cancelling unused cards and making sure the changes are reflected on Experian we both have scores of 999 according to the Experian website. Do you think we have done enough to have increased our previous score by 41 points and, if we are careful to declare everything on our 2nd application to Scottish Widows, should we be confident in getting the 75% mortgage? WOULD BE GRATEFUL FOR ANY ADVICE AS WE FEEL IN THE DARK ON THIS MATTER

Robert_Sterling_3

Your post reveal a moral which may help other MSE members.
Clean up your credit rating before you apply for a mortgage rather than at the last fence.

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I think you may have done enough to improve your score.

FraudBuster

on my application but I did not disclose

that I did not disclose prior to the application

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opinions4u

Greystan wrote: »

Scottish Widows have declined to lend us 75% of the value of a property, offering us a 60% mortgage instead (which is not enough). They have said this is due to a credit score from experian that was 41 points too low.

It is their choice as to who they lend to and who they don't lend to.

There are no affordability issues but on my application but I did not disclose a PCP that I had set-up in Nov 08 for a car (£15000 outstanding)

Failure to disclose is potentially a criminal offence. At the very least it brings your honesty in to question. Do you not understand how this looks to a potential lender?

and I did not realise that £5,500 that I had on a credit card in Jan 09 was still showing on my credit report (I had paid it off well before my mortgage application).

I'm sure they will be okay with this part of things if you can prove the debt has been cleared.

My wife also had an outstanding debt of £2,400 on a credit card that I did not disclose prior to the application as I thought she had paid it off.

You really do need to be as accurate, open and honest as possible when applying for credit. I am struggling to be sympathetic. They asked the question, you gave an inaccurate answer. They don't trust you anymore.

She has now paid it off and also has 2 cards with £0 outstanding on them and a combined credit limit of £6,700. Since paying off most of our outstanding debts, cancelling unused cards and making sure the changes are reflected on Experian we both have scores of 999 according to the Experian website. Do you think we have done enough to have increased our previous score by 41 points and, if we are careful to declare everything on our 2nd application to Scottish Widows, should we be confident in getting the 75% mortgage? WOULD BE GRATEFUL FOR ANY ADVICE AS WE FEEL IN THE DARK ON THIS MATTER

If I was Scottish Widows I would be very wary. You have (deliberately or otherwise) misled them.

You might be better approaching a different lender and being absolutely accurate when you answer the questions on the application form.

herbiesjp

Are Scottish Widows definitely the best lender for you?

I would have another look around to double check there are not any other better deals out there

As for not disclosing the debts, I think that has already been covered above.

Conrad

It is highly unlikely that the non disclosure would cause a decline. Many clients often do not recall exact details and lenders simply highlight any forgotton / inaccurate details as a query.

I want to clear something up as I keep seeing on here this tendancy for people talk in terms of the Experian credit score. Lenders as far as I know use thier own internal scoring systems and take no account of the score given by third party credit reference agancies.

Robert_Sterling_3

herbiesjp wrote: »

Are Scottish Widows definitely the best lender for you?

I do not think they are as they were not a lender at all in this case to the OP.