Barclays Pre approved loan - Urgent Advise/help

naijapower

Question here for Barclays crew on board or anyone that can help.

In Feb 2009, accepted a pre-approved loan from Barclays. Was pre-approved online for 15K, but took £13K over 84 months. The APR offered was 21.9%. I wasn't happy with this rate but accepted cos i felt they had credit scored me and this was the best i could get.
Moreover they had this guarantee that if you found a cheaper loan elsewhere within the next 14 days, they would match it. I interpreted this to mean their rate was quite competitive and i had been credit searched and they felt this APR was the best for me.

I also accepted cos i was desperate for the funds. I felt Barclays had credit searched me and a hard footprint existed on my file, hence going to a different lender would lead to another print which would bring down my score and lead to less than attractive rate.
However, i was wrong...Infact very wrong. I requested for both EQ and EX credit files few days ago and behold there was no search be it soft or hard by Barclays.
Loan account is clearly reported on both files.
This made me confused.
**So how did they arrive at the APR?
**What are my options as i feel the rate is rather high?

Had my Barclays account since Feb 2008. All in order. Well conducted. Weekly pay check of approx £550 go in every week without fail.
Also have a savings account with them and a standing order set up to this account.
What more do they want from me?
While i do not know the criteria or basis for their internal score, i strongly feel my account has been well conducted. Have an O/D of 1k and very hardly use it. No failed DD etc...all in good stead.
Have a Barclaycard as well and also well conducted. All in order.

I want to make a complaint as i am not happy with this APR. Any advise is most welcomed.
Pls note, i am not struggling with payments as my income has just increased but i just feel kind of misled or cheated.
The biggest issue here is that i felt the APR was a function of CRA check but as it turns out it wasn't. I stuck with Barclays cos i felt they have seen my whole account since it was opened and would be more favourable than an outside lender.

naijapower

Just to add, there are no major issues with the contents of my credit reports. All greeens. Credit is far from maxed.
Only issue though not a major issue is that my oldest credit account is about 20 months old. Was told they prefer 36 months to get a high score. Have about 9 credit accounts

~Beanie~

I think you are a bit too late to complain about the APR, you accepted it after all and they did give you 14 days to find a better rate elsewhere.

You really should have checked other lenders rates and not just assumed that this must be quite competitive.

naijapower

Yes, i see your point that i ought to have raised this within the 14 days, but like i said i felt i had been fully credit searched and this rate was competitive.
I didnt realised that they had relied solely on some internal score rubbish to rip me off.
They have misled me cos how else can they state their rate is best for my circumstance without fully assessing CRA

dmg24

naijapower wrote: »

Yes, i see your point that i ought to have raised this within the 14 days, but like i said i felt i had been fully credit searched and this rate was competitive.
I didnt realised that they had relied solely on some internal score rubbish to rip me off.
They have misled me cos how else can they state their rate is best for my circumstance without fully assessing CRA

Where did they state that their rate was the best for your circumstance? Exactly how did they phrase this? I have pre approved offers from Barclays all the time, but cannot recall them using such a phrase (but I don't have one to hand to check).

I agree with ~Beanie~, it is up to you to do your research before committing to a financial liability - responsible lending refers to both parties, not just the lender.

naijapower

To be perfectly honest, my confusion arose cos i felt they had credit searched me. If only i knew i was offered and confirmed the loan without being credit checked, i would have gone elsewhere.
Was trying to avoid too many searches not realising that they hadnt done one.

Yes, i would take part of the blame. My problem was that i respected Barclays and trusted their judgement especially as they had a 14 day guarantee.
Most companies that offer this kind of guarantee always do their research well to avoid too many returns/complaints.
In my case, i felt Barclays had done their research inside and outside before arriving at this rate.

Brian64

naijapower wrote: »

Just to add, there are no major issues with the contents of my credit reports. All greeens. Credit is far from maxed.
Only issue though not a major issue is that my oldest credit account is about 20 months old. Was told they prefer 36 months to get a high score. Have about 9 credit accounts

LIke others have said you agreed to these terms so you won't get far with a complaint.The only thing you can do is try and get a cheaper rate loan though you may have to pay penalty exit fee, and may be difficult as you have only taken this loan out recently.I read somewhere you can request a quote for a loan and it won't show as a search on your credit report but am not sure about this but its worth looking into you also only have a short credit history so you won't get the best apr in my opinion

dmg24

naijapower wrote: »

To be perfectly honest, my confusion arose cos i felt they had credit searched me. If only i knew i was offered and confirmed the loan without being credit checked, i would have gone elsewhere.
Was trying to avoid too many searches not realising that they hadnt done one.

Yes, i would take part of the blame. My problem was that i respected Barclays and trusted their judgement especially as they had a 14 day guarantee.
Most companies that offer this kind of guarantee always do their research well to avoid too many returns/complaints.
In my case, i felt Barclays had done their research inside and outside before arriving at this rate.

You made assumptions, and you did not check if they were correct. That is in no way the fault of Barclays.

naijapower

dmg24 wrote: »

You made assumptions, and you did not check if they were correct. That is in no way the fault of Barclays.

Again i agree and i believe others should be wary if this. Just spoke to a relative who had a similar issue with LTSB, but was luckier or perhaps dug deeper than me.
LTSB offered her pre - approved load up to 25k at 19.9% APR. She called and queried the rate as the typical advertised was 7.5%. LTSB said it was due to her score.
She asked them how and why? Their response was that was her band and it was correct. She argued that her account was excellent and her credit file was in excellent order but LTSB insisted that though they would credit check b4 giving out the loan, nothing can change the APR to any less!!
Well, she went external to Halifax and got the loan at 12.5%; borrowed 15K over 60 months
So the msg here is beware of all these pre-approved nonesense.
I have been stung largely due to my fault. I dont wish it on anyone else.

I waiting to hear from the forum member - Barclays Manager to see his input. Wondering if in the near future they can offer something with a much lower rate so i can consolidate this loan. Dont need any extra, just enough to pay this off and start afresh on a healthy rate.

Extant

naijapower wrote: »

Question here for Barclays crew on board or anyone that can help.

In Feb 2009, accepted a pre-approved loan from Barclays. Was pre-approved online for 15K, but took £13K over 84 months. The APR offered was 21.9%. I wasn't happy with this rate but accepted cos i felt they had credit scored me and this was the best i could get.

Pre-approved offers are based off any "batch" data provided by CRAs as well as account conduct.

Said batch data is not the same as a full credit search, and amounts to little more than "no defaults anywhere else." The key decision as to your APR is based off our own internal systems.

Moreover they had this guarantee that if you found a cheaper loan elsewhere within the next 14 days, they would match it. I interpreted this to mean their rate was quite competitive and i had been credit searched and they felt this APR was the best for me.

Well, sorry, but it's not our fault you interpreted it this way - that's certainly not what it's meant to imply. It's not a guarantee that it's your best rate on the market, simply that we guarantee to match or better any other loan you can find.

I also accepted cos i was desperate for the funds. I felt Barclays had credit searched me and a hard footprint existed on my file, hence going to a different lender would lead to another print which would bring down my score and lead to less than attractive rate.
However, i was wrong...Infact very wrong. I requested for both EQ and EX credit files few days ago and behold there was no search be it soft or hard by Barclays.
Loan account is clearly reported on both files.
This made me confused.
**So how did they arrive at the APR?
**What are my options as i feel the rate is rather high?

APR is calculated based off the way your account is run.

Your options are, in short - take out a loan elsewhere and repay the existing Barclayloan or continue to pay your Barclayloan and review it in 12 months to see if we can offer you a better rate.

Had my Barclays account since Feb 2008. All in order. Well conducted. Weekly pay check of approx £550 go in every week without fail.
Also have a savings account with them and a standing order set up to this account.
What more do they want from me?
While i do not know the criteria or basis for their internal score, i strongly feel my account has been well conducted. Have an O/D of 1k and very hardly use it. No failed DD etc...all in good stead.
Have a Barclaycard as well and also well conducted. All in order.

Obviously I cannot comment as to your case, but I can generally remark that the scoring is complex and looks at numerous different factors - it'd be silly of me to guess and give you a wrong answer.

I want to make a complaint as i am not happy with this APR. Any advise is most welcomed.
Pls note, i am not struggling with payments as my income has just increased but i just feel kind of misled or cheated.

Sorry, but we have not misled or cheated you in anyway - as has been said by others, you made assumptions and did not check if they were correct at all.

Retail Banking Customer Relations have no discretion over loan rates, and loan rates cannot be appealed by a branch - personal loans are assessed with a rate of interest that we believe accurately reflects the cost of the potential risk to the group and allows us to make a profit.

If you still wish to make a complaint, you can find out how to do so here: http://www.personal.barclays.co.uk/BRC1/jsp/brccontrol?task=articlegroup&value=3657&site=pfs

naijapower

Many thanks Mr Barclays Mgr. Been waiting for your input.
So, i take it there wont any pre-approved loan again.
I was hoping i would be pre-approved shortly for another loan..hopefully at a lower rate so i can take this up to repay existing one.
The month after i took out loan (i.e. March) it showed another pre-approved £1500 loan which i igonred of course. Also showed some additional O/D which i ignored as well.
However, both offers disappeared at the start of April.
Was hoping something more substantial in loan would appear in the near future so i can accept as explained above for the purpose of clearing existing.
Is this how the system works?
Also any ideas why the £1500 loan and O/D appeared in March and then disappeared suddenly when no action was taken by me