Mortgage refused due to shortened name

Frank_1

I wonder if anyone could help me.

I have always used a shortened version of my first name (e.g. Jon rather than Jonathan) for banking, loans and credit cards. I have a perfectly fine credit rating under this name, which I habitually use.

I am a first time buyer and had a mortgage agreed with Lloyds TSB. At the last minute they have withdrawn the offer of a mortgage on the grounds of an inadequate credit rating.

The bank are insisting that the mortgage be under the full name on my birth certificate, and insist that this name has not got an adequate credit rating.

This seems to be absurd. Is there anything I can do?

togarama

It could be worth contacting the credit agencies and notifying them of the different forms of your name.

I had a similar issue around credit cards a few years back. A CC company insisted I had an incomplete credit history, wasn't on the electoral register etc.. when I knew this to be incorrect.

I ended up contacting the credit search agencies to query the issue and it was somehow resolved. I can't remember exactly what I had to do but I gave them proof of my full name and use of the short form. When I look at my Experian credit file now it has the different forms of my first name as aliases of some sort so that my whole credit record is brought together.

This seemed to do the trick, upped my credit rating and I've got the overdraft facility, 0% credit card and mortgage that I needed over the past few years.

Good luck.

Chris

Mortgage_Help_4

That particular bank has a box in their computer application asking any other names that you are known by??? Do you know if this name Jon has been entered there??? That alone could work and you are entitled to view the data the bank hold - it will cost you £10 maximum. This particular bank has an appeal procedure which you should take up and state your case. Do an Equifax report on yourself and see the names etc as well as this may help. It sounds like you would win your appeal!!! Good Luck!

Kavanne

It's for fraud. Dunno why you have gotten away with it for so long but all of the banks should have you as Jonathan and not Jon. You aren't Jon you are Jonathan.

Mortgage_Help_4

Its ironic that a bank can open an account without proper ID and then turn the person down for this sort of thing. It is worth an appeal.

Frank_1

Thanks to all for the helpful advice.

I am not being fraudulent by being known by a shortened form of my name. I have the same national insurance number, the same address etc. I am not trying to deceive anyone.

There must be some provision for those who change their name by deedpoll or women who get married and change their name. They shouldn't loose their credit rating just for using a different or altered name. Likewise some people may miss out middle initials on forms (where there sometimes isn't an option for these details) or may for example use Mr. or Dr. depending on the circumstance. These aliases should be accounted for. It seems odd that credit rating is based so strictly upon name and not something fixed like national insurance number.

(I may be wrong, but from what I can tell from the research I've done online, in America they base credit ratings on social security numbers and name changes do not alter this. This seems pretty sensible to me...)

stclair

Frank_1 wrote: »

Thanks to all for the helpful advice.

I am not being fraudulent by being known by a shortened form of my name. I have the same national insurance number, the same address etc. I am not trying to deceive anyone.

There must be some provision for those who change their name by deedpoll or women who get married and change their name. They shouldn't loose their credit rating just for using a different or altered name. Likewise some people may miss out middle initials on forms (where there sometimes isn't an option for these details) or may for example use Mr. or Dr. depending on the circumstance. These aliases should be accounted for. It seems odd that credit rating is based so strictly upon name and not something fixed like national insurance number.

I used to have this problem but with my surname,

When i made an application i never used my full name well surname anyway as its double barrelled.

Ive always put my applications in for example john smith but my real name is actually john jones-smith.

Experian just added an alias to my credit file and it was fine from then on.

As to them I was two diff people when using my actual name which made my credit score lower than low.

I had send in proof though i was one of the same person.

Frank_1

Sounds like that's the answer then. Thanks!

How long did it take them to sort it out after you sent proof? (I'm trying to get my mortgage sorted before they bring back stamp duty at the end of the year, and it's cutting it a bit fine with all these delays!)

Mortgage_Help_4

The answer is in the box that they probably have not completed properly i.e. any other names you are known by. If they do not complete the form or ask you the question properly then you have not been treated fairly and the FSA are big on treating customers fairly so make this part of your appeal and you should be able to overturn the bank. Do this other thing in addition but you need to get your appeal in to the bank before it is too late. Best of luck.

stclair

Frank_1 wrote: »

Sounds like that's the answer then. Thanks!

How long did it take them to sort it out after you sent proof? (I'm trying to get my mortgage sorted before they bring back stamp duty at the end of the year, and it's cutting it a bit fine with all these delays!)

It took about 5/6 weeks to sort it out.

As I had to write to them and explain the situation, then waiting for them to respond to what action they required me to take etc. (I phoned them first and they advised me too write)

I sent off the proof they requested then basically they just wrote back to me stating they had added an alias to my detials.

In your situation im surprised experian havent picked it up automatically and just added it anyway.

Shelldean

Frank_1 wrote: »

Thanks to all for the helpful advice.

I am not being fraudulent by being known by a shortened form of my name. I have the same national insurance number, the same address etc. I am not trying to deceive anyone.

There must be some provision for those who change their name by deedpoll or women who get married and change their name. They shouldn't loose their credit rating just for using a different or altered name. Likewise some people may miss out middle initials on forms (where there sometimes isn't an option for these details) or may for example use Mr. or Dr. depending on the circumstance. These aliases should be accounted for. It seems odd that credit rating is based so strictly upon name and not something fixed like national insurance number.

(I may be wrong, but from what I can tell from the research I've done online, in America they base credit ratings on social security numbers and name changes do not alter this. This seems pretty sensible to me...)

Nothing as serious as applying for a mtg, but my DD has had her surname changed after my divorce. And when we applied for her to start schol both primary and secondary, they asked for her birth cert, which obviously doesn't tally with the name she uses. So each time we produce the deedpoll along with her birth cert. This problem is now resolved as we used the same method when applying for her passport a couple of yrs back and she now uses that as proof of id. But we never had a problem we simply showed birth cert plus the deed poll