Turned down for a contract...but why?

garthdp

DW has had a virgin PAYG for three or four years and we finally decided to get it on a contract instead of PAYG.Unfortunately she was turned down on the credit check.We have sent off for the Equifax report to see why .

Apart from a mistake in the credit rating score what other reasons are there for turning her down?Anyone any experience here?We are very careful about borrowing,dont use HP or store cards or the like.We are fotunate in that we have a succesful hotel business, are not in debt, rarely use credit cards and have no outstanding loans.She hardly uses her cards so could the fact that there are very few transactions be a reason.I am sure there is a simple explanation but we are a bit baffled by this

Traveller1981

Having credit cards and store cards I believe improves your credit score. So not having any will work against her.

DarkConvict

Using credit does improve your score, but i am surprised you were turned down for something like a phone contract, usually you have a bad record to be turned down.

garthdp

DarkConvict wrote: »

Using credit does improve your score, but i am surprised you were turned down for something like a phone contract, usually you have a bad record to be turned down.

Well that is what I thought.We really have no debts whatsoever apart from a small business mortgage (on a building worth five times the outstanding amount) and an agreed overdraft on our personal bank account which is well within the limit set.Should we be concerned that something is amiss or is it because we have a low credit profile

iwanttosave_2

How long have you been at your current address? Is she on the electoral roll there?

garthdp

10 years and yes in that order

iwanttosave_2

You could close down some of the cards if they're not being used, having too much credit can go against you as well for some reason.

garthdp

Thanks

Lets hope that that is why (she has three cards two credit and a debit ) and not something more onerous

Traveller1981

2 credit cards and a debit card is nothing - I have far more than that and I never get turned down for credit on anything. All my cards are set to pay off the balance at the due date by direct debit which probably helps, but I have about 4/5 credit cards, 2 debit cards and a store card.
I also have a fairly large mortgage and overdraft facilities on my current account which gets dipped into every so often.
Sounds like something else is wrong with her credit file.

maxtweenie

iwanttosave wrote: »

You could close down some of the cards if they're not being used, having too much credit can go against you as well for some reason.

It's not having the cards that can cause a problem with your credit history, it's having them and not using them. It's better to buy one small thing on the card a month, and pay the balance off in full. That way you're building up a good payment record.

steve40

In very similar situation, we are not a poor score and were turned down last night for Orange .