how long to wait before applying again ?

cally6008

Applied on monday night for a £5,k loan over 4 years from A.L/Santander (OH said they were the best for APR, I disagreed)

Got the rejection letter this morning, which I half expected anyway.

How long should I wait before applying again as I dont want many searches on credit report flagging me up as desperate ? (last time I applied for credit was probably June/July 2009 when I got the Halifax CC and this went through fine, have had no defaults or late payments for about 8 years now)

I was thinking of maybe asking for less ££ and going with either Halifax (my first choice) or Tesco.
Cant ask Barclays (my bank) cos personal loan not showing on the Pre-Approved offers page so am just not going to bother asking them.

Mr.Mulla

The more times you apply for a loan or credit, the lower your score gets. Banks usually recommend at least 3 months waiting before trying for again.

Tixy

Do you know why you were rejected? Does it say on the letter or have you called to ask them?

Its sensible to try to find out rather than just apply elsewhere.

Do you already have a lot of debt? Do you have a lot of unused credit available on your exisiting facilities?
If you have a high level of debt to income, or a access to a lot of unused credit this will be going against you, or if you are currently maxed on all your debts, and you may get the same result from your next application.

cally6008

Letter just said that I didnt score high enough on their scoring system so was rejected.

I wouldnt say I have a lot of debt, 2 CC's not maxed out and total combined limit of the 2 cards is £2,k

Tixy

Excellent, thats not a lot of debt (just as an aside are you financially linked to anyone OH for example and if so could they have a 'bad' credit history?)

Certainly its not a good idea to do loads of credit applications but I have seen it advised not to do more than 3 in a rolling 6month period. So you could probably make 1 other application.

Understand what you say about your own bank but they are often a good place to approach, if you have managed your accounts well. Maybe worth a trip to see them and see if they would be likely to approve you based on the info they know - they should be able to give you an idea without actually doing a credit search (you could even take a long a copy of your credit report for them to see).

cally6008

OH isnt brilliant with money but I dont think we're linked although we live in same house, we're not married or anything

Bank account is managed pretty good, havent had bank charges for 14 months now although do use my overdraft quite often getting near payday. Been with bank for at least 9 years now. To be honest, I've asked them for a loan or CC card in the past and they've never once been able to help.

Tixy

If you are linked he'll appear as a financial associate on your credit report (you'd need to have had a joint overdraft or loan or something in the past)

You need to factor in your overdraft limit when thinking about your total credit facility - someone helpfully posted yesterday that banks often look at 50% of your salary as a good indicator of how much unsecured credit you may get.

If you add the credit card limits and your overdraft and the £5k loan that you wanted does that take you anywhere near 50% of your salary?

I have no experience of Barclays, maybe they are just not a good bank for such things (sorry)

Oh also should have said - I assume you are on the electoral roll at your address?