Refused... dagnammit

Mrs_Smith_6

Ok... facts as I know them are..

1) never had any CCJs Default notices or bankrupcy
2) have a regular income
3) been in my current address 18 months (previous two addresses were only 6 months, previous address to that was 18 years)
4) Had the same job for a year
5) currently have roughly £4000 debt (loan and small credit card)

Now I did have a gazillion bank charges from my bank (bank charge makes you over drawn then even more charges story... already read about claiming those back).

However, I've been refused a loan, and even refused from the Capital One build up your credit rating credit card...

The loan was for transport (I work too far away from work to cycle to with the problems in my knees)... so its pretty essential (no matter how nice my boss is he wont put up with me being later and later for ever... I'm also a goldsmith so not a huge number of vacancies in my profession - or much pay for that matter).

Now... I assume the bank charge loop I was in destroyed my credit rating, but how do I get it back up when I can't get a build your credit rating up credit card? Seems a touch unfair really...

Also on a more delicate and personal matter I have a suspicion that something is adversely affecting credit applications however I might just be being paranoid: I'm transgendered and have legally changed my name, though both names still appear on my credit record with Experian (and barclaycard and Orange for some reason wont accept that I've changed my name so they still have me as my old name on thier records)... I'm worried that the computers are saying I'm some sort of fraud risk for having two totally different identities...

So, nice and simple... any ideas?

Pink_butterfly_3

You mention your credit report but have you been online to https://www.experian.co.uk to view your credit report? Its free for a month and you'll be able to see exactly whats been going on in regards to your credit history.

You can also pay £4.99 and get your credit score.

xxxx

Molanole

You can also sign up to annualcreditreport.co.uk for a free credit report. It's only been rolled out in certain regions so far though but worth checking if you are in one of the live regions already.

Mrs_Smith_6

Yes I did have a look at my credit report - I didn't check for the full on credit score...

It only had some of my accounts on there... which I thought was odd... it had my barcley card, my orange mobile contract and my hsbc loan... but at the time I also had a credit card with HSBC and that wasn't on there... All seemed to say I was paying up to day (lots of green "0" 's if I remember rightly).

Mrs_Smith_6

--Update--

Have checked with Experian and my credit score is 808... isn't that quite good... ? I'm also "associated" with someone who I have never had financial dealings with in my life

regularsaver1

Are you on the electoral roll?

how long have you been in your current job?

do you have a landline telephone?

sometimes these things make a difference. When you see your current account on your credit file, i suspect it will have a different rating next to it, which could explain why it has been declined

enjoyincubus

Mrs_Smith wrote:

--Update--

Have checked with Experian and my credit score is 808... isn't that quite good... ? I'm also "associated" with someone who I have never had financial dealings with in my life

Yes the 808 is good, but being associated with someone else isn't... does it show you their credit information? It may be them who are getting you declined. For example if they have a CCJ or something that will count against you usually.

Some things to check:

- Are you on the electoral roll?
- Work out your debt to income ratio e.g add up the £4000 you currently have, add the loan you applied for and divide that by your gross annual income. What is the percentage? E.g. £4000+£10,000/£14,000 = 100%. Although this is not an exact affordability calculation, it is a good rule of thumb used by banks.
- Work out you free monthly income ratio e.g add up all your current outgoings plus the monthly loan payment and divide that by your monthly take home pay. The lower that percentage the better.

However that doesn't say why you were declined for a credit card as monthly repayments etc shouldn't come into it, and they could just give you a low limit initially with a high APR. This may suggest its to do with the other associated person?

Mrs_Smith_6

I have no information on the other persons credit... but he was unemployed and claiming benefits for 5 years so its unlikely to be a great credit score... experian are writing to me to with info on removing his name from my file... which is good, because he was never associated with me.

Experian did say that HSBC have been with them less than a year, so on thier records anyone with HSBC will look like they've opened new accounts this year (ie the account is there but with no history). So that might have some bearing on things.

regularsaver1

So are you on the electorol roll as myself and OP's have asked before?

Mrs_Smith_6

Yes, I'm on the electoral roll... am starting to think that might have something to do with it thoug - I've moved a bit in the last few years.
18 months here
6 months at a temporary hostel
6 months with parents after they moved
18 years with parents before they moved.
So when asked for previous addresses I seem to need to type in a few.

The ratio things seem to add up ok.