Refused a student account due to credit history... at 19.

GeniusSage

I've had a credit card for just over a year now and I've had about 4 missed payments as I quit my job and had no way of paying. I'm starting Uni at the end of this month (I know I've left it late!!) and today, tried to open a student account with Halifax. I went through the whole application process then was told I'd been declined. My parents credit history (according to them) is pretty much perfect so I'm guessing it is because of my missed payments.

I'm not sure who to turn to. I phoned Natwest and was told there wasn't much point in attempting to open an account with them as they would probably refuse me right now. Earlier today I paid my minimum payment into my Capital One credit card account and was told this would take a few days to go through. Once it'd gone through, the Natwest guy suggested contacting experian, explaining the situation, then attempting to open an account with a bank then. (In short, he was saying the reason I was probably refused today was because I had an overdue payment with Capital One, and that by clearing this, I may have a better chance.)

After paying the minimum payment, I decided to go all the way and ask my parents to pay the entire Capital One account off so I could close it. That way I wont have to worry about future payments being missed. Anyway, my parents agreed and in a few days, the payments would have all gone through and the account will no longer exist.

Now... problem is, I want to be able to try opening a student account with another bank without fear of being rejected, and therefore garunteed rejection for the next 12months. I got my credit card to cover any emergencys during a trip to Thailand. I got caught in the credit-card-trap and funded a few nights out (Back when I had no idea what credit was, and when I didn't even know credit history existed!). Obviouslly it's a mistake I'm not going to make again, but, rightly so, credit history doesn't have emotions and doesn't really understand financial mistakes. I'm now worried I've messed my credit history up for life, or at least for the next year or so, meaning I'm going to have trouble getting a student account.

I have absolutly no idea who to turn to! I've rung everybody I could think of (Natwest, Halifax, Abbey, Capital One, Experian, my university) and I still have no idea how likely it is that I'll ever get a student account due to my ignorant financial mistakes. If I had a job in the past 6 months, I would have paid all of these debts off. I'm now looking for a job during termtime.

I keep telling myself, surely theres people with MUCH worse credit history than me! Afterall, I've only ever been £90-£130 in debt with a few missed payments. But £10 or £1000, a missed payment is a missed payment.

My current plan of action is something along these lines...

1.Pay off all debts (Paid £120 into Capital One, closed the account) - DONE

2.Contact experian in a few days when everything gone through, request a copy of my credit history (Although I've already seen this through the website, I'd rather see it on paper).

3.Contact experian, explain why I missed the payments as well as explaining my current situation (Looking for a job for term time, attending university, being refused a student account and being worried others will refuse me) and see what they suggest

4.GET A JOB!

If any of you have any suggestions, or if any of you have been in a similar situation, please reply! Very sorry for the long post, but thankyou VERY much for any help/replies/suggestions.

si1503

i'd leave it a couple of months, then try smile.co.uk

i can't really relate as i've been accepted for accounts from natwest, halifax and lloyds/tsb, i've had a credit card for 2 years which i've spent on and never had a late payment, so i know my rating is very good, but if i was in your position i'd stay well clear of credit cards for a year, and attempt to open a student account with the bank mentioned at the start of this thread, they seem to do a solid package with an interest free overdraft of up to 2k and seem to be a bit looser on the acceptance T&Cs compared to the more traditional banks (ltsb, natwest)

Experian_company_representative

Unless the Capital One account has defaulted, I would encourage against closing the account completely. You could keep it open but not use it . This would mean the late payments would disappear in three years instead of six (which would certainly be the case if you closed the account).

Although your credit report shows when you have applied for credit, it does not show whether you have been accepted or refused.

I suggest you get your credit report, make sure everything's up to date then add a note to it explaining why you got into difficulties before. Then, before applying for a bank account, speak to the banks and explain your circumstances up front. If you are not the type of customer they are likely to accept you can go elsewhere without wasting time filling out forms etc.

James