I'm too good with money and have no credit history / Halifax just refused me !!

lanstrom

I guess you are both right in saying that if I would have gone for their pay-for 'Ultimate Rewards' they would probably have accepted me.

I did apply for the current account in branch and the advisor did say that she was shocked that the application was refused. She did phone the head office but they said they would not overrule it and I had to appeal by post if I didn't like the decision. Obviously I am not going to bother. I am trying to give them £50,000 of my money (in ISA and Web Account) and I don't see why I should go out of my way to give it to them !

rb10

If your balance in your ISA & Web Saver is £50k, then I'd imagine that within 3 months or so you'd be have no problems in getting a credit card.

They don't know that you have savings at the moment, and can only base their decision on what they can see on your credit report (which shows current and recent borrowings)

opinions4u

lanstrom wrote: »

I guess you are both right in saying that if I would have gone for their pay-for 'Ultimate Rewards' they would probably have accepted me.

That's not the case. The credit scoring system is exactly the same.

If you haven't deposited the savings funds yet, the company knows absolutely nothing about you. Would you provide a credit facility to somebody you didn't know?

Time as a saver will, as rb10 suggest, make acceptance in the not too distant future a lot easier.

lanstrom

I have shown her the bank statements showing the amounts for both my TSB ISA and Egg savings. If that's not good enough for them then I give in !

I don't suppose TSB and Halifax share savings information ?

opinions4u

lanstrom wrote: »

I don't suppose TSB and Halifax share savings information ?

Not for credit scoring purposes. Not accessible by branch staff.

rb10

lanstrom wrote: »

I have shown her the bank statements showing the amounts for both my TSB ISA and Egg savings. If that's not good enough for them then I give in !

Branch staff have no authority to overturn an underwriting decision, regardless of what documents they have seen.

Take a photocopy of your LTSB and Egg statements, and send them to Halifax's Head Office asking for your current account application to be reconsidered.

jalexa

opinions4u wrote: »

If you haven't deposited the savings funds yet, the company knows absolutely nothing about you. Would you provide a credit facility to somebody you didn't know?

That is a fair point - if the poster had made their application contingent on being granted a particular size of overdraft. As I suspect you are aware, as well as the account acceptance not being guaranteed, *specifically* neither is an overdraft. Probably you will recognise this...

Whether you can have an overdraft and the amount will depend upon your personal circumstances at the time you apply for one. Any overdraft we agree is subject to status. Overdrafts are repayable on demand.

In effect there are two seperate acceptances, the account and the overdraft. Unless I have missed something the poster is only raising account acceptance which *I* would have thought had a lower acceptance threshold.

(overdraft acceptance merits more prominant mention in the account desrcription).

opinions4u

jalexa wrote: »

That is a fair point - if the poster had made their application contingent on being granted a particular size of overdraft. As I suspect you are aware, as well as the account acceptance not being guaranteed, *specifically* neither is as overdraft. Probably you will recognise this...

Whether you can have an overdraft and the amount will depend upon your personal circumstances at the time you apply for one. Any overdraft we agree is subject to status. Overdrafts are repayable on demand.

In effect there are two seperate acceptances, the account and the overdraft. Unless I have missed something the poster is only raising the account acceptance which *I* would have thought had a lower acceptance threshold.

(overdraft acceptance merits particular mention in the account desrcription).

Don't forget that a debit card can be used recklessly regardless of authorised overdraft availability.

jalexa

lanstrom wrote: »

I did apply for the current account in branch and the advisor did say that she was shocked that the application was refused. She did phone the head office but they said they would not overrule it and I had to appeal by post if I didn't like the decision. Obviously I am not going to bother...

OK, in that case I just reverse my argument. If your credit file can stand another search, try an online application. Then *you* are fully in control of what information is entered.

I think I referred to this in an earlier post and you are quite entitled not to answer, but I think the Reward Account (but not the Current Account) has a £1000/month funding requirement (certainly to earn the Reward). If you applied for a Reward Account was your funding position clear from the application? Did you apply for an overdraft? In hindsight that might have been premature.

There has been some good advice about playing a longer game by opening a savings account first. A good idea whichever new bank you seek to switch to.

MacMickster

OP. If a company does not want my business then I wouldn't waste any time trying to change their minds. Instead I would take my business elsewhere.

Given that Lloyds group are one of the banks in which the taxpayer has a significant stake, I would then write to my MP about this. Financial exclusion is a problem for many in this country. When the banks try to exclude someone with your means and attitude to finances from the system then it demonstrates how flawed their processes are.