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Turned down for credit card, A+ rating, complained, now what?

fluffpot
fluffpot Posts: 1,264 Forumite
Hi everyone

I applied for a Halifax Clarity card principally as I am going on a big trip abroad soon and wanted to use this for my cash withdrawals/spends. It is the recommended travel card on this site.

I was turned down. I called Halifax who said that they would explain why - and put me through to an automated message which said....

"You have been turned down, please reapply when your circumstances change" Very helpful! NOT

I was a bit worried, so I applied to see my credit rating - this was the top score of 999.

I then sent an email complain to Halifax to ask for more info and also to suggest that their automated 'explanation' was not helpful in the least.

So, my question is, should I pursue this or just give up and try for another (lesser) card or even one of the pre payment ones?
Thanks
Fluff
«1

Comments

  • Tixy
    Tixy Posts: 31,455 Forumite
    Your 999 score is not indicative of whether you are likely to get new credit products.

    People who've never had any credit in the past are given such a score. But lenders are still wary as they've no credit history for them to view to see whether the customer can handle credit responsibly.

    What existing / past credit have you had?
    What are your financial circumstances? Are you employed? are you a homeowner? are you on the electoral roll? what debt do you have.

    The clarity card is certainly one of the harder cards to be accepted for.
    A smile enriches those who receive without making poorer those who give
    or "It costs nowt to be nice"
  • bengalknights
    bengalknights Posts: 5,021 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts
    Your score means nothing to anyone its just a fancy number

    The only thing that matters is how much debt you have and how much income you have to cover the debt.

    What you should try is starting with the subprime cards to built up a record.
  • The reason why you could of got rejected is because you possibly didn't 'fit' their customer profile.

    Now, how can we possibly help you if you don't give any details that's on your credit files, are you employed, homeowner, electrol roll, any ccj's, financial associations, etc... it does my head in when people MOAN they get rejected and they come and throw their toys out the prammy and say, why did i get rejected?!! without sharing their credit profile info.

    Tell us the information on your credit file and someone MAY be able to give you a sufficient reason why!!!
  • fluffpot
    fluffpot Posts: 1,264 Forumite
    Thanks for replies. I wasn't throwing my toys out the pram :)

    I didn't realise that CC company's don't take note of your credit score when making decisions sorry and also didn't want to post up personal info if it was unnecessary.

    However, here's the background:
    Home owner (well small mortgage, but equity in my home is over 90%)
    Lived at current address for 10 years and on electrol roll
    No CCJs
    No debts (apart from mortgage)
    I have 3 other credit cards - one is with my bank and the other two are Amex for airmiles. Balance is always paid off in full at the end of each month. Can't remember exactly what the credit limits are - something like £20K Bank and £10 each Amex
    Just before Xmas I opened a account with an online store to purchase a particular item and take advantage of a discount. I'm then paying 3 payments over three months interest free - last one is due about now and I'll then close the account.
    I'm self employed - have been for last 8 years
    Any ideas as to why I don't fit' the customer profile would be really helpful - if only Halifax could have told me in the first place, eh?
    Let me know if you need more info

    Cheers
    Fluff
  • ybbon66
    ybbon66 Posts: 98 Forumite
    fluffpot wrote: »
    Thanks for replies. I wasn't throwing my toys out the pram :)

    I didn't realise that CC company's don't take note of your credit score when making decisions sorry and also didn't want to post up personal info if it was unnecessary.

    However, here's the background:
    Home owner (well small mortgage, but equity in my home is over 90%)
    Lived at current address for 10 years and on electrol roll
    No CCJs
    No debts (apart from mortgage)
    I have 3 other credit cards - one is with my bank and the other two are Amex for airmiles. Balance is always paid off in full at the end of each month. Can't remember exactly what the credit limits are - something like £20K Bank and £10 each Amex
    Just before Xmas I opened a account with an online store to purchase a particular item and take advantage of a discount. I'm then paying 3 payments over three months interest free - last one is due about now and I'll then close the account.
    I'm self employed - have been for last 8 years
    Any ideas as to why I don't fit' the customer profile would be really helpful - if only Halifax could have told me in the first place, eh?
    Let me know if you need more info

    Cheers
    Fluff

    Well TBH, from this, it isn't clear why you want another CC for a holiday, you say you have 3 others all of which are paid in full so why would you need another?
    April 2008 - Epiphany - At least £28K owed to 5 CC's
    [STRIKE]Mint (3k)[/strike] - Paid Dec 2010
    [strike]Egg (2K)[/strike] - Paid 2009
    [STRIKE]Barclaycard (5K)[/strike] - Paid Jan 2013
    [strike]FirstDirect (11k)[/strike] - Paid June 2013
    MBNA [strike](8K)[/strike]/£4183 -August 2014 -Resurrection - MBNA to be paid in full 8/14 :j
  • ses6jwg
    ses6jwg Posts: 5,381 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    you are self employed (banks don't like this)

    it looks like you have access to £30,000 of unsecured lending on 3 different cards.

    try cancelling 2 of the cards and re appling in 3 months
  • Tixy
    Tixy Posts: 31,455 Forumite
    edited 22 March 2012 at 11:39AM
    From the info posted it would seem like the major issue could be the £40k available credit that is unused. Being self employed might also cause an issue.
    aAso clarity is thought to be weighted quite heavily in favour of existing halifax customers, but they won't say that for sure.

    Given what you want the card for - have you looked at your existing cards and compared costs when abroad? Are yours in the 'dont use' category on MSE? Or the mid way cards for use abroad? Have you also looked at your debit card costs? If none of your existing cards are cheap look at the prepaid cards that are cheapest abroad.
    A smile enriches those who receive without making poorer those who give
    or "It costs nowt to be nice"
  • rartherinv
    rartherinv Posts: 158 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker Debt-free and Proud!
    edited 22 March 2012 at 7:46AM
    Common misconception about credit scores. When a lender does a credit score it does not mean they go to a credit reference agency and ask them "what's their credit score?" and get told "999" - "great, we'll give them the money then as our required score is 800"... it means they get all the information from the credit reference agency and together with the salary info and personal details they already have they will run their numbers through their OWN credit scoring system against their own criteria and come up with their own decision on whether you will make them a profit. If you have a zillion pounds of credit available unused then clearly they are not going to make any money and if you did have financial difficulty they would be last on the list of screwed over lenders. They give the minimum possible response required by law about why the system rejected someone because they don't want anyone to know how they score customers as this would make it easier for applicants to stretch the truth or commit fraud.

    Experian credit score is just a way to print free money by giving people an "indication" of their likely creditworthiness. Only factors like payment history, searches and defaults are considered. MASSIVE factors such as how much money you earn are not considered because CRAs do not have this info. Also they have a vested interest to show higher scores and scores which vary a lot, so muppets keep coming back for their imaginary number!
  • steve1980
    steve1980 Posts: 2,334 Forumite
    It's your £30k available credit. From a banks point of view you don't need another credit card.
    Estate Agent, Web Designer & All Round Geek!
  • opinions4u
    opinions4u Posts: 19,411 Forumite
    edited 22 March 2012 at 8:31AM
    Self-employed non-customer seeking credit.

    I know how I'd programme an underwriting system to deal with that.

    One way of injecting funds in to a business.
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