Credit application frustration

avaratz

Hello everyone,

I moved to the UK with my girlfriend last July and I'm trying to apply for a credit card. I'm not really interested in credit at the moment but understand the need to build a credit rating, and the buyer protection that credit cards offer interest me too.

I recently checked my credit ratings on Experian and Noddle and they appear to be fairly "average" (can't remember my Experian score but it noted that I was average, 3/5 on Noddle). Everything seemed to be accurate too.

I applied for the Tesco card and was immediately rejected. I then set my sights lower and went for the Aqua Reward Card (designed for new credit) and was rejected after being told they'd let me know after 10 working days :mad:.

I'm not sure where to go from here - obviously I won't be applying for anything else so as not to mess up my record, but I can't understand how Aqua could reject me? In my eyes I'm the "perfect" customer for them.

Can anyone advise me on what to do? I've requested a more up to date credit report from Experian, but it will take a few days to arrive. Aqua noted that they use Experian for scoring. The only negative I can think of is that we've moved around quite a bit since we arrived here (3 places in a year) but have finally settled in a decent London flat for the past 6 months, both earning decent salaries.

My current plan is to take out a few store cards just so I have some form of credit on my record, and after we've been in our flat for over a year start looking to apply for credit cards again. It's just a bit frustrating as certain things require a credit card, for example car hire. We also travel a lot so it would be nice to have the credit card as a backup in case we run out of foreign currency.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and any help is always appreciated!

BugsyBrowne

To get credit you need a history of managing credit cards & loans for a long period of time.

What are your debts?
Salary?
Missed/late payments?

You say In your eyes your a perfect customer in their eyes your to much of a high risk.

avaratz

Salary of £26k gross, soon to be going up though.

No debts. Does a mobile contract count?

Never missed or been late for a payment for anything. I'm especially strict with this, and everything is budgeted for a month in advance.

I understand I need a "history" of credit, but I'm finding it pretty hard to build that history without being able to get it in the first place . Hence why I tried Aqua, which claimed it was specifically geared towards people with no past credit.

reclusive46

Are you on the electoral roll?

avaratz

Yes, I checked this with Noddle before applying and they confirmed I was on their side so assumed Experian would also have me listed.

I sent the letter requesting to add me to the roll back in March, so I'd assume everything would have been updated by now.

BugsyBrowne

avaratz wrote: »

Yes, I checked this with Noddle before applying and they confirmed I was on their side so assumed Experian would also have me listed.

I sent the letter requesting to add me to the roll back in March, so I'd assume everything would have been updated by now.

Remember to a lender someone with no debts etc means they are high risk as they haven't got any info on how they manage credit facilities.

Try capital one classic or vanquis which are good for credit building as long as you pay in full each month as the APR is sky high.

avaratz

BugsyBrowne wrote: »

Remember to a lender someone with no debts etc means they are high risk as they haven't got any info on how they manage credit facilities.

Try capital one classic or vanquis which are good for credit building as long as you pay in full each month as the APR is sky high.

Thanks Bugsy, I may give one of these a try after waiting a month or so (so as not to clog up my record with applications). Just a bit worried that if Aqua refused me, other companies with a similar target market are going to do the same.