trying to get a loan for home improvements

meer53

date542 wrote: »

She is on £28k a year and I pull in £3-5K per month--my score on Experian was 980 (excellent)---after she cleared some debts prior to applying for this loan hers shot up to 920 (excellent)--she has missed some monthly commitments in last 2 years on one card but always doubled up the following month--is Experian worth the paper its writte on?? or--as I said earlier--are the banks working to some form of agenda---though not the end of the world I have taken this personally and see it as a kick in the teeth---the final preferred option would be to cut out the banks altogether and save though this would take a couple of years and we had planned to make the improvements this year. I now resent the fact that I use the banks for my business and personal accounts and pay my hard earned cash into their organisation but when we go to them with the begging bowl we are treated like 3rd class citizens

Missing payments and doubling up the next month won't help, it will have a negative effect on your credit file. Santander will have used their own credit scoring system but will probably also have referred to one of the CRA's for the bigger picture. If you operate your accounts without any problems then as long as you have enough disposable income to make the repayments, then the loan would probably have been agreed. They obviously see a problem somewhere.

They're not treating you like a 3rd class citizen, they're making a decision based on how much of a risk they feel you might be. £22k is a huge amount for a kitchen, could you not revise your plans ?

Hang_Tight_Harry

date542 wrote: »

I now resent the fact that I use the banks for my business and personal accounts and pay my hard earned cash into their organisation but when we go to them with the begging bowl we are treated like 3rd class citizens

Mate, you really need to get over yourself. Until you have £22k in small change, you're at the mercy of lenders. They are perfectly entitled to say no - as you've discovered. Don't take it personally, they just don't think you and your wife are good to pay it back. Their choice.

Switching banks was simply you throwing you're toys out of the pram and was a totally pointless exercise. The CEO of Santander is not going to be lying awake at night fretting. You, on the other hand, will struggle to get credit as banks like to see a stable history from their customers.

opinions4u

date542 wrote: »

What you have to understand is that I have never had any credit cards and we have had the mortgage for 6 years and never missed a payment--santander were quite happy to give us a mortgage for £90k--purchase price was £170k--we lumped £80k down as deposit from sale of previous house--plus at time of purchase we were offered £25k for home improvements--my partners credit history was pretty much the same at the time and I was only on £25k a year at the time--my situation has greatly improved since going self employed---now can you see why I am aggrieved?

I understand.

Do you understand that the banks have a shortage of funds to lend? Any money they choose to lend, and it is their choice, goes to the cleanest applicants.

Do you understand that the Credit Crunch was caused by lending to every Tom, !!!!!! and Harry regardless of their credit record and taking little interest in their ability and willingness to repay?

A world of picky lenders will, in time, make better people of all of us.

Call me naive but I always thought the fact that we had collateral (the house)--relatively small amount of £22k would be no problem

In this day and age banks see people who don't pay their bills in full, on time, as a problem.

That said, have you seen a mortgage broker? I'd be fairly sure you could remortgage.

--I believe the banks are working to a hidden agenda and are quite happy to sit on the cash.

Banks have a problem. Their customers owe them more than their savers have deposited. So when you say "sitting on the cash" which cash, precisely, is this?

In our own small way we could have kick started the local economy--by hiring kitchen fitters, designers, plumbers, electricians, suppliers etc. The banks seem happy to stifle all this

The banks would love to kick start the economy. Booming Britain means booming profits. But they don't have the money. They lent it all out in the past. Looking at it simplistically, When it eventually gets paid back they can clear their debts. When they've balanced their own books they can lend more freely. Give it 5-10 years.

In the meantime, see a mortgage broker.

DCFC79

Your excellent score of 980 doesn't meant you enter the pot of certainly being accepted for a loan, all that matters is the other stuff on your credit file eg any financial links to anyone. Give it a while before you apply again and get saving during this period.

dealer_wins

Lets say the OP got their loan, fast foward a year or so to the following post...

I am so annoyed at Santander, last year they let us borrow £22000 for a kitchen, even though we clearly couldnt afford it, and they could see that my wife was already living beyond her means.

Surely this loan has been mis-sold to us, can I get it written off?

inmypocketnottheirs

dealer_wins wrote: »

Lets say the OP got their loan, fast foward a year or so to the following post...

I am so annoyed at Santander, last year they let us borrow £22000 for a kitchen, even though we clearly couldnt afford it, and they could see that my wife was already living beyond her means.

Surely this loan has been mis-sold to us, can I get it written off?

You took the words right out if my mouth!!

date542

Many thanks to everyone for the insight---one other thing--when we originally took out the mortgage 6 years ago under reduced circumstances are monthly repayments were £600--this has currently dropped to £370--the top up secured loan for £22k would have brought repayments back to around the £600 per month mark spread over 10 yrs (19yrs left on mortgage)--with our circumstances better---as I say I am ultra cautious about loans and have never owned a credit card--I have monthly bills through the business for phone, insurances and a car etc all being managed comfortably--more I think about it the more I am keen to f*** the banks off and save--in 2 yrs time should have substantial amount--just leaves the question what exactly is the banks purpose--what exactly are they DOING for us? the one time I decide to take up the offer advertised in numerous crap they post out and it is an exercise in humiliation----

Apples2

As already described, the lending criteria is stricter, which is why they advertise more, they do want to loan money, but only to the right people, their market is shrinking.

If you can save £22k in two years, you must be saving about £1k per month. You should have fair savings. Even if you didn't, spending £1k per month isn't too bad, you would never need the whole £22k on day one.

opinions4u

date542 wrote: »

Many thanks to everyone for the insight---one other thing--when we originally took out the mortgage 6 years ago under reduced circumstances are monthly repayments were £600--this has currently dropped to £370--the top up secured loan for £22k would have brought repayments back to around the £600 per month mark spread over 10 yrs (19yrs left on mortgage)

And your affordability if base rates rise by 5%, 10% or more?

--with our circumstances better---as I say I am ultra cautious about loans and have never owned a credit card--I have monthly bills through the business for phone, insurances and a car etc all being managed comfortably--more I think about it the more I am keen to f*** the banks off and save--in 2 yrs time should have substantial amount--

I'm a great fan of saving. It's good for you.

just leaves the question what exactly is the banks purpose--what exactly are they DOING for us?-

The purpose of a bank is to make profits for the shareholders. Don't ever convince yourself it's anything else.