Soft searches are they meaningful

ianh68

Well having read all about soft searches I applied to Nationwide for a loan. Had some problems in the past but now all sorted and a score up in the 800's according to CallCredit (I know that's not hugely valuable but felt like a good indication) so got to quote stage and received a personal quote of around 9%. OH good thought I sounds OK given score not perfect so I clicked apply to be declined. OK I thought well that's odd but these things happen so went to Halifax who also do a personal quote got the same interest rate and again declined.


SO I thought that the soft search gave a pretty good indication of likelihood of acceptance and so I used up my two searches when had a reasonable result. Are they actually any use at all? Would it not be better if they applied some more rigorous scoring and said yes or no at the soft search stage?


Have others had similar experiences? I know they are not a firm decision but it seems odd to me they are not robust from the experience I have had.

sai5

It is a good tool for applying the credit. I often do that and got succeeded though one time they given me more APR than in the quote about 2 % extra.

When you do soft search it only asks few details and checks basic things and when they go for full credit search it will take into account many things like your existing debit and any outstanding credit etc.

In case of a credit card if you gone through with the soft search and say you asked for a limit of £3000 and when you apply for the card it may be successful with a lower limit or higher limit than you applied but in the loan case it is not the same I think.

In your case it might be you are asking more than you are eligible for.Get a Statutory report or register with Noddle which is free to check CR.

Try Ratesetter or Zopa who are P2P lenders who can offer you for less APR and you can call them and discuss your issue.

Hope this information helps.