Turned down for payday loan despite high credit rating.

chiefG

Hi all,


I'm a newbie. I was turned down twice recently by Wonga for a short term loan for about £50 to get through a cash flow issue. I applied twice as I was surprised I was turned down the first time and thought it was a mistake. My Equifax score is 848, Experian 844 and Callcredit is 807. I have approx. £5,500 owed on credit cards and outstanding loan of approx. £2000. I am not a home owner and I'm renting. My age is 40 and I'm male.


I'm baffled by being declined by Wonga and I'm wondering whats the point in the high credit score if Wonga are turning me down. I cannot see any issues to put them off but I do wonder if an ex girlfriend who is listed on my 'financial associations' part of the file is causing them concern as she had an extremely poor credit score. I did not take out any joint loans with her etc but we did have a shared tenancy on a property we rented a couple of years ago. I'm now in the process of dissociating her from my record.


Anyone got any advice please about why Wonga turned me down and the implications this will cause as I was looking to get a 0% credit card transfer but I'm scared I'll be turned down?


Thanks in advance for replies.

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

Welcome to MSE :wave:

Wonga don't actually see these "scores". They see your report(s) and make their own decision.

john1002

As fruit and nut has said your scores from Experian and call credit mean nothing to Wonga, they have there own score card and when adding up all the details you gave on your application and your credit file they decided they did not want too lend to you.


Have you tried to use one of the credit card providers that soft search you before applying to give you an indication on if you would pass. Eg MBNA or Nationwide.


john

chiefG

Hi and thanks for you replies and advice. I'm still puzzled as to why they would turn me down though as there are no red or amber lights flashing on my report. I'll take your advice on the credit cards that soft search as I wasn't aware of this.

lisa110rry

Have you ever heard of Zopa? It's a peer-to-peer lending arrangement. I applied for a loan with Zopa in 2008 to buy a Vespa (just for fun). At that time I was full time employed by the same company for five years, had a mortgage and apart from that had no lending or credit and I was on the Electoral Roll. I was given the loan, I paid it off perfectly on time.

Roll on to 2013 and I thought I would ask Zopa again for a loan, this time to buy a vintage SLK. In 2013 I had paid off the mortgage, still had no debts, lived in the same home, had the same job with a considerably higher salary and was on the Electoral Roll, and I was even a Zopa lender! I was declined the loan. (I bought the car anyway with savings, it was not a lot of money.)

The only difference I could perceive was that I didn't have a mortgage. This could make a big difference it would seem!

Candyapple

Rather than turn to a payday lender for the sake of £50, could you not have used an overdraft albeit even if it was temporary at your bank, surely that would have been the better option?

Are you on the electoral roll? What is your salary to debt ratio?

And yes, your ex being on your file if she has a bad credit rating will definitely affect yours.

chiefG

Unfortunately, I needed it quick and it was the evening so I went for Wonga. I'm on the electoral roll. My credit report has a positive and negative column and the only negative is a late bill payment a few years back but the report explained that almost everyone has a minor blip like this and it shouldn't really cause any concern. My total debts are about £8k and I earn about £40k after tax.


Regarding my ex, well I've delved deeper into the report and she is associated due to her name being on an old gas bill. She was also probably credit searched when we took out a joint tenancy on the house we then lived at. She really was terrible with repayments.


Btw John1002, I applied for a credit transfer with MBNA just now and they declined.

[Deleted User]

You need to stop applying for a while. Three quick searches wil make it very likely you'll continue to be declined, whatever the original reason.

The one positive is at least you don't now also have a PDL on your file.

sniggings

chiefG wrote: »

My total debts are about £8k and I earn about £40k after tax.

You earn over £700 a week and need to go to Wonga?

Thrugelmir

Turned down for payday loan despite high credit rating.

I have approx. £5,500 owed on credit cards and outstanding loan of approx. £2000.

PDL will therefore assume you've exhausted your existing credit lines. Any further lending would not be responsible.

DCFC79

They rejected you because they can.