Computer says "No!"

wolfers

This is a whiny thread that I don't expect much sympathy for, but . . .

I was discharged from bankruptcy in 2011. Since then my finances have been impeccable. So much so that a couple of years ago I bought a second hand car for £7,500 and paid cash from my savings. I have a current account and a savings account with the same bank and the combined balance is never below about £4,000.

My bank offers a very good credit card so I decided to apply. Big surprise: I was turned down.

Yeah, yeah, what was I expecting.

Except it annoys me in at least two ways. First, given that I bank with them, surely they can see the history of my account over the last four years and see that I'm a model customer. Second, why do they just automatically reject former bankrupts? I suspect that many of us are far, far better with our finances than people who have not gone bankrupt.

It just seems very knee-jerk to me. Former bankrupt = Dodgy. Well, not in my case, and my bank would know that if it bothered to look at its own records.

Indeed, if they looked at my credit file, they'd see I already have a credit card: one of those super high-interest ones for people with rubbish credit. And they'd see I've paid it off in full every month, even when the balance one month was just over a thousand pounds.

Ugh. I'm just ranting.

Thrugelmir

Don't take rejection personally. Banks don't underwrite at micro level. Lending policies are set at macro level.

alastairq

One way of testing the water is to use MSE's credit checker tool? This will give you some idea as to the likelihood of being accepted.

Typically, things don't start to get back to so-called 'normal' until after the 6 year mark.

At that point, pretty much the world is one's oyster.

wolfers

I tried them before about a year ago. I knew the chances weren't great. But you get cash back and whatnot and it would have been convenient as it's my regular bank.

I'm encouraged to hear you say things improve after the 6 year point. I'll be looking for my first mortgage in a few years time.