Overdraft facility declined

graham44

We are retired pensioners. My wife has a debit card for our joint current account but has used it only very rarely. I have a credit card for the account but she does not. She also had a debit but no credit card for own current account with another bank where her balance was usually only a few hundred pounds. Her branch at that bank has closed and she has now switched her current account to a third bank. Although our joint account has a sizeable (but rarely used) overdraft facility, my wife has never needed to borrow and therefore she had never bothered to have a credit card at any bank and thought little about it. The switch to her new bank went smoothly but she has been told tin writing that, following a check with Experian, she does not qualify for an overdraft facility. Both of us are upset. Having never needed to ask for credit any time in her life, she feels insulted. What can she possibly do to remedy this and retain her own independent dignity?


Also, should anything happen to me, she could conceivably perhaps wish an overdraft facility. Your advice please.

Nasqueron

Credit is offered based on the records held by the credit agencies, as odd as it may sound, simply not having any credit is worse than having credit as your wife is an unknown risk (the possibly limited income of a pensioner may count against her too) - it's not saying she's bad financially or a risk, simply an unknown.

The best thing would be to get a credit card (check which ones will be ok for a pensioner either on here or maybe SAGA or similar group specialising in older people) and spend on it, pay it back in full and establish a record of being a reliable person - the old bank probably knew her spending for years so judged her safe enough to have credit, the new one can only go on the credit ratings agency reports which are essentially blank.

She may even be able to qualify for a cashback card where she gets money for spending on the credit card

sourcrates

Hi graham,

I wouldn't take it personally to be honest, i would treat it as a blessing.

Could be some anomaly on her credit file, if you dont actually need it, then it shows you are been responsible and are living within your means, as i now do, after been in debt most of my adult life.

If you still feel strongly about it, and you want your wife to retain her own independent dignity, fire off a snotty letter to there customer complaints dept, tell them there customer care stinks, you dont need there money, and they know where they can shove there overdraught facility.

Anthorn

graham44 wrote: »

We are retired pensioners. My wife has a debit card for our joint current account but has used it only very rarely. I have a credit card for the account but she does not. She also had a debit but no credit card for own current account with another bank where her balance was usually only a few hundred pounds. Her branch at that bank has closed and she has now switched her current account to a third bank. Although our joint account has a sizeable (but rarely used) overdraft facility, my wife has never needed to borrow and therefore she had never bothered to have a credit card at any bank and thought little about it. The switch to her new bank went smoothly but she has been told tin writing that, following a check with Experian, she does not qualify for an overdraft facility. Both of us are upset. Having never needed to ask for credit any time in her life, she feels insulted. What can she possibly do to remedy this and retain her own independent dignity?


Also, should anything happen to me, she could conceivably perhaps wish an overdraft facility. Your advice please.

Perhaps it can only get worse. In my own personal experience it does happen that a bank will allow an overdraft but not a credit card or vice versa and will allow a credit card but not an overdraft. My most recent experience is that Lloyds Bank allowed a credit card with £1000 limit but not a request for an overdraft with a £300 limit.

You need to get your Experian credit report and check that the bank did in fact perform a credit search. If not it could be argued that the bank disallowed the application based solely on the advanced age of the applicant. In that case the Financial Ombudsman might be interested.

Here's a newspaper report of a similar case:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/borrowing/creditcards/10991292/You-are-too-old-for-a-credit-card-bank-tells-customer.html

TheShape

graham44 wrote: »

Both of us are upset. Having never needed to ask for credit any time in her life, she feels insulted. What can she possibly do to remedy this and retain her own independent dignity?]

Seriously? There is no reason to be upset or insulted.

The new bank will have made a decision based on your wife's income, credit history and currently available credit. If your wife has a low income and high availability of credit through your joint account overdraft facility, this will have an affect an application for credit. What is her income, and how sizeable is the overdraft facility on your joint account?

She may be offered an overdraft in the future once the new bank can assess how she is using the new account.

DCFC79

Definitely no need to be upset nor feel insulted over it.

Dobbibill

It's purely a business decision and nothing personal. Tell your wife not to worry or take it to heart.

A4445

I've just switched banks to Nationwide and was approved for current account and have their credit card. I didn't ask for an overdraft and I don't one, but according to online banking I'm not eligible for one. So credit card yes overdraft no :rotfl::rotfl:

Ben8282

graham44 wrote: »

We are retired pensioners. My wife has a debit card for our joint current account but has used it only very rarely. I have a credit card for the account but she does not. You can't have a credit card for a bank account. You may have a credit card but it is not for the joint bank account. She also had a debit but no credit card for own current account with another bank where her balance was usually only a few hundred pounds. Her branch at that bank has closed and she has now switched her current account to a third bank. Although our joint account has a sizeable (but rarely used) overdraft facility, my wife has never needed to borrow (She did borrow during the 'rare' periods that your joint overdraft has been used) and therefore she had never bothered to have a credit card at any bank and thought little about it. The switch to her new bank went smoothly but she has been told tin writing that, following a check with Experian, she does not qualify for an overdraft facility. Both of us are upset. Having never needed to ask for credit any time in her life, she feels insulted. What can she possibly do to remedy this and retain her own independent dignity?

Also, should anything happen to me, she could conceivably perhaps wish an overdraft facility. She already has one, on your joint account. Your advice please.

Your wife not having a credit card is not relevant.
Banks often take account turnover into consideration when making decisions about overdrafts. Your comments about her balance being only a few hundred pounds and the existence of a joint current account with a sizable overdraft facility would imply that her personal account was not her main current account but perhaps an account in which she kept a few hundred pounds of savings with no regular income coming into the account. In such a case, why should the bank be expected to offer an overdraft? If she arranges for something to be paid into the account each month, then perhaps when the bank see a regular income coming in they will grant an overdraft facility appropriate to her apparent means.
Your post does not say if she previously had an overdraft facility on her old account but assuming that she did not and has never needed to borrow money, then why does she want one now? If she did, perhaps you should have checked with the new bank if they would honour the previous overdraft facility before switching to them?
Your wife already has access to a 'sizable' overdraft facility on your joint current account.

forgotmyname

For some reason my partner couldnt even open a bank account. We tried Santander where they were keen for it to be a joint account but didnt actually say that, so who knows?

Switched to First Direct and everything on her side has been a right pain. Proof of ID to open the current account, having to phone customer services to open the savings account, where i opened the regular saver with a couple of clicks.

And then having to jump through hoops to register the phone app also.

These things happen and we are wishing we had not switched. This should have been a straight joint account switch from Santander to First Direct.

graham44

Thanks everyone. For clarity my wife's state pension goes into the new account. She withdraws from it but it is always in credit. She has not asked for an overdraft facility but she has been told she cannot have one. She views it as one of principle. She is asking why has she been refused - even a small overdraft (£100?) - when she has never owed anybody anything.