Declined Card with good credit score - I fought and Won

DesReyno

So I had this experience today so I thought I’d share in case it helps anyone.
I applied for the M&S Credit card which has 25 Months 0% on purchases. I have an Experian score of 986 , no card debt and no loans (except the mortgage) I want the card for some upcoming big purchases so I can avoid getting a loan.
Anyway I was shocked to be rejected so I phoned them and asked to be reconsidered.
The young lady on the phone was very polite and explained I had been refused because of my credit file. After some pushing from me she revealed that my file had a late payment flag against one utility and that this was the reason for it being rejected. Based on that she again rejected my appeal and said I should contact Experian if I felt the late payment was an error.
Now this is the key bit I think. Instead of accepting that and ringing off - I asked to lodge a complaint. My complaint being that the decision to refuse the application on the basis of a single missed payment on a utility was unfair bearing in mind the rest of credit file. The young lady kindly said she would escalate my complaint and said I would get a call back in 24 - 48 hours.
In the meantime I took a look at my Experian file and found that EE had lodged a late payment on my
Mobile account of £150 when in fact it’s a disputed charge which I am still in conversation with them about.
Rather than taking 24 hours - it was less than 3 hours when a manager from M&S bank rang me back. We went through the details of my credit file and I explained the EE situation and we agreed that there was no other negative factors on my file - at which point she agreed the application and reassured me that the previous rejection would not appear on my credit score.
They gave me the 25 month 0% card with a £4000 limit.
The moral of the story being - don’t be afraid to complain and challenge and don’t be put off when your first challenge fails. Always escalate to the next level and ask about the Ombudsman!

[Deleted User]

The moral of the story is ignore the damn score and look at the actual content of your credit files.

Sncjw

Also look at your other credit files so you can check your data as not all companies report to same lender.

DCFC79

I expect to be told we all work for Experian.

shortcrust

This reminds me of my mum's post office queue stories. "And she thought I was going to just accept it! Well, I said to her... and you should have seen her face!" and so on (and on).

Dobbibill

I'm pleased that you had an outcome you were happy with.

I'm not sure I would have been shocked at the rejection given you stated no card/no loan as that says no evidence of responsibly managing credit.

I hope you get your dispute resolved with EE as that too could contribute to rejections further down the line.

chattychappy

Under data protection rules, you do have the right to have your decision made manually. That is also designed to overcome the unfairness of rigid algorithms which may not be appropriate in all situations.

Seems here the CC here did the right thing, whether or not for the right reasons! (They may have decided it was "cheaper" to take the risk on giving you the card than face the expense of dealing with an escalating complaint.)

Carrot007

DesReyno wrote: »

and reassured me that the previous rejection would not appear on my credit score.

Not hard to reassure you about something that never happens is it?

adindas

DesReyno wrote: »

- at which point she agreed the application and reassured me that the previous rejection would not appear on my credit score.

I got surprised if an undewriter (She must be a senior figure in this case) mention about this. Because
- Any declined credit application will never be shown on credit file.
- Let alone the credit score, where you do not know where the figure is coming from ??

And as Senior underwriter she defenitely knows about the above.

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

adindas wrote: »

I got surprised if an undewriter (She must be a senior figure in this case) mention about this. Because
- Any declined credit application will never be shown on credit file.
- Let alone the credit score, where you do not know where the figure is coming from ??

And as Senior underwriter she defenitely knows about the above.

I imagine the underwriter mentioned it because the OP asked them about it.