Credit Club Eligibility Calculator: Failed! Help! and Car Hire

yogabiene

Hi,
I'm traveling to France in May and discovered that to book a hire car for a couple of weeks I most likely need a credit card! I have never had a credit card in my life and I am in my 30's! I am in receipt of benefits.
The Credit Club Eligibility checker told me I have a 95% chance of being accepted for Barclaycards. Baclaycard turned me down over the phone just from hearing that I receive benefits, even though I have been with Barclays since I was 16
90% chance to be accepted for Virgin Money: they declined my application.
80% for Aqua and they approved my application.
No eligibility score for Capital One, yet they accepted me for £750 credit limit.

So what is going on with the Credit Club eligibility calculator?!
It was completely inaccurate!

And any other tips on moving forward with this and getting an affordable hire car? I'm concerned that the credit limit will not be enough as most hire companies hold the excess of around £1000 on your card. There is a small chance I may be successful with a company that may accept Visa Debit. But I guess it may be wiser to use a credit card? By the time one arrives the hire prices may have gone too high.

Also any other tips on getting a credit card in my situation?
Many thanks!

[Deleted User]

You have been accepted for the 2 cards you are most likely to get being on benefits and never had a CC before, don't forget to inform the DWP that you will be away for 2 weeks.

[Deleted User]

yogabiene wrote: »

So what is going on with the Credit Club eligibility calculator?!
It was completely inaccurate!

Not really.

You had a 1 in 10 chance of being rejected for Virgin. You got rejected.

You had a 8 in 10 chance of being accepted for aqua. You got accepted.

If you needed greater certainty, then you needed to apply for cards with 100% chances.

I wouldn't apply for anything more for a while.

PRAISETHESUN

Eligibility checks give you a percentage chance - even a 90% success rate means that 10% of the time you will fail. Unfortunately you are in the minority of customers that they have chosen to not accept as customers. There isn't too much you can do unfortunately - I'm in the same situation and even after 2 years of trying to build credit since moving to the UK I've only JUST gotten a card with a limit high enough that it would be useful in situations like these...

Be wary of applying for multiple credit cards in quick succession, as this can make it difficult to get more credit in future and is likely to lead to multiple declines. See the following for some tips, paying attention to the 8 "rules": https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/bad-credit-credit-cards/

EDIT:
With respect to the car hire, some providers will not require a CC deposit if you opt for their excess reduction insurance (or can provide proof of your own insurance) - this is a more expensive route and wouldn;t be reccomended, but would solve your issue if you absolutely have to have a hire car. The other option would be to shop around, as you've suggested, for a provider who will accept debit cards - this is common in the UK but I'm not sure how widespread this is in the rest of Europe

Nasqueron

I can't remember 100% but does the credit club signup ask your salary? Experian don't know that and if you don't input that then they have no way of knowing what your finances are like and thus if you meet their criteria

MABLE

Nasqueron wrote: »

I can't remember 100% but does the credit club signup ask your salary? Experian don't know that and if you don't input that then they have no way of knowing what your finances are like and thus if you meet their criteria

Yes it does and pops up periodically again just to confirm there are no changes.

TF03

I have never needed a credit card to leave a deposit for Enterprise or Europcar. They accept debit cards with what I think are reasonable deposits of between £250-300 if I remember correctly.

I have never taken out their "excess cover/additional insurance either".

If in doubt, contact the hire company you want to use in advance to confirm.

yogabiene

Thanks for all your help.

Europcar no longer appear to accept debit cards. That is what they told me on the phone.

I have found somewhere that will accept debit card but have discovered that my debit card charges quite a bit if i am actually charged overseas.

It seems the company will accept Visa Debit or Mastercard if they are embossed. So I have been looking at getting a zero fees debit card for abroad like Starling (not embossed though!), Monzo or Metro. Is it too risky to apply in my situation ie. risk of being declined again?

And I have read that it is not required to inform benefits if you are going away for less than 2 weeks. This was on another thread:
'Always wise to tell them. But it is not required (apparently).

Here, this is not the one I had before but it is similar and proves the point.
(not allowed to post link)
Participant has a holiday planned (within GB)
14. The process for participants taking holidays differs depending on their claimant group:
• All ESA claimant groups are not limited to the amount of time they are allowed to spend away from home within Great Britain; also they are not expected to notify yourselves or the Benefit Centre if they go on holiday.

Participant is going abroad temporarily (including holidays abroad)
18. ESA claimants can go abroad for a period of up to 4 weeks and do not have to notify Jobcentre Plus that they are doing so.'

boo_star

Nasqueron wrote: »

I can't remember 100% but does the credit club signup ask your salary? Experian don't know that and if you don't input that then they have no way of knowing what your finances are like and thus if you meet their criteria

It does but there is no option for being in receipt of benefits. There is an unemployed option but it's unclear if the OP selected that.

Realistically as benefits are supposed to be enough to live on and not much more it's obvious why most lenders will steer clear of lending to benefit recipients. Plus they don't want to end up in the Daily Mail with someone putting on their best compo face after they were lent to "irresponsibly."