Refused by Virgin credit card although I was pre-approved?

PRAISETHESUN

"Pre-approved" is a bit of a misnomer as its actually "pre-approved, subject to final checks". It sounds like you failed the "final checks". So in a nutshell nothing can ever be truly pre-approved...

But as above, there are a few things that you should get on top of before you apply again. Make sure you get enrolled on the ER at your current address and wait for these changes to propagate through to your credit reports - you might need to poke your local council to force the changes through as they typically only update the ER at certain times of the year in my experience. Check your credit files to make sure they are in top shape and nothing unexpected lurks within.

Ben8282

Was this pre-approval as a result of using an eligibility checker or was it just from a list of recommendations from Experian?
If you think about it, even with all the information shown on your credit files, there are many things that Experian would not have known, such as your salary to take just one example.
Also, on what basis did Experian pre-approve? Virgin make their own lending decisions.
It is a shame that you did not use the eligibility checker on Virgin's own site before applying.

gionnetto

Ben8282 wrote: »

If you think about it, even with all the information shown on your credit files, there are many things that Experian would not have known, such as your salary to take just one example.

Wrong! They do know because they ask for some information (such as salary, rent/mortgage) before showing you what you are pre-approved for.

gionnetto

EriBo wrote: »

Hello,

Back in April I did a research via Experian to find a credit card that would be suitable to my credit score. It used to be higher and the only reason it'd gone down is because I had switched bank not long before. Therefore on my current bank account, there wasn't enough history.
Virgin credit cards came up on top in my search amongst the ones that I allegedly was "pre-approved for".

Any idea on what their criteria might have been that lead to my application being turned down?

I too was pre-approved. I applied in June, it went to an underwriter. One month later, I was given a 0% purchase CC with a 1800 limit.

EDIT: I had been to my present address (and on the ER) for 2 years, my CC also was 2 yrs old, and had 1 other CC 1 year old.

BoGoF

gionnetto wrote: »

Wrong! They do know because they ask for some information (such as salary, rent/mortgage) before showing you what you are pre-approved for.

If Experian was actually a lender it would give more credence to their 'pre aporoval'

gionnetto

BoGoF wrote: »

If Experian was actually a lender it would give more credence to their 'pre aporoval'

It's a broker! A broker finds the best deal for your circumstances. The final decision is with the lender. Pretty much the same thing happens with mortgage brokers. Except nobody disses at them.

BoGoF

gionnetto wrote: »

It's a broker! A broker finds the best deal for your circumstances. The final decision is with the lender. Pretty much the same thing happens with mortgage brokers. Except nobody disses at them.

Ok then. I don't think any mortgage broker has ever said you are pre-approved for a mortgage.

[Deleted User]

gionnetto wrote: »

It's a broker! A broker finds the best deal for your circumstances. The final decision is with the lender. Pretty much the same thing happens with mortgage brokers. Except nobody disses at them.

But that doesn’t mean the deal is sealed. Broker or not.

People use mortgage brokers to find them the “best deal”, they place an application for you, and it gets declined.

It happens, so you move onto the next lender.

In this case, the final decision was a no, so OP needs to move onto another lender (or request a manual review).