Vanquis are closing my account

RubyTuesday10

Hi, I've just received a letter from Vanquis credit card saying that they will be closing my account in two months. The letter says that they made an error in verifying my my income at the point of application and had they correctly verified my income, they would not have lent to me.  This just seems very odd, as I have had the account for 10 months. I pay the full amount by DD every month, and always have. 

I took out the card to improve my credit score, as I do not have much credit history due to living abroad for 12 years. I do also have a 2 year mobile contract with EE, which went through with no problems before I took out the Vanquis card.

 I only work part-time, as I have a young child. I work in a college, 20 hours per week but only 32 weeks per year, so my monthly wage is just below £6,000, but as my partner earns a good wage, this is just spending money for myself. I always have around £2,000 in my current account, so have never had any problems paying my cc. They gave me a starting credit limit of £1,000, though I've only ever used half of that amount, and that was only once at Christmas. 
When I applied for the card, it was after using a soft-check service first, where it stated I had been 'pre-accepted'. I entered all of my details, including income information correctly, and had a number of 'pre-accepted' type offers, but chose Vanquis. 

They have also stated in the letter, that they will be removing the record if my card account from the credit reference agencies. This has really upset me, as it appears that I've now wasted 10 months in trying to improve my credit score/history with these people. Has anyone had anything like this before? Is it because they deem my wages too low, even though I had to enter this information on both the original comparison, soft-check and on the actual Vanquis application page? 

Many Thanks

D3xt3r5L4b

They have their own reasons as outlined to you in the letter.
You can contact them and ask them to change their minds but there’s no guarantee.

If you “need” a credit card then apply elsewhere with another lender. 

RubyTuesday10

Thank you for your reply. I realise they have their reasons, I'm just struggling to completely understand exactly what they are. As far as I was aware, the application process is based upon the information you enter, and I had to enter this information twice.  I've been an exemplary account holder, and while they say they would not have lent to me, they have now been lending to me with no problems for 10 months.

I do not 'need' a credit card, however, I do 'need' to improve my credit score/history, and through no fault of my own, this has set me back. I just wondered if it might, in part, be because I've always paid in full by DD every month so they make no money in interest from me.

[Deleted User]

No, it's not that.

Try an eligibilty checker to see what else you might be accepted for.

D3xt3r5L4b

Well they can withdraw from an agreement with you at any time and with no notice. The reason is in the letter in this instance. They’re obviously reassessing and reducing their risk scores  

SuperAllyB

Might be worth asking them to leave the details with the CRA's if that's the main reason you got the account.  I can't see any reason for them to refuse.  Although I suppose a closed account might be a negative.

RubyTuesday10

Also, is the eligibility checker not based on my income, as this is one of the first things they ask. If my low income is a problem, how am i getting so many guaranteed acceptances? I'm just wary of trying again now, but I need to improve my credit to apply for a mortgage with my partner.

[Deleted User]

Your income is just one factor.

funkycredit

They're not allowed to remove the data from the CRA's - regardless that they own the data - as they must record accurate data, whether they want to or not as part of their adherence of the reciprocal agreement they entered into. 

So if they do you can then complain to them, the CRA's directly and the FOS as they've no legal authority to purge accurate data like that. However a solitary account with less than a years history isn't going to matter much; maybe look at getting an equivalent in the meantime like Barclaycard or NewDay (Marbles / Aqua / Fluid) etc 

cymruchris

While you have ten months good payment history recorded - try an eligibility checker with another company such as Aqua or Capital One. If you have no other nasties recorded anywhere - you should find there's a fair chance of success. Be aware that Vanquis has more than one shopfront - so there are a few cards that have different names that come from the same source.  Aqua and Capital One are both from different owners though, so their eligibility checkers will be ok to try. 

It does seem a little odd - the only reason I can think of - is that you've applied for credit elsewhere - for example a new sofa from DFS - and you've given very different financial information that when they applied for your credit - it might have flagged up that you were applying with different data. They do say when applying for finance - always declare your income the same - could it be that you've applied for something and given another figure (for whatever reason) and they've picked up on that from the CRA shared info?

Shakin_Steve

" I only work part-time, as I have a young child. I work in a college, 20 hours per week but only 32 weeks per year, so my monthly wage is just below £6,000,"

That's some wage, £6000 a month for a 20 hour week.