Credit scores on credit reports.

MalMonroe

Deleted_User said:

MalMonroe said:

P.S. It's only just occurred to me that he could have been lying! (Could he?) 

No, just confused by bank scoring and the mythical CRA score. They will have been told to tell customers to check their credit record and probably been fooled by the TV adverts pushing this nonsense

Remember also, CRAs don't see your earnings, what other income you have, home arrangements if it's not a mortgage etc all of which the bank will use to assess you so how could any CRA score be used by the bank?

Exactly. Totally mystified here!

MalMonroe

born_again said:

MalMonroe said:

So perhaps it's not such a good idea for MSE forum members to keep reassuring forum users that lenders don't even look at credit scores (I can't count the number of times I've seen that on here - hundreds, maybe?) because I've just been told quite categorically by an 'expert' that, even though all lenders make decisions based on different criteria, they certainly DO look at - and consider - credit scores, which they ARE able to see on everyone's report. And if yours is low, you won't be considered.
Please don't shoot me for I am only the messenger.  And I'll be writing a letter to Nationwide in the morning. 

Well as someone working in banking and have many friends who work in our credit team. They have no access to any "Number" nor do they need to.
Any scoring is all internal and based on risk factors & lending appetite at any given time.
Maybe the person has been confused by a training package or was just winging it, based on the fact that Credit Agency's are used, but for other reasons. Or it could be that Nationwide actually do.

I would always take any info provided by branch staff with a large pinch of salt. Having seen the training they get. Which is fully tailored to "Meeting customer needs" read SALES.. Anything else they have to rely on procedures from the systems. Which from my experience are written by people that have never & have not any intention of doing the job, given how hard they are to understand..

Don't worry no intention of Shooting you

Thank you. Also for not wishing to shoot me. . . 

I did get the impression that the person I spoke to was new to the job. A few weeks ago I was actually accepted by the Halifax for a BT card but they wanted me to take ID to one of their branches and I couldn't, as I live with someone who is vulnerable in the current covid crisis. I phoned and spoke to one of their consultants and he was very sympathetic but said that they really did need to have sight of my original ID. It was he who suggested that I apply to my own bank since he said that I'd probably have a much better chance and that they already had all my ID details so he didn't foresee a problem. He was also kind enough to agree that the hard search I felt I'd wasted on that application could be removed from my CR in the circumstances. 

Fast forward to me phoning Nationwide who rejected my application. 

I've now been offered a BT card by another lender but still feel rejected and let down by my own bank. 

Thanks again though, for support.

MalMonroe

andyslk1967 said:

I've never signed the electoral register nad get more credit than is good for me!

Ooooh dear, that's not good! You are supposed to sign up when you are asked to do so and also, if you're not on it, you can't vote. How does that sit with you?! 

MalMonroe

dr_adidas01 said:

MalMonroe said:

Hello everyone.  

I have just been discussing my 'soft search' application for a 0% balance transfer credit card with someone at my very own bank, Nationwide. I fit all the specified criteria, so was very hopeful. However, the soft search revealed that I would probably not get such a credit card. So I phoned to find out why. My bank account is healthy, so I really didn't think I'd fail, particularly as I only wanted to shift £1500.

BUT - the consultant said I needed to check my credit score and report, they use Experian (and so does this forum). He told me quite categorically that they DO look at credit score numbers when considering applications for credit and if the numbers are too low, it's a big fat no. Those numbers, he emphasised, are NOT simply made up numbers for the benefit of customers. Lenders can see them and they use them.

He told me my own credit score was probably 'middle of the road' when my report was checked. I had stupidly told him that I'd had financial troubles in the past and he tended to jump on that and focus on it and said that's probably all on my credit report and why I won't get a card if I go ahead with the application. Oh and also that I probably look 'credit hungry' to lenders. BUT there's no indication anywhere on my report that I've had any financial troubles, nor that I'm credit hungry because I've not applied for anything for over two years. I'm on the electoral roll and everything is up to date and I've not defaulted on any payments - there just isn't anything bad on there.  And when I just checked my Experian credit score (which he stressed to me is so very important), it's 'excellent', 961/999.

So perhaps it's not such a good idea for MSE forum members to keep reassuring forum users that lenders don't even look at credit scores (I can't count the number of times I've seen that on here - hundreds, maybe?) because I've just been told quite categorically by an 'expert' that, even though all lenders make decisions based on different criteria, they certainly DO look at - and consider - credit scores, which they ARE able to see on everyone's report. And if yours is low, you won't be considered.

So naturally I'm absolutely gutted as my own bank won't let me have one of their cards(!) And still stinging from being told my Experian score is 'probably just middle of the road'.  How very dare he!!! I'm also seriously considering switching bank accounts - even though it's a terrible time right now. 

So now you know. A superior Nationwide consultant has stated that lenders DO look at credit scores and they DO use those scores when making decisions about customers' creditworthiness. According to him, it's the most important thing.

Please don't shoot me for I am only the messenger.  And I'll be writing a letter to Nationwide in the morning. 

I think the person you were talking to was talking rubbish as they don’t see the score the lender gives.

They were probably referring to the score Nationwide used to score you against there lending criteria, which to them may mean that you are a middle of the road type of customer.  You did the eligibility checker which also told you that you weren’t eligible for a card. Credit isn’t a right and you simply might not fit the type of customer that Nationwide want to lend too. 

Your Excellent score as you have discovered means absolutely nothing at all. The reply you will get to your complaint will simply say something along the lines of “You don’t meet the criteria of our internal lending policy” You won’t know what that is as it’s unique to Nationwide and they won’t tell you what it is either. 

Also lending is becoming more strict at the moment, your previous financial problems may have be a contributing factor depending on how long ago they were. 

Hello, yes, 'middle of the road' is exactly what he said. It was as if he had been trained in specific, sometimes puzzling, terminology. 

I was upset because I'm already a customer of Nationwide and fit all of the criteria they specified to obtain a 'member' credit card. They would not have known I had had any past problems had I not blabbed and, thinking about it later, I'm not sure I even mentioned past financial difficulties as I tend not to ever mention them and usually refuse to discuss if I'm asked. There's no need to mention anything now as it's all in the (unpleasant) past. 

Their consultant was referring specifically to my personal Experian Credit Report score - he said that Experian is the CRA they use and, in fact, he asked if I could just login and check my report as we spoke. I wasn't able to at the time but did so later, when I discovered it was excellent even though he had told me it was 'probably middle of the road'.

I am aware that lenders are being more strict now, but there is absolutely nothing on my credit report, not even any hard searches, to indicate that I am a poor risk. My report is, as Experian continues to tell me, excellent. 

It isn't the end of the world because I have now been offered a very similar BT package with another lender, very straightforward with no problem whatsoever. But I am still miffed at my own bank's refusal. 

The complaint letter I have written (not yet sent, still a draft) centres around their consultant's attitude rather than their refusal. I didn't even want to put a vast amount on the card but was spoken to as if I was about five years old and it wasn't pleasant.  

Fighter1986

MalMonroe said:

andyslk1967 said:

I've never signed the electoral register nad get more credit than is good for me!

Ooooh dear, that's not good! You are supposed to sign up when you are asked to do so and also, if you're not on it, you can't vote. How does that sit with you?! 

It's also a criminal offence to withold your information from the local authority when they do their annual canvas of who lives at your property.

OP: I'm glad this has been a learning curve for you. What we always say about lenders using their own criteria still counts true, as does what you were told by the Nationwide rep - it just seems that he didn't understand the difference between Nationwide's internal risk score, and the one that credit reference agencies market to the public. 

dr_adidas01

Fighter1986 said:

MalMonroe said:

andyslk1967 said:

I've never signed the electoral register nad get more credit than is good for me!

Ooooh dear, that's not good! You are supposed to sign up when you are asked to do so and also, if you're not on it, you can't vote. How does that sit with you?! 

It's also a criminal offence to withold your information from the local authority when they do their annual canvas of who lives at your property.

OP: I'm glad this has been a learning curve for you. What we always say about lenders using their own criteria still counts true, as does what you were told by the Nationwide rep - it just seems that he didn't understand the difference between Nationwide's internal risk score, and the one that credit reference agencies market to the public. 

Its not a criminal offence at all you can be fined if when asked you do not register to vote, also you can have a valid reason not to vote for example a prolonged stay in hospital or have learning difficulties.

You might want to check out the governments own link before you tell someone that something is illegal when it isn't.

https://www.gov.uk/electoral-register 

There is no legal requirement to vote in any election in the UK either.

Fighter1986

According to this MSE page:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/household-enquiry-form/

"It's an offence under the Representation of the People Regulations (England and Wales) 2001 not to provide the info asked for"

You are right about some of the exceptions you've mentioned - like I say, it's an offense to purposefully withold information from the annual canvass; obviously if you're hospitalised or can't read you aren't purposefully witholding information - although anyone with sufficient learning difficulties to prevent them from reading and responsing to a letter from the council would have support in place for matters of this nature. 

Naturally, none of us are obliged to actually vote.