Cahoot/Santander, beware deceptive low rate offers to lure you in

TheBooge

Just applied through MSE for a Santander loan.  The initial offer was for 2.84%.  The offer was accepted but at 7.9% despite having an Experian credit score of 999 and sufficient monthly disposable income to cover the £165 pcm cost.  I rang Santander and their customer service team are able to hide behind the 'underwriters can't be contacted' comment.  I feel I have wasted my time and been deceived and now have to apply elsewhere which may show up on the credit score.  MSE team please add cautionary words to your articles on these loans.

[Deleted User]

It's normal that not everyone gets the headline rate. Only 51% of accepted applicants need to get it.

Your 999 score plays no part in your getting credit, so it's time to check your credit files to see what's on there and make a proper assessment of your credit worthiness.

If your history is not great, you'll be better off applying for something further down the league tables.

Sandtree

The same caution would need to apply to every loan... the legal requirement is that at least 51% of accepted applicants have to be offered the advertised rate (or better), the remaining 49% can be offered any higher rate.

The 999 score is a marketing gimmick, this should be self evident from the recent ad campaign run guaranteeing an increase in score in exchange for you providing selling  some more of your data to them. No lender ever sees that score, each lender has their own rating system and will make their decisions based on the credit history (not score) from the credit reference agency, other sources like National Hunter and any internal records they have on you.

Front line staff do not normally get given access to rating information as it avoids pointless discussions on why the acceptance criteria have been set to what they have or in marginal cases why discretion cannot be applied. 

Ebe_Scrooge

TheBooge said:

Just applied through MSE for a Santander loan.  The initial offer illustrative rate was for 2.84%.  The offer was accepted but at 7.9% despite having an Experian credit score of 999 which is completely irrelevant and sufficient monthly disposable income to cover the £165 pcm cost.  I rang Santander and their customer service team are able to hide behind the 'underwriters can't be contacted' comment.  I feel I have wasted my time and been deceived and now have to apply elsewhere which may show up on the credit score.  MSE team please add cautionary words to your articles on these loans.  Perhaps something along the lines of headline number 5 here https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/cheap-personal-loans/#steps  ????

My comments/corrections above.

GeordieGeorge

TheBooge said:

Just applied through MSE for a Santander loan.  The initial offer was for 2.84%.  The offer was accepted but at 7.9% despite having an Experian credit score of 999 and sufficient monthly disposable income to cover the £165 pcm cost.  I rang Santander and their customer service team are able to hide behind the 'underwriters can't be contacted' comment.  I feel I have wasted my time and been deceived and now have to apply elsewhere which may show up on the credit score.  MSE team please add cautionary words to your articles on these loans.

It’s not deceptive, it’s how all providers work. The headline rate is given to at least 51% of successful applicants, with other successful applicants getting a higher rate.

Who gets which rate is decided by the lender’s own internal credit system, which in this case doesn’t put you into the lowest risk group.