Loan rejected despite ideal circumstances - help

meoz

Hi there

I recently applied for a loan with Tesco Bank on the basis of an MSE search saying 95% of people in my situation are successful. I applied for £6700 to pay for a course I'll be doing later this year to upskill and support my career. For context, I am in my early 30s, earn 50k+ (my partner c. 60k - we both live in London), have a decent income:disposable income ratio, perfect credit score, no dodgy historical payment issues/disputes, considerable savings, no debt aside from student loans and an 18-month 0% loan for a laptop via John Lewis. I have one (Amex BA) credit card - I always pay in full at the end of the month and don't spend mad amount (probaby up to £1k a month) through it.

I am at a loss as to why my loan was rejected. I am wondering whether a small misunderstanding is to blame e.g. before I applied, I paid off my Amex in full and then stated that I had zero outstanding balance on my credit cards. Wondering if Experian may not have registered this on time, so Tesco saw my claim of zero balance as a lie?

Does anyone have experience of reasons why banks might reject someone in my circumstances? I've known others in much worse situation be successful.

The loan isn't make or break for me - I can probably use a mix of income and savings - but I was hoping not to dip into savings and reduce pressure on my income while I am working full time and studying (not having the loan means a lot of my income going each month towards the course rather than spreading the loan).

Secondary question - what chances do I have of applying to e.g. a 0% credit card in the next few months given the rejection? I realise it's now impossible to apply for a loan for another few months.

Thanks in advance!

[Deleted User]

Put simply, you didn't meet their criteria. That may be risk, either in absolute terms or relative to other applicants, your existing debt or simply low profitability, 

It's certainly not impossible to apply for a loan for another few months - in fact, that should be your next move (apart from self funding from your savings). You can also apply for 0% credit cards. If rejected for another application, leave it a couple of months.

[Deleted User]

Your score is never considered in credit decisions as no-one but you sees it

Tesco may simply not see you as a fit for their ideal borrower. If you have savings then why pay interest on a loan? You could also pay on the Amex if you have sufficient limit and use a balance transfer / 0% to pay it off with a fixed fee though keep in mind a lot of people have issues with doing BT from Amex

Sncjw

Could not pay the course in installments if you have decent disposable income?

Grumpy_chap

Is it possible that the lender understood the course to be full time studying?  
Could they have assumed that your income would reduce to nil once you had the loan and started the course?