Credit ratings dropped since paying off mortgage!

Ooopsadaisy1128

Hi, can anyone help please? I’ve managed to pay off my mortgage last June.  I also own outright another house where I live.  I’ve had to reapply/apply for a new credit card due to the change over of bank (from HSBC to NewDay) for the John Lewis partnership card.  I have a credit limit of £6k and is always paid in full each month without exception. I have had this account for nearly 10 years.  

I applied via the JLPC link to new day (assuming details of how I operated the account were transferred too) only to get declined. I have checked my ratings and noticed since paying off my mortgage it’s dropped from 999 to 769! I hat can I do? A fair rating because I’ve shown I can have credit/mortgages and pay them off! Please can any one help? 

Many thanks. 

Ebe_Scrooge

Your credit score means nothing.  It will drop in response to any change in your credit circumstances, whether good or bad.  So paying off your mortgage has resulted in your score dropping.  Thankfully, your score is not used - nor even seen - by any lender.

It may be something as simple as you are not in "preferred target audience" for the card you've applied for.  Check all three of your credit files to make sure there's nothing adverse recorded (ignore the score, just look at the underlying data).

But in the absence of any negative markers, the simplest thing is just to go onto a few of the mainstreams lenders' eligibility checkers and see what they come up with.  If you're offered a fair chance of being accepted, then go ahead and make an application.