Hard seraches....bad ?

dazzaofdagenham

afternnon all

I got declined a increase in my credit limit on my Halifax card due to apparent amount of hard searches on my credit report causing a drop in my score

so for the first time in about 5 years i have obtained my credit report ( via Halifax ) and had a look at these Hard searches 

  Search number 1...   May 2022    0% finance on a watch via V12 finace...deal taken cos of 0% and nice gift voucher....all up to date
  Search number 2      Dec 2021   Ford car finace....Deal not taken as different from what initally agrreed
  Search number  3     Jan 2022    Amex card...Nice intro offer of 5% cashback
  Search numnber 4    Ikea finance for new Kitchen..  0%    

   are these hard searches enough to decline me ?

  Seems to have a few soft searches for ID checks for car insurance etc....but i understand these have no effect on credit report

  The rest of my credit report is up to date and no arrears or missed payments to be seen 

     thanks

sourcrates

You simply did not match Halifax`s lending criteria at the time you applied, your "score" is irrelevant, and is not seen or used when making lending decisions, you may have been declined for a number of reasons, and yes, the number of hard searches may have been a factor here.

Its quite difficult to determine why you may have been declined, acceptance criteria change all the time, you may apply again in 6 months and be accepted, with no apparent change in circumstances.

Grumpy_chap

Lender's do not share what their assessment criteria are, nor do they give meaningful responses when they decline a request for credit.

The number of searches may have been a factor, as the lender indicated.  That may also have been assessed against the total amount of credit facility you have available (kitchen, watch, AMEX card) plus your income levels and that may have shown you to have breached a threshold at which the lender is comfortable.

It could be many things - simply how well you manage the existing card account no longer seems to be enough to gain a higher credit limit.  It is very frustrating.

MalMonroe

Hi, yes a similar thing happened to me a few years ago. 

I applied for car finance and was accepted but decided I didn't want it as it transpired that the car I'd been looking at with that particular dealer turned out to have faults that would have cost me to have repaired - cheek! I went with Toyota instead and got a better deal, so that worked out well for me.

But with those two (successful) car finance searches and a couple of other hard searches (not quite so successful) on my credit file around the same time, when I applied for a 0% balance transfer credit card with - coincidentally, Halifax - my application was declined. 

I was told at the time by a friend who works for HSBC that lenders do not know whether or not you've been successful with financial applications you've made - so when you declined the car finance,as did I (twice for me) - lenders didn't see that we had been successful, just that we'd been applying for credit. Too many applications make them nervous so - hey bingo, we got declined.

As sourcrates says above, though, if you apply again in a few months' time, you may be accepted. I was. But this time with Virgin, I'll not bother with Halifax again! All is not lost. It's just a bit of a learning curve.

cymruchris

Did they say 'specifically' the reason for your decline is that you have too many hard searches?

Or did they say 'We can't give you a limit increase at this time, please refer to your reports with your credit reference agencies for more details' (or something similar)

They might have taken a snapshot of your existing levels of debt and credit limits compared to salary, payment history, and who knows what else, and decided that now wasn't the right time in their business model to grant an increase.

Was there a particular reason you were getting an increase? Something planned?

Have you looked at other 'card deals' on eligibility checkers to see if you are pre-approved for anything?

dazzaofdagenham

just a bit of background to my history with halifax

Opened my Current account with them in Mach 1994...when it was Maxim account
Had my credit card with them for over 20 years

Whilst the words from the rep did indicate the amount of searches i have had could be a factor ( computer says NO )

surely my history with them would allow a increase ?

Anyways.....my limit on my card is 10k and i wanted to up it to 15k
off to New york in July for wifes 50th and waanted enough to cover hotel card holds and various spending etc.

as i say i have had the CC for 20 years ish and NEVER missed a payment....paid off balance most of the time but have not had a rolling balance for some time.

out of interest i applied for a barclaycard platinum this afternoon and they gave me a 12k limit.

gotta laugh

cymruchris

dazzaofdagenham said:

out of interest i applied for a barclaycard platinum this afternoon and they gave me a 12k limit.

Out of interest - you mention you're going overseas - what made you choose the BC platinum rather than the BC rewards card? The rewards card has fee free interest free cash withdrawals overseas and fee free international purchases, as well as 0.25% cashback. (I'd compare the benefits - but from memory the platinum is just a fancy name for a regular credit card) If the rewards card offers better benefits, you might want to give them a ring and ask them to swap it over (it can also be done in the app once you've received the card and set it up - subject to the card being available to you)

And in reference your point about being with them for 20 years, it's likely that other information swayed their decision rather than how long you'd had the card. As I mentioned they'd have looked at lots of data (well their system would anyway) and it came back with 'computer says no' - so best to do what you did and go somewhere else. 

dazzaofdagenham

 i just went on the BC site and did a chck and thats what it came back with.

And, surely the fact that i have had the card for 20+ years and a current account for 25+ years would indicate that i am a stable customer ? Whart other data apart from the CRA would they look at.

20 years of card ownership and last 24 months all statements paid off in full.

anyways.....moving on...

cymruchris

dazzaofdagenham said:

Whart other data apart from the CRA would they look at.

Salary, other credit commitments and limits, age, past spending patterns and history - lots of possibilities why they said no. You sadly don't get many 'rewards' for being a long-term well-behaved customer these days.

dazzaofdagenham

cymruchris said:

dazzaofdagenham said:

Whart other data apart from the CRA would they look at.

Salary, other credit commitments and limits, age, past spending patterns and history - lots of possibilities why they said no. You sadly don't get many 'rewards' for being a long-term well-behaved customer these days.

yup all those things are important in these credit days.

However, Barclaycard who know minimal about me except whats on CRA files...gave me a card with a high limit

dazzaofdagenham

so a bit of a update.

Been using the BC for a while and not used the Halifax.   So gave notice to close the Halifax card and move my current account to First Direct to have the switching bonus.

This triggered a few phone calls from Halifax about " why am i leaving ? "....Although i told them the reasons why i was moving away....this triggered no further offers or further investigation from Halifax..

So after 25 years with a current with the Halifax and 20 years with a CC....ive gone..

maybe i shall start looking at other things and see whats out there