Good credit score but turned down for credit cards

MisterMotivated

If ever there was an example of how pointless these CRA credit scores are, this sums it up perfectly for me.  Effectively over 95% score, yet marked 'very weak' in the affordability assessment.  I've never missed a payment in my life and have plenty in the bank, but am stoozing as much as my credit limits allow (was roughly double my salary at one point but gradually reducing as 0% offers expire).  Coupled with mortgages adding up to over 8 times my current salary, I must look like a credit timebomb to lenders, lol.

I'm winding down the stoozing and one mortgage is due to be marked as settled, so will see what impact has on new 0% spending/money/balance transfer offers before deciding if I should ramp things up again.

On a side note, my Credit Karma score seems to go up and down at random even when there have been no meaningful changes, presumably just to keep me logging into the site.

And before anyone starts explaining how these are just made up numbers that don't really mean anything, I'm fully aware of that; I just found it amusing seeing the high credit score juxtaposed with the low affordability score

Nasqueron

The MSE/Credit Club thing has never worked properly, the score and affordability stuff was the same to me. the other two at least had something vaguely sensible in reflecting my 0% balance transfer debt so "score" wasn't perfect

ZeroSum

The affordability assessment could be based on your monthly repayments. 
I'm doing the same stoozing, and think santander knocked me back for this reason as they specifically asked me how many cards I had & monthly repayments. The fact I had all what I owed sitting in the bank counts for nothing. Whereas other banks haven't taken this into account & just looked at a higher level that I've not missed a payment, and debt isn't 'too high'

Bigwheels1111

I have great credit, never missed a payment in 35 years.
Card, loans or mortgage.
Got turned down for an O2 £5 a month sim only.
I don’t even think about it any more.
If I get it I get it.
Score means nothing.

km1500

in my view of credit score simply reflects your payment history for example a high credit score probably means you have always paid on time a low credit score probably means you have missed a couple of payments 

when it comes to applying for new products then obviously the lenders will have their own criteria which obviously will include have you paid on time with other products but other things will come into play

CliveOfIndia

Just to add another point that many people are not aware of - savings.  It doesn't matter if you've got a million quid stashed away in a bank account or under the mattress - this is not taken into account when a lender is deciding whether to approve or decline your application.

Firstly, your savings are not reported to the CRAs, so a lender has no visibility of them.  Secondly, you could in theory go out and blow the lot tomorrow buying a fleet of Ferraris and Rolls Royces.  So even if, like most sensible stoozers would, you have more than enough savings to cover all your apparent debts, you can still look like a risky bet to lenders.

Nasqueron

km1500 said:

in my view of credit score simply reflects your payment history for example a high credit score probably means you have always paid on time a low credit score probably means you have missed a couple of payments 

when it comes to applying for new products then obviously the lenders will have their own criteria which obviously will include have you paid on time with other products but other things will come into play

Score doesn't reflect anything, it's just a guess by credit agencies who don't know the criteria that lenders use

maxximus75

I think you've answered your own question?

The "score" leans heavily on repayment history but nothing towards money in the bank as bank balances are not reported to the CRA.  As you state you have never missed a payment, this contributes to your "good" score.

As for the affordability assesment, because of your very high commitments with maxed out cards and multiple mortgages, it looks like you have nothing left each month to repay any additional credit commitments hence your "very weak" affordability.

So how MSE is "mimicing" how lenders perceive you, is pretty accurate.

MisterMotivated

I feel I should clarify my position here.  I wasn't looking for advice or anything with this thread; it was mainly because the graphic amused me, and I wanted to highlight one answer to a question that gets asked on here time and time again, ie why people are being turned down for credit despite having a good "score".

In hindsight I could have been clearer from the start about the reason for the thread