Santander CC - approved, timed out due to bank error and then subsequent application rejected?

financialnewcomer

Hi everyone, apologies as this is a lengthy saga...

I am 44yo, separated from my wife in January 2024. We had a small (around £4k) debt on an RBS credit card which was in her name and agreed to split this debt equally. In the short term I just paid my ex £100 pcm so she could gradually pay my share of the debt off. However the card is now rapidly approaching the end of its 0% deal, so I agreed in June that I'd set up a balance transfer card in my own name and transfer the remaining debt.

I applied for a Tesco card and was declined - not sure of reasons why but I was advised on here I didn't have much of a credit card history of my own as most of the previous cards etc. had been in my wife's name... which I set about sorting (see below).

I then applied for a Santander balance transfer card and was accepted... when the saga starts...

As part of the application process I selected my address from a drop down menu. The given format was 'Flat number, House number' so I selected the correct address.

I then had to send off my ID documents by post within 30 days. I was initially sent an email saying they hadn't received them, so I sent them again... finally they got back to me (after 2 1/2 weeks) to say the addresses on my documents didn't match the address on the application.

Technically this was correct as my ID documents are written in the format 'House number/Flat number' and not 'Flat number, House number'... I would imagine this is a pretty common issue?? so I phoned Santander and explained - they told me they couldn't change my address once the application had been started, and they had no way of contacting the people who did the ID checks (interesting and frankly unbelieveable - so presumably if they thought I was committing fraud they'd not bother contacting them...) however I could go into the branch to prove my ID.

I duly made an appointment, got time off work etc. and went in to the branch who said this was no problem. By this time it was approaching 3 weeks since I'd been 'approved' and so I specifically asked the branch staff if I needed to do anything else. I also asked if they could phone the people who were in charge of the ID checks to explain. The staff said they didn't have any way of doing this (again, frankly that beggars belief), but assured me twice that it was on the system and the application would definitely now go through...

5 days later and I get an email saying I hadn't provided my documents in time and so the application had been cancelled...

Obviously annoyed I called Santander and asked if the application could be reopened given it was clearly their error - was told no, but if I made an appointment I could reapply in branch. I asked if the previous 'failed' application would count against me, and whether it would affect my credit history, and was assured it would not.

 By this time I had taken even more steps to improve my credit history including getting a Monzo flex card and paying it off every month, getting my full credit report (no issues whatsoever) and achieving 999 on Experian and 800 on Clearscore... so clearly nothing negative had happened to affect my rating in the meantime.

Duly made my appointment (2 week waiting list) and turned up to go through the application... only to be told it had been rejected.

Staff member couldn't explain why but said she would appeal and let me know within 1 or 2 working days, and if still rejected I would receive a letter with written reasons... 2 weeks went by and I heard nothing, so contacted Santander today and the branch staff member phoned me back to say the appeal was unsuccessful, and that the written reasons probably wouldn't explain anything anyway other than that a credit agency had provided information about me.

To add insult to injury, she suggested looking on Experian or Clearscore to see which cards are preapproved for me. Which one comes up first when I look... you guessed it... the Santander card for which I was rejected!!

Meanwhile, I am now...

(a) really concerned there's some sort of hidden red flag against me - both Tesco and Santander have now rejected me...
(b) being hassled by my ex to pay the money or else she will pass any interest charges on to me (I get it from her point of view, but feel a bit powerless... especially as she seems to have no problems ever getting credit even though our circumstances are almost identical...)
(c) extremely annoyed at Santander's incompetence (even though I am by no means someone who goes round complaining about companies, but it has been unbelievably poor from start to finish.)

I earn around 50k per year, have had a mortgage for years without any issue, Ihave no defaults or court judgments whatsoever, don't use my overdraft and have a credit card I pay in full each month. I currently don't have much disposable income and used savings for separation related stuff, so although it's a small sum of money I can't pay it in cash right now. I don't know what else I can do!

Questions for anyone who has read this far...

1. I read somewhere that paying off your credit card debt in full each month is a bad thing, as banks will see you as unprofitable. Is this true, and should I accordingly build up some debt on my Monzo flex card?
2. If I see offers on Experian saying I am 'pre approved', does this mean anything at all? 
3. How long should I leave it before applying for anything else? And how can I possibly improve my chance of being successful?
4. Is there some sort of blacklist of people who can't get credit, which is held separately to any information on my credit report? (I appreciate this sounds ridiculous, but I am becoming a bit paranoid having been rejected by two companies - especially as our joint mortgage deal runs out in 2027 and I have visions of being homeless... maybe I'm some sort of fraud risk for some unknown reason?)
5. Why would an application be approved in July and then the same application be rejected in October when my situation has actively improved since then?

I understand nobody is entitled to credit etc., but if I can literally never get credit in the future I don't know what I will do... and there doesn't seem to be any way of speaking to an actual human who can explain (beyond telling me to do stuff I've already done...) 

Any ideas welcome as I'm tearing my hair out here!

Brie

OK - so CCs are approved (or not) normally based on one's credit history.  And you have said yours is limited.  So you need to address that, as you know.  So do you have anything else where you have a credit agreement?  A mobile contract?  Car insurance paid monthly??  Also have you registered to vote at your new address.  

Because your history is limited you might have more success by applying for a card with your current/previous bank.  So who is/was your mortgage with?  If, say, it was Barclays then try for a Barclaycard because anyone dealing with one and see the history of your account with the other.  

The alternative is to apply for a low grade card (Vanquis, Aqua) just to build up that history before trying again in maybe 6 months time.

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Questions for anyone who has read this far...

1. I read somewhere that paying off your credit card debt in full each month is a bad thing, as banks will see you as unprofitable. No, untrue.  Clearing your CC in full each month makes you look very trustworthy.  Is this true, and should I accordingly build up some debt on my Monzo flex card?  What's a flex card?  If it's not a CC it won't be on your credit history but the current account it might be linked to will just show as you being overdrawn which is a bad thing.
2. If I see offers on Experian saying I am 'pre approved', does this mean anything at all? Very little.  You might get the CC or you might not.  If you do get it it may not be for the headline offer so instead of 24 months 0% offer with £5k limit you might get 9 months and £1500 limit.
3. How long should I leave it before applying for anything else? And how can I possibly improve my chance of being successful?  With 2 rejections I'd wait 2 - 3 months minimum, maybe 6 in time to get other things registering on your history.
4. Is there some sort of blacklist of people who can't get credit, which is held separately to any information on my credit report? (I appreciate this sounds ridiculous, but I am becoming a bit paranoid having been rejected by two companies - especially as our joint mortgage deal runs out in 2027 and I have visions of being homeless... maybe I'm some sort of fraud risk for some unknown reason?)  No there's no blacklist.  There's just people who look too risky for the banks.  Sometimes the reasons someone looks risky are impossible to know.  Sometimes we just don't fit the customer profile that they are currently targeting.
5. Why would an application be approved in July and then the same application be rejected in October when my situation has actively improved since then?  Sounds like it timed out.  A silly "computer says no" thing that a real human can't find a way to bypass.  Like the silly flat/house number issue.  I know and you know it's the same but computer says no.

I understand nobody is entitled to credit etc., but if I can literally never get credit in the future I don't know what I will do... and there doesn't seem to be any way of speaking to an actual human who can explain (beyond telling me to do stuff I've already done...) 

Any ideas welcome as I'm tearing my hair out here!

Thinking about it if your application to Santander was in July maybe enough time has passed to apply again.  Presumably they did the heavy checks then.  Have a look at Experian and Transunion to see what's recorded.  Then maybe try somewhere else.  (I always had success with MBNA but maybe I live a charmed life....)

Gerry1

Have a look at Equifax in case it shows something the others have missed.

(I suspect that's what @Brie meant to say.)

financialnewcomer

@Brie @Gerry1 thanks for this.

I'm trying not to be paranoid but I've done a pre-application check for Virgin balance transfer and it said I wouldn't be offered one...

Should I contact the credit rating agencies directly? I genuinely don't get why someone with a good salary and no history of bad debt can find it so hard to get credit.

I'm getting a bit worried as in three years time it's likely I will be applying for a mortgage independently - how on earth will I get one? I have serious visions of being made homeless if this continues...

Gerry1

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/check-free-credit-report/

financialnewcomer

Also - I completely understand that the 'credit scores' are meaningless - but I am being bombarded with emails telling me my credit score has gone up, I am eligible for 29 new cards etc...

How can this happen at the same time as I'm just getting a blanket 'no' from everyone?

I recently took out a Monzo flex credit card and have paid off the total each month - supposedly this will help but not had anything so far..

And I know this is a forlorn hope - but is there any actual human I can speak to who will sort the situation or at least explain this rejection? It seems completely unfair that I just have to wait a few months and hope for the best. There is literally NOTHING in any credit report that isn't completely positive.

My ex in contrast gets accepted for every single card she applies for (as she delights in telling me..) even though she earns slightly less than me and has exactly similar circumstances in every way. I'm fortunate that she's been supportive thus far, but at the moment I'm relying on her good nature in not enforcing the debt.. but it's not a great situation to be relying on making a joint application for any future credit...

I'm starting to lose sleep and worry about my financial future - I appreciate yes, I should have insisted on being a joint signatory on previous credit cards, but I was a joint mortgage holder and also have had numerous DDs etc. which have all gone through completely without incident - so I clearly do have a significant credit history.

financialnewcomer

Gerry1 said:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/check-free-credit-report/

Thanks - I got my full Experian report in August which was completely positive, and I can't imagine anything has changed in the meantime, but I'll get all three agency reports done again.

RAS

I'd suggest your try and apply to Hunter and CIFAS. If someone in Santander has put a note on your record about inconsistent addresses, then would ring lots of alarm bells.

eskbanker

financialnewcomer said:

I appreciate yes, I should have insisted on being a joint signatory on previous credit cards

Don't know if it'll be any consolation but that wouldn't have been possible anyway - there are no joint credit card accounts in the UK, so the credit responsibility is only ever held by the named account holder, even if there's a secondary cardholder.