Difficulties with HSBC and credit score in general

noclaimnotnoblame

I have been trying to adjust the credit limit on my credit card with HSBC but it has been denied regardless of how small an increase is asked for. I have had an account with them for a long time of which my debit account has an overdraft and I have a credit card.

HSBC does the credit checks with Experian so I thought I could sign up with them to view what my credit score is.

It says unable to verify, wait 90 days when creating an account and provides no other options. All of their support is done through an account and their phone services all need account numbers and such to speak to anyone.

So I requested one of their snail mail reports, none of the promised emails came through with information but the report turned up a month later. It is basically empty, It shows my name and address along with the fact I am registered to vote, but there is no information about my monthly bills or my bank accounts/credit cards.

I have signed up with Equifax and TransUnion, but the reports from them are similar with poor scores.

How can I fix this? Bear in mind I have lived in the UK my whole life and have only moved once 30 years ago. I use my credit card fairly regularly but it has always been paid off before any interest has been needed to be paid. I do not have a phone contract as I use my phone very little and find pay as you go works a lot better for me.

It feels like HSBC has completely hidden me from the credit system.

Emmia

noclaimnotnoblame said:

I have been trying to adjust the credit limit on my credit card with HSBC but it has been denied regardless of how small an increase is asked for. I have had an account with them for a long time of which my debit account has an overdraft and I have a credit card.

HSBC does the credit checks with Experian so I thought I could sign up with them to view what my credit score is.

It says unable to verify, wait 90 days when creating an account and provides no other options. All of their support is done through an account and their phone services all need account numbers and such to speak to anyone.

So I requested one of their snail mail reports, none of the promised emails came through with information but the report turned up a month later. It is basically empty, It shows my name and address along with the fact I am registered to vote, but there is no information about my monthly bills or my bank accounts/credit cards.

I have signed up with Equifax and TransUnion, but the reports from them are similar with poor scores.

How can I fix this? Bear in mind I have lived in the UK my whole life and have only moved once 30 years ago. I use my credit card fairly regularly but it has always been paid off before any interest has been needed to be paid. I do not have a phone contract as I use my phone very little and find pay as you go works a lot better for me.

It feels like HSBC has completely hidden me from the credit system.

Do you wait for the bill to be generated before paying it?

Why are you trying to adjust your limit if you're paying it in full each month? Are you paying in full? Do you have an overdraft with HSBC that you're using?

What do card eligibility sites say? Are you likely to be offered a card from another provider?

noclaimnotnoblame

HSBC transfers the payments from my main account to my credit card automatically a month after each payment unless I choose otherwise.

I wanted a larger limit for credit card protection on larger purchases, all the recent inflation made my current limit a bit too small.

I have an overdraft available that is larger than my credit card limit, but it has never actually been used. I always keep money available so things can be bought outright rather than borrowing money.

I am not sure about my eligibility, I was hoping to sort out my current cards rather than open up more accounts, but I will look into that if it ends up being important to improve my situation, the TransUnion scores seem to be 20-30% for most things.

Emmia

noclaimnotnoblame said:

HSBC transfers the payments from my main account to my credit card automatically a month after each payment unless I choose otherwise.

I wanted a larger limit for credit card protection on larger purchases, all the recent inflation made my current limit a bit too small.

I have an overdraft available that is larger than my credit card limit, but it has never actually been used. I always keep money available so things can be bought outright rather than borrowing money.

I am not sure about my eligibility, I was hoping to sort out my current cards rather than open up more accounts, but I will look into that if it ends up being important to improve my situation, the TransUnion scores seem to be 20-30% for most things.

What other cards do you have? Do you carry balances on them from month to month? What is your income?

Reducing the size of your available overdraft may help too

Ultimately what HSBC wants to avoid is irresponsible lending, or lending that won't be repaid /is at risk of not being repaid.

noclaimnotnoblame

I don't have any other cards, just HSBC debit and credit cards. I have no debt other than a student loan, no balances being carried from month to month. My income is fairly low, but I live within my means and have never had any debt outside the student loan. I have spent and paid off tens of thousands on my credit card, but I have never paid any interest on it.

I can understand about reducing the overdraft available, but if I get nothing in return then I also run the risk of permanently reducing available money available to me if I do end up with an emergency situation where I end up needing access to that money.

vacheron

In my experience you would be better off doing a search here on the MSE card eligibility checker (or the Compare the Market checker as this can also give you an expected credit limit for other providers cards).

HSBC are notoriously picky on extending and offering credit. It is also far easier to get a higher credit balance by applying for a new card from someone else than trying to get one of your existing providers to provide a credit increase.

Loyalty counts for very little these days.

Emmia

noclaimnotnoblame said:

I don't have any other cards, just HSBC debit and credit cards. I have no debt other than a student loan, no balances being carried from month to month. My income is fairly low, but I live within my means and have never had any debt outside the student loan. I have spent and paid off tens of thousands on my credit card, but I have never paid any interest on it.

I can understand about reducing the overdraft available, but if I get nothing in return then I also run the risk of permanently reducing available money available to me if I do end up with an emergency situation where I end up needing access to that money.

An overdraft is usually a very expensive way of borrowing - I'm not saying don't have the option, but if you have a low income the overdraft limit needs to be very modest. Is your overdraft facility more than your monthly income?

I have an overdraft facility of £100 which isn't used but there to guard against an unexpected expense at the end of the month. When I was a student my overdraft facilities were £2500, and it took a long time to get out of. I wouldn't have an overdraft facility of that size again.

In terms of emergency - that's what easy access savings are for. Either to move to a current account,  or to be able to pay off a credit card bill.

noclaimnotnoblame

My available overdraft is ~3x my monthly income and 6x my credit card limit, it has never been used and HSBC has increased its size on their own without me requesting it.

Just to be clear though, I am not looking to borrow at this point in time, I mainly want to be able to use credit card protection on larger purchases and still pay them off completely without monthly payments.

I also want to try and sort out my credit rating now I know there are issues in case I do need to borrow in the future.

I will investigate opening an account with a different bank as it does look like it is likely to help with these two issues.

Emmia

noclaimnotnoblame said:

My available overdraft is ~3x my monthly income and 6x my credit card limit, it has never been used and HSBC has increased its size on their own without me requesting it.

Just to be clear though, I am not looking to borrow at this point in time, I mainly want to be able to use credit card protection on larger purchases and still pay them off completely without monthly payments.

I also want to try and sort out my credit rating now I know there are issues in case I do need to borrow in the future.

I will investigate opening an account with a different bank as it does look like it is likely to help with these two issues.

You know the "score" you see is a made up fairy number that the banks don't see or use. 

What lenders want to see is use of credit (e.g. your cards) and then repayment on time and in full. Your overdraft won't contribute to building of your file, so it's not worth having one of 3X your monthly income if what you want is a bigger limit for S.75 purchase protection.

Currently lenders will see you have access to credit worth ~9X your monthly income - you're not using it, but the risk is you do, putting the value of your whole overdraft on the 2.30 at Kempton for example.

noclaimnotnoblame

The credit reports I have seen so far do not mention having access to any credit, the soft credit checks from HSBC/car insurance etc show up but HSBC is not mentioned anywhere else, it does not list me as having a credit card at all across multiple credit reports.

As far as I can tell, the credit reports show me as having no money, no bank account, no outgoings, etc. It's all just blank.

p00hsticks

noclaimnotnoblame said:

Just to be clear though, I am not looking to borrow at this point in time, I mainly want to be able to use credit card protection on larger purchases and still pay them off completely without monthly payments.

Bear in mind that to qualify for S75 protection on items costing over £100 you don't need to pay the entire amount on your credit card - just £1 (although I appreciate that this may not always be straightforward to  arrange to do.