I've just been turned down for a credit card but my Experian score is 999

[TittyNotSusan]

I've never been refused credit before and I don't have a lot of debt. Just a small mortgage and a Tesco CC that gets paid off in full each month.

I wanted a Halifax Clarity Card because MSE says it's the best for spending abroad.

Any ideas why I'd be turned down? Is it worth trying again by phone or would too many rejected credit searches look bad on my credit score?

I dunno about scores, but my gut feeling is to wonder about identity confusion. Do you have a common sort of name?

Not at all. In fact I'm the only one in the UK I think! Possibly the world. There are no others on facebook.

I have an ISA with Halifax and the credit check for that shows up on my Experian record. They didn't seem to have a problem with me then. The only reason I can think is that I have another credit card with 0 balance that I never use. I could try closing that and reapplying in a few weeks.

A few years ago I was declined for a santander zero credit card (for use abroad) despite having a good credit rating.i think the fact that I never paid any interest before as I would pay my credit cards off in full every month went against me -they wouldn't want to give me a credit card if they weren't going to end up making money out of me!so maybe you're credit rating is too good!

Check Equifax. Companies can use either Experian or Equifax and you might find that there's something on your Equifax file. We had a similar situation when my DH was applying for a loan a couple of years ago. Transpired that according to Equifax he wasn't on the voters role (he was) but his Experian score was high.

It may be that the score is too high. Sounds odd, but if you have little or no evidence of being able to sustain that level of credit, then that lack of evidence will count against you. Weirdly having more debts but paying them regularly is often better than having none/very little.