Can anyone suggest why I might be refused a credit card, please?

[Flllightattendant]

I have been trying to get one and applied online for two different ones, but been refused and it is worrying me!

I have a great credit record to my own knowledge - I owe around 2k on my overdraft (authorised, paying off steadily with the same bank I've been with for 15 years. I also have a loan with £4k remaining to pay, also with this bank.

I have never defaulted on anything, I missed one monthly minimum payment (which I always tend to pay off straight away usually) with La Redoute at the time I had my baby last summer, which was only about £50, so can't imagine that would count against me?

I've never had a credit card but was looking to use it for everyday shopping whilst paying off overdraft, to minimise interest.

Am now feeling very paranoid...Is this possibly the credit crunch I've heard about, or need I be worried?

Or is it because I'm a single unemployed mum?

Thanks for any thoughts.

I thought I was doing really well.

I know it was daft to owe that much to begin with, I don't know what got into me.

(economy range)

I also recently got refused a credit card. I have never missed a mortgage payment, never been overdrawn in the last 8 years, have no loans, and no other credit cards. Then I applied for one that was giving good cash back points, only to find that their definition of a good credit record is that you must have had a credit card with a certain minimum limit on it and kept up the payments, for a min or 12 months!
So I got refused a credit card because I didn't already have a credit card!!

I got an Asda one in the end. You get points to save for asda vouchers and 2p per litre off fuel if you use the card to pay. Then I pay it all off each month by standing order.

OMG I just read the OP again properly and your circumstances are nothing like mine. Sounds to me like you are in enough debt already and need to get every thing paid off before you are tempted to obtain a card to put more debt on.

I am not a saint, I live debt free now because I once was on that slippery slope of credit cards and loans.

Get them paid off and plan a debt free future. I only wanted a card for the cash back and cheaper petrol, I pay it off all at once so I never pay a penny interest. If those perks weren't attached to it I would never have a credit card.

Its your flexible friend that gets you in the end.

Thanks Flibbs

I wondered if it might be because I had never had another credit card, rather than my employment status etc. or maybe a combination.

Oh well!

speak to your bank FA and see if they can help rather than second guessing what they would say.

Another set of debt is not the way to go.

Sorry

No, no, cross posted again, why does everyone think I want a credit card so that I can spend some more? That is the Last thing I want to do! I only want it so I can use it like a balance transfer type trick thing, so it all gets paid off quicker. There is another thread here in which people are advising someone to get a 0% credit card to pay off their existing one, it is a similar idea to that.

I really thought it was a good idea.

Oh poo.

Does anyone want to buy some biscuits?

This is what I was on about, Mossy. 'Turn a credit card into a loan' or something.

I am not sure I am quite clever enough to do it though.

ive never had a credit card and i dont intend to

they are a bad idea

i imagine though if you are unemployed you wouldnt be able to get one - they need to know how you are going to pay it back

maybe you dont intend to use it to spend more but if its there the tmeptation is there too

FA, I think you've done brilliantly to pay off so much in such a short time FWIW if you want the card to pay off the debt that's not such a bad thing IMO. My o/d doesn't actually cost me that much per month. I too want to get rid of it but things don't seem to work out ever. Oh well it'll be gone one day Maybe mine is cheapish because it isn't there the whole month since dh & I get paid more than it IYSWIM?

I got refused a card once just after I moved house. I didn't find out why because it took up to 30 days and I knew my credit score etc were fine. When the company sent details saying no(I applied online and got an email saying no, then wirtten confirmation) my address was wrong. Said flat 12 XYZ lane, 12 XYZ lane So that's was wierd to start with. Then it was suiggested that as we had just moved we weren't on the electrol role, so I then made sure that was up-to-date. A couple of weeks later I apllied elsewhere and they said yes

So, you could try ringing the companies to see why? The one that declined me said it could be something as simple as the address being wrong, which I think it was in my case.

Sorry for the waffle

You can pay one of those companies like Experian about £50 to do a full credit rating check for you and give you some answers. I had to do that a few years ago after I was refused a mobile phone contract by 3 companies. My credit rating was good, but I wasn't on the electoral register. it was as simple as that. Put myself on the elec reg and got a phone contract a fortnight later! I have also been turned down for credit in the past because I didn't have enough credit (ridiculous, isn't it? And a complete catch 22 situation to be in). Who have you applied with? try others. if you can get one credit card and manage it reasonably well over a period of time, all the other companies start flooding you with offers through the post. Madness.

I understand where youre coming from FA and I really have been there, but when you already have £6k in debt (which is a lot) then you want a CC to pay other stuff off quicker I just dont get it.

Even if you were in employment this would be iffy, and at the moment you're not so I cant see how its gonna help. You will end up with 3 different debts instead of the 2 you have now.

I know I have advised someone else to transfer existing cc debt onto another interest free card but I presumed they didnt have a stack of other debts and had a reasonable regular income.

Please take this in the way its intended I was lucky and my parents bailed me out in the end but it was hard paying it back (which I did every penny) and I wouldnt want to be in that situation again

you can get a free credit check here which is where I found my credit to be fine when they declined me. Make sure you cancel it after a month of however long it's free for though as they take something per month otherwise! It amazed how many things where on mine! Not bad but it records quite a lot of things.

Thanks Mosschops, I am still confused about it but I know you mean well

I should have kept things as they were when I never went overdrawn. I am not cut out for complicated mathematical stuff!

Well done for paying it off btw. I just spoke to my bank whose cheapest loan was 16% for the o/d, over a year - I may as well keep going as my rate is about 18% now, and I might even manage it quicker than a year.

They are soooo unhelpful when they are making money from you

Eddas, thanks pet, I will take a look!

was just about to post about Moneysavingexpert.com. Check the forums they give really good advice on there. If your not really spot on at looking after your finances I wouldn't start anything until you've cleared your current debt.

General credit info:

1)Get a copy of your credit report from experian and equifax both because neither usually contain all your credit info. It costs £2 each. It will show what ever is on record for you and what companies see when they credit check you.

2)Stop applying for cards- the more you are rejected the worse it will be for your credit file.

3)Make sure you are registered on the electoral register.- it can be hard to get credit with out.

4. Credit companies will not lend to you if you have too much available credit/used credit.

5. Most companies will ask you to have a minimum earnings level before they will lend to you. Its sometimes in the application info if not ask in the MSE forums.

HTH

how many typos can I make! My fingers run away

the cc transfer to 0% interest can be a good thing. But only if it's done right. I have done it before, am a serial clearer then build-up again

IF you do it. Get a )% on balance transfers, BUT there's is usually a fee, 3% normally(so if transferring £2000, the fee would be £60) then divide the amount by the interest free period and make sure it's gone by the time the period expires. Also, make sure you cut the card up when you get it so you aren't tempted to buy anything on it and voila!

FA, completely understand what you have been advised re 0% card, however I think this would only work if you were transfering a balance onto it ie another card or a loan. As you will not be transfering the overdraft on to the CC then you will gain very little (unless you are paying a huge APR on your overdraft). Sounds like you have done a fantastic job in reducing your debt in such a short period so far, congratulations and keep it up

Thanks a lot - I'm glad to be understood! The rate on the authorised borrowing is 18%+ at the moment, which I think is huge.

I am now logged into Moneysavingexpert forums, it looks like a great place to start.

Thanks so much for the encouragement.

I am determined to pay this off, even if it does take a while.

Eddas, I am hoping not to go into debt again, but frightened in case it happens again. I already consolidated my overdraft into the loan I am now paying off, and was being really good till they told me I still had the facility, and then it went bonkers again. I don't know why, something to do with permission I think. However I am not in quite the same place now as I was then. It is a funny thing.

FA there are lots of reasons why people are being refused credit cards now, and it is mainly due to the credit crunch in the news. If the credit card company has the slightest doubt now about you repaying any new debt they won't issue you with a new card. This could be due to your existing debt or other things (electoral roll etc). You probably just don't fit the profile of the card holders they are looking for right now, it won't be personal.

My DH got turned down for a card recently as he has no track record with credit cards and loans. I got accepted by the same company as I already have cards in my name. Silly really as he has a job and I am a SAHM with limited income.

Thankyou, that's reassuring.

Those of you who now are debt free and remaining so, did it take measures such as not having an overdraft facility, or such, for you to be able to stop spending? Or was it simply a change in your attitude, self control etc.

I am really interested to know as I never want to be in this position again.

eddas how does that free credit scoring work. I'd like to do that. Do you have to give them any card details for them to take a payment? Then cancel it?

FA the fact that your loan was your old OD and now you have run up another 2k should be a screaming warning not to get a CC

dh made me a bit of a money freak. I now have a little red book and write on one side everything thats coming in. Then on the other side I write everything thats going out. I work out how much disposable income I have left and normally divide it by 4 and try and stick to that spending per week.
I have one card and have a dd that automatically pays £50 per month off the balance, if I have any extra money then I will pay that off the card too.
I also work nurse bank shifts if Ive overspent so I know that i can pay that extra off

HTH