credit score

[bettyboo]

Hi,

I have jsut been refused by littlewoods, the annoying thing is i had a high credit limit with them a while ago and i havent used them for ages, i have jsut moved and tried to order some stuff and i updated my address first, then they said i need to have a check again as it has been so long.

I think i was refused because i hadnt transferred everything to my new address and im not on the electoral role here yet?

Its really annoying as that will be a negative search on my account now wont it???

Bet

[L1ttleOne]

Hey,

Sorry to hear you were turned down recently.

As I understand it, there isn't just one factor that leads to refusal of credit. There are many factors involved. Therefore, not being on the electoral role itself should not be a problem.

I don't think that a 'negative search' goes on your account, as I cannot find reference to this anywhere. Did you hear that this happens from somewhere or somewhere?

You might find this guide to borrowing money useful. Page 11 looks at refusal of credit. In particular you are entitled to some information from the company.

If you would like to talk to somewhere more about this, you can call 'The Money Advice Service' on 0300 500 5000. (They also have a call back service - https://tempest.moneyadviceservice.o.../contactme.asp)

Hope this helps.

[bettyboo]

Hi L1ttleOne,

Thanks for taking the time to reply and for supplying all that information

The search is on my account as Equifax emailed me to say shop direct has run a search on me, althought it isnt saying the result was negative, i thought that as a search was made and no account was set up it could be interpreted as a negative search by future lenders.

Im really baffled as to why they declined me, i have no debt, i have a contract mobile and a reasonable wage?

In december they sent me a letter saying if i do not order soon i will lose all my rewards and they will close my account.

If i would of placed an order in December it would of been fine but its as they needed to do a new search.

Im not bothered and to be honest the irony is that i didnt even need or want the thing i was ordering i just thought to pay for things in installments and not miss payments will help my score so that was the reason for trying to order something.

Nevermind.

[bettyboo]

For the record, according to Equifax my score is good and in the green..

[Hellfire]

The search is on my account as Equifax emailed me to say shop direct has run a search on me, althought it isnt saying the result was negative, i thought that as a search was made and no account was set up it could be interpreted as a negative search by future lenders.

Not at all, what if you applied for a credit card, got approved but decided not to take the account out in the end? Doesn't affect your credit

[Miss_Riot]

I was declined a bank account with my now current bank because they couldn't see me on the electoral roll (I was on it but theres was a decrepancy in post codes because the address didn't actually have a geographic post code only a PO box).

It seems that being on the electoral roll is really important for lenders these days. I could have been just that!

[flibbertygibbert]

Factors which can lead to any lending being declined are:

Adverse credit, not being registered on electoral role, having too many unused credit facilities open, irregular income, missed payments (self-employment can sometimes be an issue but it's more likely to be a referred app rather then straight up decline if the other checks come back ok).

My experience is within banking, so can't say for definite that this is the case with Littlewoods, but if you apply for a credit facility, get accepted, decide not to take it then reapply a few weeks later it can also be declined the second time. Everytime you apply for a credit facility, be it overdraft, catalogues, cards, loans or check equifax/experian it leaves a mark on your credit file and if you do it too often it may affect the decision. If you've been declined for a credit scored application wait 3-6 months before reapplying.

[Miss_Riot]

Check with experian as well, because they might hold incorrect information about you, and you don't know which one they might be using to do the credit check.