Credit Companies

[Inch High PI]

Can anyone offer any advice?
I am off on deployment soon, so to make my six months away a bit more comfortable I though I would go and buy myself a laptop to take with me.
I have been looking for laptops for a few weeks and recently decided to plum for a Sony one.
Anyway I went to the shop today and had a good play with it and decided to buy it on 12 months interest free credit.
I had planned ahead and took a few bills with my address on etc and photo id and the like.
I went through the whole process of listing my previous address and my current one and what my employment status was etc. After about 15-20 mins of bashing away into the computer the spotty little shop assistant told me credit had been refused and there was nothing they could do. They refused to enter my details again as they said it would damage my credit scoring.

Now I am not very happy about this, I would definately not consider myself a credit risk. I have a loan for my car and that is the only debt I have. Every loan (past cars) I have ever had has been paid off on time in full. I don't have/want a credit card and would consider myself and my missuss pretty comfortable. I have never been refused credit before.

I suspect the problem is that I have been at my current address for just under 2 years and the one before that for around 2 years. The chap didn't ask for any prior addresses, but I can't be sure as they said they couldn't tell me why I was rejected.

Have any other goaters experienced any problems of this kind and if you did, how did you resolve it?
Thanks in advance.

[laboratoryqueen]

For £2 you can request a copy of your credit history from places like Experian, who are hold all the information on you for credit, that should give you some idea as to why your credit was turned down, all shops have a different policy on scoring for potential credit customers however, and sometimes that can even be because you don't have enough credit/debt against your name.

You can look at your credit report online at https://www.creditexpert.co.uk" (https://www.creditexpert.co.uk) though you have to pay a fee of about £5:99 a month to become a member though there is a free trial period

[Hu Jardon]

Loads of things affect your credit rating

If you're not on the electoral register at your address you credit score will be reduced

If you've never borrowed anything using that address your credit rating will be rduced

If the guy who had the place before you was a credit moron the address will be blacklisted (happens a lot in Quarters)

You can check your credit rating for free I think with a company called equifax via moneysupermarket.com

Take a look at http://www.moneysavingexpert.com there are all kinds of tips here

Also try http://www.hotukdeals.com/main.html


Its a p1sser but don't take it personally it might also be worth visiting the HIVE they usually have a preprinted letter that explains the unique position of servicemen with regard to credit that may explaing your situation to the manager of the shop concerned
By the way High Street Laptop Dealers are generally a bunch of thieving Gypsy fekkers - you might well get a far better deal online and still get interest free credit


Hu

[dantura]

Have any other goaters experienced any problems of this kind and if you did, how did you resolve it?
Thanks in advance.

The main ways to improve your credit rating I'm afraid is to get a credit card or 2 or get a mortgage. You don't have to put anything on your cards.

You can check your credit rating from Experian or Equifax, I think it costs about £2. If there is any wrong info, you can write to them to amend it...This may just be your problem

I was in a similar situation many years back and I couldn't even get a decent APR credit card, except from my bank, who knew my history.

You think you are doing everything right, not getting into debt, paying off bills, not buying stuff you can't afford etc. yet it all bites you in the @rse.

Anyway, many years later I can pretty much get any type of credit I want. It all takes a long time I'm afraid.

Conversely, if you make a purchase from £100-£30,000, you are also insured by the credit card company.....bonus.:PDT_Xtremez_28:

I now make nearly all my purchases by C card and it isn't a problem as long as you're careful and pay it all off before any interest kicks in. All cards have a window in which you can pay them back before charges, usually about 56days, also there are so many 0% cards about nowadays why pay APR on any loan?(Just make sure you don't go over the intro 0% period)

Good choice on Lappy BTW.....only VAIO for me.


Good luck


D

[CodeMonkey]

They refused to enter my details again as they said it would damage my credit scoring.

I was told by a company many moons ago that if to many checks are done with a short period it can lead to an automatic blacklisting for 6 months, not sure if they were being accurate though.

[beer]

This has always been a problem with some companies. Firms like Currys would until a few years ago not give you credit and trying to get a loan or credit from Lombard Finance was a big no-no!

I encountered a problem with Lombard when I came out in 1997 when I applied for a loan. I had a mortgage, job etc and I was turned down due to the fact that I was ex forces. I now work for the RBS who own Lombard and in my current position I had an occasion to be in the same building at a meeting as some "Heid-Yins" in their credit call centre. I put the question to them why servicemen are not given loans/ credit from them and all they could come up with was that we are seen as a high risk customer!

It always amazed me as we are/were the most traceable people in the country, never mind as someone else has mentioned, the pikey members of some communities! :PDT_Xtremez_32:

[exerk]

I was told by a company many moons ago that if to many checks are done with a short period it can lead to an automatic blacklisting for 6 months, not sure if they were being accurate though.

Correct.

Equifax, Experian and others do not necessarily talk to each other so getting cleared by one may still leave you blacklisted by others.

[SirSaltyHelmet]

Right guys,

First things first, there is no such thing as a blacklist. The three companies that deal with credit history are experian, equifax and call credit. Different financial institutions provide information under the Data Protection Act to one of these agencies. They can subscribe to one, two or all three. If they suscribe to any of them, then they are entilted to information that they hold on you for credit decision purposes.

Basically credit reference agencies provide details of County Court Judgements, Defaults, Missed payments, late payments, IVA's and voluntary terminations. All of the above can have a detrimental effect on your credit worthiness. These are given by other financial institutions as I said earlier.

CCJs, Defaults and IVA will stay on your record for 6 years, this is under the statute of limitations. After six years they will drop off your record automatically. CCJs can be removed from the register provided they are settled within 28 days of the judgment date.

Defaults however, carry the same weight for being declined as a CCJ, it shows you have been a bad payer. Defaults can be removed but that is a different subject.

Going back to being declined, they CRAs basically provide a credit worthiness score ie how much of a risk you are based on your payment history. Don't forget this goes back 6 years.

Improving your credit score is simple, if you have a credit card - use it. If you have loads of cards get it down to one or two. Loads of people have 0% cards, they move it year after year and forget to close the old ones down. Close the dormant accounts and your scores will improve. As has been mentioned, having a mortgage helps, this is because people have equity in their houses. Set up direct debits for your credit cards, this way it guarnatees the minimum payment every month, it saves the embarrasment of forgetting to pay which will knock your rating back for a year. If the minimum is not enough then speak to the companies concerend and as them to take say £100 monthly or use standing order. Don't get caught out, and your rating goes up.

Going back to the initial post - if you are using a service address it can be difficult, this is due to usually lack of electoral roll or the inability to find the address on the system. It is sometimes better to use a parents address etc.

Another issue is joint accounts - you may have a sparkling record, but your partner might have a crappy one. Soon as you enter into joint accounts, mortgages etc then you become linked, and that will pull the good one down. It is okay to have seperate accounts at the same address becuase you are not directly linked financially.

I would recommend getting a copy of your report from all three CRAs, if there is something on there that you don't like or understand then PM me. Again, you may find it difficult to obtain your report due to service address recognition.

Hope this helps a little

[MrMasher]

I tell you what is really good, and its free for a year. After a year you have to sign up to it for £30 I think.
Go have a look at www.garlik.com (http://www.garlik.com)
It has a credit section which details how much you owe and what your current credit score is. It splits the credit score into sections such as where you live, electoral role, number of creditors, etc. It also tells you why your score may be high or low in certain areas and how to rectify it.
As for the bit mentioned of inputting details again for credit application, this is to help combat fraud and desperate individuals attempting to secure funds. But a few wouldnt give a big 'footprint', we are talking lots within hours here. Also on the other hand if you dont have any or many applications for credit in a year that can affect your credit rating as well.
Its very good. I would recommend it to everyone.

[True Blue Jack]

It's just a thought, but you may want to hold off on buying your laptop until you get OOA, especially if you are going anywhere there are Yanks. You can get the latest in Sony Vaio for about $1600 (a tad over £800 at current exchange rates).

As for the credit check - in the 14 years I have been in the Mob, I have never lived at one address for 3 years, so when they ask for a prior address I have to give my parents'. A couple of years ago I was refused credit (no reason given). When I got the report from Experian a couple of weeks later the only bad thing on it was that my brother had skipped a couple of payments on his credit card.

[mad_mo]

Going back to the initial post - if you are using a service address it can be difficult, this is due to usually lack of electoral roll or the inability to find the address on the system. It is sometimes better to use a parents address etc

This is exactly what happned to me when I first went for a mobile phone contract. Because I had moved twice in one year, I was on no current electoral register and that is the only reason when I contacted Equifax why I was knocked back and given a poor credit rating.

[Inch High PI]

Folks thanks for your posts and advice, I have paid Eqiufax for my credit history and all appears to be normal, all the past addresses they have on there for me are correct and all my previous credit history is correct.
By the looks of it there are no problems and all the loans I have had were paid off in full and on time.

I honestly think it was the fact that they only asked for my current address and my previous one, that only covers a period of approx 3.5 years. I think if I had given a few other previous addresses then I wouldn't of had this problem.

I am off to check out www.garlik.com.

Thanks again.

[SirSaltyHelmet]

Folks thanks for your posts and advice, I have paid Eqiufax for my credit history and all appears to be normal, all the past addresses they have on there for me are correct and all my previous credit history is correct.
By the looks of it there are no problems and all the loans I have had were paid off in full and on time.

I honestly think it was the fact that they only asked for my current address and my previous one, that only covers a period of approx 3.5 years. I think if I had given a few other previous addresses then I wouldn't of had this problem.

I am off to check out www.garlik.com (http://www.garlik.com).

Thanks again.

Equifax are just one company, you must remember that the company that you tried to borrow off may have checked Experian or Call Credit. You need all three to be sure. One of the others may have derogatroy information.

[tankerworker]

After I got refused by PCWorld I did the experian on line credit report which I imagine gives all the info garlik does. The reason I got refused was the electoral register didn't show me at the current address. I emailed the council, and filled in the service voters form and all was fixed on the first of the next month.

[Inch High PI]

Right, I just got my credit scoring from all three companies and garlick.com, it would appear that all my details are coorect and there is nothing wrong with them. my credit score is 741, is this good?

The only problem that all of them can identify is that I am "financially inactive" and some lenders may be concerned that I don't have many accounts, as all I have is a car loan.

So by the looks of it, If i want to up my credit profile, i need to get some credit. What a complete load of utter b*llocks.

I have emailed RBC blackhorse with my problem as advised by Sony Customer Care, and i am awaiting an answer.

[SirSaltyHelmet]

Right, I just got my credit scoring from all three companies and garlick.com, it would appear that all my details are coorect and there is nothing wrong with them. my credit score is 741, is this good?

The only problem that all of them can identify is that I am "financially inactive" and some lenders may be concerned that I don't have many accounts, as all I have is a car loan.

So by the looks of it, If i want to up my credit profile, i need to get some credit. What a complete load of utter b*llocks.

I have emailed RBC blackhorse with my problem as advised by Sony Customer Care, and i am awaiting an answer.

741 is good young fella. No worries there. Get yourself a credit card, pay it off monthly. Just use it for day to day stuff and get one that is 0%

They think that if you are not using credit, then you cannot get credit... strange thinking I know! Just get a card and watch what happens to your score

[Inch High PI]

Cheers SSH, and all who have offered advice.

[MrMasher]

741 is good young fella. No worries there. Get yourself a credit card, pay it off monthly. Just use it for day to day stuff and get one that is 0%
[/FONT]

Spot on there SSH.

Get a credit card or even two. Use it instead of your current account, for ex when doing normal shopping etc, then pay it straight off when you get home on the net.
Should build up lovely!!!!

[SirSaltyHelmet]

This is a handy one to

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1129725802,83707 (http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1129725802,83707),

it shows which company uses which CRA