'No Room At The Inn' - Persistence pays off when you are looking for a new loan, credit card

When Joseph and Mary were looking for somewhere to stay and everyone they approached said ‘sorry there is no room at the Inn’, their persistence eventually paid off, even if it wasn’t perfect it was an offer of somewhere to stay.

These days for many people, the term ‘sorry there is no room at the Inn’ is a more likely to be ‘sorry computer says no’ when you are looking for a new loan, credit card or mortgage.

What many people don’t understand is each lender has their own criteria and it doesn’t matter how long you have dealt with them, or how good you have maintained your account, if you fall outside their criteria, ‘the computer says NO’ and you are rejected with no alternative options. There are a number of reasons ‘computer says No’ but the most common is usually something on your credit file but this doesn’t mean every lender will say No, just the lender you have approached.

You then have the people who understand this and try another lender or more than one lender and still get a ‘no’ which can have an adverse effect on your credit score /credit report.

When dealing with your finances, particularly with mortgages, loans and credit cards it is always best to get a copy of your credit report first to see if you have any negative issues you may not be aware of, that could cause you a decline on an application.

It is also important to understand a ‘NO’ does not mean all lenders will say ‘No’ It is just a case of finding one which will suit your circumstances and say ‘YES’.

I am sure most readers will have heard of ‘Martin Lewis’ the Money expert who’s advice is for people to seek advice from a broker who will search the ‘whole of market’ on your behalf without affecting your credit score.

When considering credit reports and credit score sites it is always best to use those that offer credit reports, rather than just a credit score and the most widely used sites by lenders are;-

www.experian.co.uk and www.equifax.co.uk these credit reference sites normally have a monthly fee, but the first 30 days are free, you just have to remember to cancel before the 30 days expire, there are of course many other sites out there.

Credit Score, is just a rating that each credit reference company uses to give you a score rating and they have different score levels.

Credit Report, is a much more detailed report on your financial and address history and will show all your credit accounts, late and missed payments, defaults, CCJs and bankruptcies.

For anyone applying for a credit report and would like to know how they can improve their credit score, I would be happy to help them with some general information, to better understand how these work.

Jim Rawling

Mortgage and Financial Adviser

Elm Lodge

14 Elbow Lane

Formby,

L37 4AF

For more information please contact me at jim@cutronasfs.co.uk or 07789686720

Next Month How your credit cards work and how best to use them.