# when applying for a loan.....



## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

havent been too concerned of late as i have been swapping credit card balances to 0%, however, used moneysupermarket just to see if i would have a problem getting a loan for around 14000 (as it says it doenst affect your credit just looking) to get another car later in the year, was surprised to see only one lender able to lend me the money.

wonder why? being self employed surely cant effect that badly enough?

im guessing that the moneysupermarket search facility is cosher?

for the record, i based the search on gross income at £24K


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## davo3587 (May 9, 2012)

Are you aware that each time you swap your credit card to another lender it affects your credit score, I was told that some time ago. I may stand corrected tho.


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## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

davo3587 said:


> Are you aware that each time you swap your credit card to another lender it affects your credit score, I was told that some time ago. I may stand corrected tho.


dont see why it should, but there again, how are we supposed to know everything that goes on behind the scenes, so to speak


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## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

also, wont actually be applying until july/august


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## nbray67 (Mar 22, 2012)

davo3587 said:


> Are you aware that each time you swap your credit card to another lender it affects your credit score, I was told that some time ago. I may stand corrected tho.


I'm not sure that's correct as we do this every now and then and our credit score and limits have risen dramatically over the last 5yrs or so, that includes raising our mortgage when moving from a 150k house to a 250k house in the last 12mths.

Our income is not huge but we also don't have any 'bad' credit anywhere, e:g no arrears on anything.


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## R7KY D (Feb 16, 2010)

davo3587 said:


> Are you aware that each time you swap your credit card to another lender it affects your credit score, I was told that some time ago. I may stand corrected tho.


I heard it did as well but I'm not so sure it does , I've been playing the 0% cards for several years and my credit score is still excellent


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## MDC250 (Jan 4, 2014)

More likely they will look at how much credit you already have versus income.

Having a few cards with no balance on them but in theory having that available credit PLUS applying for a loan can put lenders off if that makes sense?


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## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

MDC250 said:


> More likely they will look at how much credit you already have versus income.
> 
> Having a few cards with no balance on them but in theory having that available credit PLUS applying for a loan can put lenders off if that makes sense?


it does actually, :thumb:

also, my very last payment on a big loan comes out next week, im guessing that might still be a factor?


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## MDC250 (Jan 4, 2014)

Possibly and it can sometimes take a while for it to show as settled on your credit score.

If you haven't already, sign up and check out your score to see where if at all you may be 'loosing points' so to speak.


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## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

signed up to noodle, and showing a green 3/5


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## Crafoo (Oct 27, 2013)

I think being self employed does have a bearing on your ability to get credit.

The best way to up your credit score is really a bit of catch 22, if you have credit and don't default on payments then your score improves, I've had a fair amount of credit over the years and I think my credit rating (at the last time of checking about 12 months ago) was as good as it could be.

Even then I still applied for a loan of a similar amount to you and was rejected by at least one place, the most annoying thing is they never give a reason as to why, they just say you've been rejected due to your circumstances and that in turn lessens your chances of getting credit elsewhere.

Also it's worth noting that just because you see a lending rate advertised it doesn't mean that you'll get accepted at that rate, a number of occasions I've been accepted for credit but not at the advertised rate, so if you do manage to get the credit, check what rate you've been accepted at as it can drastically increase your monthly repayments.

My best advice if you haven't had much in the way of credit would be to try and apply with your bank, they are much more likely to accept you than another company who knows nothing of your finances.

This is a good guide to help you see what you can do to affect your rating, it's not something that you can change overnight though, improving your credit score takes time.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/credit-rating-credit-score


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## MDC250 (Jan 4, 2014)

Not used them sorry. I'm still signed up with Experian 

Guessing should be quite similar though? Experian notes all your available credit, how much you are using/is available as percentages etc.

What was letting me down at the time was something as simple as multiple variations of my address (I had a flat at the time), soon as that was in hand all was good.


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## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

cheers guys, all info very useful

silly thing is, in total, if i had 0 on all cards, i would at present have £27K available if i wanted it (all credit limits)


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## MDC250 (Jan 4, 2014)

I'm guessing that's what will be limiting the choice of lenders.

From their point of view you could get the loan then max your cards and not have enough to pay.

Maybe consolidate some of your credit and close off some of the account(s)/cards.


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## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

MDC250 said:


> I'm guessing that's what will be limiting the choice of lenders.
> 
> From their point of view you could get the loan then max your cards and not have enough to pay.
> 
> Maybe consolidate some of your credit and close off some of the account(s)/cards.


aye, good idea :thumb:


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## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

daft thing is, none have actually confirmed my income at any point


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## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

sounds daft this does......

*"Pay off in full every month, don't use your cards enough, or always shift debt to 0% cards, and if they can spot you (it isn't always that easy) some may reject you."*


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## MDC250 (Jan 4, 2014)

Yes and no!

They make money on you tfg a balance and they trade the debt and make money on that but the customer they are really looking for is one who pays but never quite clears the debt and gets stuck paying their normal rates of interest. 

"Rate tarts" are never going to be that popular.


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## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

not sure i can improve my rating much, dont own our home and self employed, hhhhmmmm


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## Darlofan (Nov 24, 2010)

The credit score thing is a bit of a myth. At the end of the day all they want to know is can they make money out of you without any hassle. Yes look at the 3 ratings agencies, experian, equifax and noddle and check things like wrong addresses, any mistakes etc.
Too much available credit like your empty cards will have a huge effect as said previously. Jumping cards too will as they don't want to lend you money if you jump before they've got any interest out of you. When existing loan is paid it will take a couple of months to show on credit scores too.


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## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

Does anyone know of a lender that specialises in self employed?


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## shine247 (Mar 1, 2010)

Forgive me if I have missed something over the previous pages but something that is taken into account is how much you will owe. Applying for £14k on a quoted income of £24k is pretty much at the top end for mainstream lenders. If you have borrowing already they will in most cases take that into consideration. If you have £3k on cards now your overall borrowing would be considered high against your income on a debt to income ratio. The chances are that is why you got the result you did.
Be wary of credit scores, they reflect what the bureau think of your operation but they are not really any value for loan applications and people put too much faith in them.


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## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

finally opened the Experian account, and my score is 922 out of 999


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## m4rkymark (Aug 17, 2014)

must admit I thought what shine has written. to borrow 14k on a salary of 24k seems exceptionally high given you will have other commitments to pay for out of the 24k before you need to start thinking about paying back the 14k. you also need to think about depreciation of the item you are buying - if you are borrowing 14k and paying it back over 10 yrs for a car then it doesn't make commercial sense as the car will always be worth less than the value of the loan.(im not saying you are borrowing it over 10 yrs just using that figure as an example)


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## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

cheapest loan for 14K over 5 years was around £260 for 5 years @ 3.7%


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## Crafoo (Oct 27, 2013)

I don't think paying back £14k on a £24k a year wage is a problem.

If you're paying it back over 5 years with interest you might need to pay back £17k in total? (I dunno couldn't be bothered to work it out lol) In that time you'll have earned £120k.

Paying back £17k from £120k doesn't seem too much of an issue to me (unless I'm missing something obvious, which I usually do lol), leaves scope for other commitments if you're sensible imo.


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## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

Crafoo said:


> I don't think paying back £14k on a £24k a year wage is a problem.
> 
> If you're paying it back over 5 years with interest you might need to pay back £17k in total? (I dunno couldn't be bothered to work it out lol) In that time you'll have earned £120k.
> 
> Paying back £17k from £120k doesn't seem too much of an issue to me (unless I'm missing something obvious, which I usually do lol), leaves scope for other commitments if you're sensible imo.


thats how i look at it :thumb:

total repayment would be 15,333 but the apr i get would probably be more than that judging on recent results

my 2 negative scores were 
*You have opened 2 new credit accounts in the last 6 months

You have made 6 credit applications in the last 6 months.*

7 positives were
*You have 15 closed non-mail order credit accounts

Your total non-revolving credit balance has reduced significantly.

The average age of your credit accounts is 62 months.

Your highest credit limit on a single revolving credit account is £11.3k

Your total non-mortgage credit balance is £15.2k

You are using 11 non-mortgage credit accounts

The usage of your available credit indicates a lower risk.*


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## Crafoo (Oct 27, 2013)

bidderman1969 said:


> thats how i look at it :thumb:
> 
> total repayment would be 15,333 but the apr i get would probably be more than that judging on recent results
> 
> ...


Only thing I'd say if you haven't already is just crunch the numbers and make sure you leave yourself breathing space each month. Worst thing you can do is push your monthly spend too far, leave room just in case "something comes up" (and it always does lol) because otherwise you'll be unable to recover.


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## bidderman1969 (Oct 20, 2006)

leaving it for 6 months i think, although i was going to get an imac on apple finance, lol


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## Clean ocd (Mar 29, 2014)

right just to clear this up as i have many years bank/ mortgage /loan experience and also credit cards , a credit check is done everytime you open a new credit card even if its to transfer it for 0% , and when you apply make it easy here say £5k you want to transfer then when you apply for a new card you credit score will see if you can handle or allowed £10k even know your transferring it to another card to close it down


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## Bero (Mar 9, 2008)

Credit card juggling can't have a big impact on your credit rating (not that there is a fixed credit score of course). When interest rates were better I was jiggling things around and sitting with a lot of cash in the back making interest. When the deal ended the money was repaid in full. I still use a couple long term 0% deals, but it's hardly worth it anymore.


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