FIVE THINGS THAT CAN STOP YOU GETTING CREDIT
- AND HOW TO AVOID THEM

Being turned down for a loan, credit card or mortgage can be a distressing experience, especially if you can't think why it's happened. Here are some of the most common problems that can trigger a rejection - and what you can do about them.

You may never have seen your credit report - but it is the key to getting the loans, credit cards and mortgages you need.

Your credit report is your personal financial history, which details your borrowings and your repayment track record, along with other data, such as outstanding court judgments and whether you are registered to vote.

Lenders use this information, together with information on your application, to decide whether you are likely to repay them, how much you can reasonably afford, and what rate of interest to set.

So it pays to check your report before you even apply, to be certain that it is up to date and reflects your circumstances accurately.

We have linked up with CreditExpert, the credit monitoring and identity fraud protection service from Experian, the UK's largest credit reference agency.

The easiest way to obtain a copy of your credit report is to click here if you'd like a 30-day free trial and a free copy of your credit report.

1. You have a poor credit history

High debts, late payments, court judgments - they can result in rejections, even if there were special circumstances that explain your problems. To lenders, they indicate that you could be overstretched and might not repay a new loan.

If you check your credit report before you make an application, you can be sure that all the information is up to date.

And if you would like to add an explanation to any entry - for example, you once missed some payments because of an accident or illness but this has never happened before or since - CreditExpert can help.

2. Your partner has had financial problems

So your own credit report is clean as a whistle - but you have a joint account, such as a mortgage or credit card. The name of anybody with whom you share this type of financial responsibility will appear on your credit report. This is known as a financial association. You may not know if he or she has had any problems but a lender will check.

If you think this could be triggering rejections, it makes sense to get your financial associate to check his or her credit report too. Just get them to click here and they will be able to see what lenders see - and, if necessary, set the record straight.

3. You've been a credit tart

With so many good deals on offer recently, it would have been stupid not to find out who could make the best offer. When applying for any kind of credit - not just cards, but also mortgages and loans - you should always specify that you want a quotation and make it clear that you are not making a full application.

That's because lenders dealing with an application make a full search of your credit report, which will be left on record. Other lenders will see this and could believe that you are overstretching yourself, desperate for money - or even that a fraud is being planned.

When you look through your credit report, you should check that application searches have not been made in error. If they have, you need to contact all the lenders concerned and ask them to change the record to show that you were merely asking for a quotation.

CreditExpert can help - click here to visit the site.

4. You aren't registered to vote at your current address

Lenders use the electoral roll to help check that you are who you say you are and live where you say you live. They also look for stability - that you've lived at the same address for some years. If you fail to register to vote, they cannot verify your identity and may ask for additional identification, suspect a fraud, or even turn you down flat.

Start by checking your credit report online (click here for details) and ensure that it shows that you are eligible to vote at your current address.

If you want to register, you can download a form from www.aboutmyvote.co.uk or ask your local authority for a rolling registration form, which will enable you to register at your current address and de-register from any old ones.

The electoral register is updated monthly but local authorities may take longer to inform credit reference agencies of any changes. If you have registered recently and disagree with the information on your credit report, use the Query Your Report tab on theCreditExpert website. Alternatively, you can contact your local authority to get written confirmation of your registration, which you can then copy to all the credit reference agencies so that they can update their records.

5. The lender has given you a low credit score

Before deciding whether or not to lend money, most organisations take your credit report, plus additional information included on your application form, and generate a credit score. This score indicates the risk involved in granting you credit.

Computer programs score your application by looking at how past customers with similar profiles to yours repaid their credit commitments. Every lender uses a slightly different formula that represents its own and industry experience and these may be adjusted according to the type of credit you are applying for. So every credit application could generate a different credit score.

Your credit score will also change over time, as the information in your credit report and on each credit application form is updated.

To get an idea of how lenders are likely to regard your application, you can order your National Credit Score fromCreditExpert for just £4.99. It is based on your Experian credit report and is an excellent guide to how lenders may assess the information held on your report - although they will also use additional information to make their calculation.

Your score will be a number between 0 and 1,000. Generally, the higher your score, the easier you will find it to get credit.

If you are not scoring as well as you would like, you will find advice, hints and tips on the CreditExpert site that may help you to improve your score. You can order a new score at any time, to monitor your progress.