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'Banks tell you nothing ... you're digging around blind'
Sri Carmichael, Consumer Affairs Reporter26 Aug 2009
Fay Alison, 42, had a "total nightmare" trying to secure an 85 per cent mortgage as a first-time buyer for her one-bedroom garden flat in Chigwell, despite being a "top-class customer".
Ms Alison, a personal assistant, had never missed a payment for anything, but Abbey rejected her because of her low credit score.
The bank gave no explanation, but with the help of her broker, Capital Fortune, Ms Alison spent nearly a month delving through her financial records to discover the reason. The main problem was that the credit card she used and paid off regularly for 20 years was too old to be registered with a credit agency so she did not have a track record of repaying debt.
The other issue was that her rented flat had been recorded over the years as a "basement flat", a "garden flat" and a door number with the companies she used to organise her finances.
Ms Alison said: "It was extremely stressful because the banks tell you nothing, you're digging around blind trying to work out what's wrong when you thought you'd been so perfect with your credit. It's very upsetting.
"I'd been doing exactly as is recommended - spending a few hundred pounds on my credit card each month and paying it off - but I got the card back in the Eighties before they registered them with credit agencies.
"Once I knew I took out a new one and got a letter from my bank stating I had been using a card for two decades which I showed to prove my credit history.
"I had no idea companies had taken my address differently but apparently it can be a problem and makes you appear dodgy."
After making changes, Ms Alison secured a mortgage at 85 per cent with Alliance & Leicester at 5.69 per cent fixed for three years.
