James
Recently my application for a current bank account was declined at Barclay's Bank. This is my second declined application as the first one was with NatWest. NatWest told me to reapply in six months after using my credit card. Neither of the banks gave a clear reason. When I checked my report I found fraud IDs shared my address with different names. This is the only odd thing I found. I filled a dissociation form and I am awaiting the reply. I am afraid that I am a victim of address fraud. I do not know where to go from there, and what about my future applications for credit and mortgages. I am a senior registrar in obstetrics and gynaecology with a good income and good reputation and I wish this issue to be cleared. Your early reply would be highly appreciated.
Ahmad, Huntingdon
Ahmad
The fraud warnings at your address do not affect your credit score. These warnings merely warn lenders about past fraud so they can take extra care with new applications. What you really need to do is go back to Barclays and NatWest and ask for fuller explanations of their decisions to refuse your applications. I'm afraid only they can tell you, but they are actually required to by an industry code of practice, although you sometimes need to ask.
Of course, lenders have to guard against fraud so they can't, for instance, tell you exactly how their credit scoring works, but they should be able to give you the main reason. So hopefully they'll be able to shed some light on this so you can take steps to improve things before you apply again.
Some common tips for improving your creditworthiness include: making sure your name appears on the electoral roll at your current address (or explaining if you are ineligible to vote); making sure the details on your report are all accurate and up to date; closing any unused credit cards; explaining any good reasons for past late payments (such as illness, redundancy or relationship breakdown); and making sure you are not financially linked to people you no longer share a financial connection with.
I really hope you get to the bottom of this.
James