I recently applied for an Amex card to help spread the cost of a large house repair bill. Amex declined my application and specifically cited adverse information in the specific credit reference report.

I have applied direct to the credit reference agency and my credit score is 98% and there are no negatives on the credit file.

Has anyone come across this before?

(apologies if this is posted in the wrong place but I couldnt see an American Express sub forum in the Banks, finance and credit forum. )

I thought it might be linked to my partner so we applied for her credit report and it is a 100% score so I cannot see why Amex would use this as a reason to decline the application.

Credit isn’t a right...

What is a 98% and a 100% credit score?

Thread moved to Amex Forum.

Regards

Andy

This might help you understand

https://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=69469

Have a long read

@disgruntled2007

The credit reference agencies use a scoring system to indicate how strong your credit profile is. Without naming the agency on a public forum, my score was 98% out of a max of 100%. That's a pretty high score but Amex are citing an adverse credit report as the main reason for declining the application.

This is what I don't understand and wanted to see if anyone else had experienced something similar.

Forgot to say....I'm not expecting credit as a 'right' but what I am expecting is some transparency as to why the application was declined when my credit history as pretty much as strong as it gets - there were no negatives in the entire credit file - which I have checked out by subscribing to the credit reference agency direct.

If I don't meet other criteria for Amex, that is fine but to state a reason that doesn't appear to be correct is the issue.

How many searches have been made recently? What is your current credit available/credit used percentage? How long have you lived at your current address? How many times have you moved? How many linked names and addresses do you have? How long have you been on the electoral roll?

Did you read the guide posted earlier?

I didnt read the guide - I thought it was to do with finding out which forum to post in, doh! Will take a look.

All of the criteria listed by Disgruntled2007 are all positive and I can see that from the credit report itself.

How many searches have been made recently? one credit application in 2017 and a car insurance quote - would that trigger a search?

What is your current credit available/credit used percentage? I have no outstanding credit owed on cards, I don't have other loans or store cards, and no other debt other than a mortgage which has always been up to date.

How long have you lived at your current address? 5.5 years at existing address and 7 years at the previous address. My partner is the only linked name and her credit score is the maximum. Been on electoral roll for many years.

Please do read the guide... .

It's supposed to answer all your questions...

Don't look into the response too much...

Just because you haven't been accepted doesn't mean you need to be paranoid about your Credit Rating

In other words, it's a standard template response and add to that AMEX have very high criteria for their cards...

Try using Money supermarket comparison tool

Doesn't leave a mark on your CRA. If you had read the guide... You would have known this

thanks fkofilee will take a look tonight.

and good point about it being a standard template letter, it very much had the look of something that was populated in a number of different places with the customer details.