The first thing is do not panic.
Lets look in to why you have been declined and then we can work on a plan of action. There can be many different reasons for a declined application and at different stages, but typically they will fall in to a smaller number of categories.
Score Decline
This is a simple one. A score decline has nothing to do with your “Credit Score” (which is a figure made the credit agencies decide on and nothing to do with the lenders). It just means that when they took the information from your application and your credit file (such as payment history) and merged the 2, the score was not enough to pass.
If we use Cinderella and the Slipper as an analogy, this time your application was just one of the ugly sisters. There is not a lot you can do, you were just not suited to the lenders target market at the moment.
If we use Cinderella and the Slipper as an analogy, this time your application was just one of the ugly sisters. There is not a lot you can do, you were just not suited to the lenders target market at the moment.
Criteria Declines
A Mortgage application declined based on Criteria means exactly what it says. There is a part of the Mortgage lenders criteria you do not fit.
That means that it was just the wrong choice of lender and again, there is very little you can do.
If the rest of the case is very good and it is slightly out (for example a £505 default 32 months ago and the lender only accepts £500 defaults in the last 36 months), you could try and appeal to the lender to make an exception.
There is no guarantee it would work, but with some lenders it can be worthwhile doing. Although sometimes it is better to just cut your losses and move on with Plan B.
Affordability Decline
This is something that I would expect to get picked up before a full application goes in. Unless the application was reliant on bonuses/benefits/commission etc and the figures were not entered as the lender would expect. This may not be a decline as such but more a reduced loan amount.
No reason provided
Where no reason is provided for the declined mortgage application it can be a little more tricky.
It could be fairly simple in that it is one of the reasons above, but they do not want to get in to discussion over it and so just come back with a generic answer.
However, it could also be something more serious such as potential fraud has been picked up. This would usually only be the case if you had lied or had made a Mortgage application recently which had been declined and then a subsequent application where you had changed your answers in the hope it would go through. Lenders now share information with other lenders on the National Hunter and similar systems in order to combat fraudulent applications.
What should I do if I have had a Mortgage Application declined?
It is not the end of the world if your Mortgage application has been declined in the main. The one exception to that is if you have made fraudulent applications.
Bar those applications, most of the examples above can be overcome. The one thing we ask from our customers is to be 100% open and honest with us.
We work for you, so the more information you give us, the more accurate our research will be. The last thing you want is another declined application which could have been easily avoided.
Get in touch, give us the good the bad and the ugly details and we will give you an honest answer on the likelihood of being able to place your application and get you from Mortgage Decline to…. Mortgage Success – Do you like what we did there?