Credit checks toughen up
November 13, 2007 by admin
Filed under News, News-Loans
The days of cheap credit seem well and truly over – for now at least – as lenders get tough in the light of global financial chaos. 
The credit crunch is beginning to bite, with more and more lenders getting tougher with credit checks, new research has found.
Signing up for a new mobile phone, credit card or hire-purchase agreement can often require a credit check, and a growing number of shoppers are being turned down, according to Equifax.
“We have already heard how high street lenders are cutting credit limits and putting up interest rates, but this also applies to the smaller credit lenders,” spokesman Neil Munroe told the Independent on Sunday.
Recent research has shown that personal loans are getting harder to come by, with many providers simply abandoning the market.
“Credit providers use a ‘credit scoring’ system based on an individual’s credit history to calculate risk and to decide whether to lend,” agreed James Jones of Experian.
“They are now only granting credit to those with the best scores.”
Even catalogue purchases are being affected, Mr Munroe noted.
He warned: “In the past, they might have overlooked the odd missed payment here and there, but we are now finding that slight misdemeanours on your credit file can matter a lot more.”
