YOU HAVE YOUR SAY
EVERY week, Money Mail receives hundreds of your letters and emails about our stories. Here are some from our report about a woman who was refused a credit card because she owed £349 a month on a car loan . . . BANKS don’t like certain things on credit records, such as payday loans. But it’s worrying that your car loan can count against you. That’s the only way some people can afford transport. H. N., Yorkshire. BANKS won’t lend money to anyone who’s retired, even if they have a good pension. They are viewed as a risk. It’s ageist. U. B., London. IT’S up to the bank who it lends to. It assessed the risk and said ‘no’. It’s annoying if you’re the one rejected, but I don’t think you can argue it. E. E., Kent. YOU hear all the time of people who shouldn’t be getting credit being accepted for loans and yet, this woman, who seems to manage her money sensibly, is denied. It doesn’t make sense. G. D., St Albans, Herts. WHEN I tried to buy a laptop on interest-free credit, I was rejected because of my car loan. If I’d known at the time, I would have got a cheaper car. C. E., Edinburgh. THE reason Santander gives in this case is codswallop. Are we to believe that no other Santander customer has a car loan? E. D., Gloucester. SANTANDER has strict criteria. Five years ago, I split from my husband and needed to raise £10,000 to pay off debts. I have plenty of equity in my home, yet Santander refused. I walked around the corner to a rival — and it lent me the money. H.T., Hull. A FRIEND of mine was given a credit card with a £3,000 limit when he was unemployed and getting £65 a week — and this woman is refused? D. A., Durham.