Financing oddness

[happyfeet]

Hi all,

Im currently in a strange situation in regards to getting my finance sorted for buying a new xc90, ill start from the beginning... (apologies for the incoming wall of text)

Went to a local dealer, spec'd the car i wanted and got a PCP plan which seemed good. The wife did some digging and got a better deal from a dealer a few hours away, we decided to go for that deal.

Before going through the order process we pushed for the financing check to make sure we wasnt wasting anyones time, my wife has historically had better credit than me, so we tried it through her name. that got declined so we tried it using my name. I got accepted.

Roll on a couple of weeks later to today. I get a call from the dealer saying santander have pulled the financing offer, stating that because we tried under my wifes name first, it was unethical for them to then accept me as it would be financing by association.
I dont really understand WTF is going on here, we are married, we pay for things together! We have a joint mortgage with santander so they bloody know we are married. My name was on the order form as the registered keeper. Its a bloody family car, going to be used by a family.

What i also dont understand is, what if i bought a car from the forecourt instead of getting a factory build, would they then have called me up and said i have to give the car back? The dealer said he didnt know as he hadnt seen that happen.

The dealer has now put together a leasing plan for me which (as it includes road tax and servicing) is very competitive compared to the PCP deal on the exact same spec car, so we are thinking about going for it, but i just want to try and get some idea on what the hell has gone on here, whether santander ****ed up initially, or (and i do doubt this) whether my dealer is trying to screw me over.
Also, because of santander doing this, if i went to another dealer - even another manufacturer, would i get declined for this exact reason. It just seems a little odd to me.

Again, sorry for the long post / rant, just wondering if anyone else has had anything like this happen?

[NigelDay]

No direct experience except to say that Santander will use Experian or Equifax to check your credit rating (and those of your LINKED associates). The searches are recorded. This is what has caused the problem.

[Jsayers]

Can't comment on what happened with Santander but only go down the leasing option if you have no intention of owning the car at the end.
Also you don't need to include servicing in with the lease, so ask the dealer for a quote with and without. Also see if the servicing includes tyres or not. If it does, they assume you are the worst driver and will go through tyres like no tomorrow. You may be able to get a price for servicing with and without tyres.
I have always had PCP but never kept the car so this time I have switched to a 4 year lease on my XC60. Volvo also do a 5 year lease so again think about how long you want to keep the car.
If leasing seems right for you visit https://www.contracthireandleasing.com and see what deals are available. Most dealers will deliver you car to your door so don't worry about distance.
Hope this helps.

[cheshired5]

Originally Posted by happyfeet

if i went to another dealer - even another manufacturer, would i get declined for this exact reason.

As stated, multiple searches on the same surname and address will produce a flag so solving the situation trying alternative financing companies will be a bad idea.
In your position, I would initially get you and your wife's credit score and report in order to find why they were different.
Your wife's may contain inaccurate/out of date information which adversely affected her credit score and because you're a financial association, it affects yours too.

[Grimble]

Check your credit score!

I have an unusual surname and my score was affected by someone in Northern Ireland (no relation) with the same name but no other connection whatsoever.
These companies can screw up and your only choice is putting in some effort to correct this.

[ITSv40]

Credit scores can be a strange thing.

I'm 62 and live in a detached freehold property owning it outright without ever having had a mortgage. In regular employment and do not go overdrawn at the end of the month; never bought anything on credit or had any personal loans. I have had a credit card for 40 years and pay off the balance every month. In other words I should be a money lenders wet dream - if I wanted to borrow money. However, when I did a credit score check - out of curiosity - it was very poor as apparently I am under the radar except for my credit card.

When my son was 18 and wanted to open a bank account at the Nat West he was turned down due to his poor credit rating - he had never had any loans or hire purchase agreements. The bank rep suggested he sign up to a store card in every shop on the high street and buy a few items from each store and pay off the balance to build up his credit score. He declined their advice and went to the Nationwide who welcomed him with open arms. He would have been the fifth generation to bank at the same branch, but that counted for nothing. It is indeed a strange old world.

[Sasha94]

You'll have slipped under the radar for the very reason you've never proved you can buy on credit. You are far from a lenders wet dream, you're their worst nightmare. They have no proof you will pay back large amounts of credit and even if you do, they won't make a penny extra from you if you pay it off on time. I'm a good person to lend to, I've have had loans, car finance, store cards, credit cards and lots of direct debits and a mortgage. As long as I'm not overborrowing they'll give me what I want as I have a good amount of credit behind me. Lenders like people who pay extra fees as they can take in a fortune on top of the interest on whatever you've bought. I'm lucky enough never to have been in arrears but if you ever have been you'll know how extortionate the fees are.

To the OP, as said; go on Experian or Noddle etc and check your credit score. Lots of checks for credit can give out warning to lenders and yours and yours wife's score will be linked. Check all the information they hold is accurate, also if the car is a large/expensive purchase for you they will want to make sure you won't be financially fully committed once you've bought it. Also remember a PCP is a form of hire purchase and you will still be taking the whole sale price on credit even though you'll only be paying the agreed monthly instalments. A lease is different but you're always liable for the entire cost of the lease.

[john.wigley]

You're quite right, 'ITSv40'. It is the same with insurance - loyalty seems to count for nothing. In fact, it encourages companies to take one for granted, and to only make a better offer when challenged.

Regards, John.

[Considered1]

Check both your credit scores and check who has what with regards to any existing loans or credit and look at these in context with the relevant salaries that fund these arrangements from the lenders point of view.

I had a Santander PCP on the Volvo and when I tried to do my own sourcing for the next car, Hitatchi Capital advertised some amazingly low rates for "specialist car finance" or another PCP as far as I could see. So I thought I'll get an online decision to see if I could get a loan myself without a dealers help so I had the option of buying the next car privately. At no point was there anything on the website to let Hitatchi know this was car Finance for one car and not a second car which might sound obvious but guess I wasn't surprised then when they turned me down, as they said they could not just assume that I would clear the other loan, no **** Sherlock, I am only wanting to change one car for another and borrow less than I did originally on the Volvo, I wouldn't lend me a total of £50k either.

In the end I paid I higher rate through my second hand dealer who got the Finance no problem with good old Santander, who correctly assumed and insisted that I repay the first loan when that car was sold.

Not sure if this helps or not but don't be frightened to tackle these lenders about their decisions and see if it is a full decline or just an admin note on their system/your credit file. My Hitatchi decline was posted as an admin search. Also if things don't look good with a lender ask them to offer you a very low amount rather than any "hard" decline, you then just don't proceed with their silly low offer!

[cheshired5]

Originally Posted by Considered1

Also if things don't look good with a lender ask them to offer you a very low amount rather than any "hard" decline, you then just don't proceed with their silly low offer!

It doesn't work like that.
Their decline won't show on the credit report, just the search which will remain on the report for some time.
A subsequent underwriter may look at the fact that a search has been done with no subsequent credit agreement being taken out but ultimately, any decision is taken by each company based on your score and their own criteria.
The system used to be very easy to bypass if you knew what information to submit on the initial credit application, the same with credit cards.
I don't use credit now so don't know if it's still the case but it wouldn't surprise me if it was.