Wondering why you can’t get that Car loan?

This section will give you facts about understanding your credit, how you and lenders can interpret your credit.

Does your score alone determine whether you can get car credit?

No this is often the biggest misconception of consumers, most lenders use a number of facts to make credit decisions. Lenders look at information such as the amount of debt you can reasonably handle given your income, your credit history, i.e. historically how well have you handled your credit, how long you have been in your current employment and even who your employer is.

Even though lenders work towards company criteria and score, decisions can be based on an underwriter’s perception of this information. Lenders may extend credit to you although your score is low and in turn they may still decline your request for credit although your score is within their lending criteria.

Before the use of credit scores the process for getting credit acceptance was normally done manually and would often take days for decisions. The credit bureaus have made big improvements to the credit process, which result in faster decisions, but sometimes only an automated decision. These are fairer as the decision is based on facts rather then personal feelings. Factors like your gender, race, religion and nationality are not considered by credit scoring. However they in turn, cannot take in to account personal circumstances like redundancy or bereavement.

NEXT WEEK – Can you help to improve your credit score to get that car loan?