If you've been refused car finance in the past, we can help

In the current financial climate, it’s not uncommon to be refused car finance. Fortunately, being turned down for car finance by one lender doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be refused credit by all lenders. And at Clearway, we can help.

For many people, life is rarely as straightforward as we’d hope. Things occasionally happen that are beyond our control. This includes redundancy, ill health or accidents, relationship breakdowns, and unexpected bills. All these factors can result in unintended payment arrears, defaults, county court judgements, even bankruptcy.

Vehicle finance based on your situation today

Mainstream lenders often use these factors to decline car finance. However, at Clearway we take a different view.

We consider all circumstances and specialise in providing what’s called bad credit finance (also known as subprime lending). Instead of relying solely on your financial history, we assess your current situation and base our decisions on your financial health today.

So, if you’ve been refused car finance in the past, or think you might be rejected for car finance, we’ll do our best to help.

Why might you be refused car credit?

Many factors can combine to result in your application being turned down for car finance. We’ve already covered your past financial performance, including arrears, default, CCJ and bankruptcy. But this isn‘t the only thing lenders consider. Others might include:

- Age and personal circumstances

- Marital status and number of children

- Job or profession, and salary

- Address and how long you’ve lived there

- Whether you’re on the Electoral Register

- Even how many times you’ve applied for vehicle finance

These elements unite to create what’s called your ‘credit score’. Lenders can use this ‘score’ to help decide whether you’re accepted, or refused car finance.

Check your credit file for mistakes

If you are turned down for car finance, you have the right to ask the lender why. They don’t have to give you specific details, but must tell you if their decision was made as a result of searching your credit file. They should also tell you which credit reference agency they used.

Remember, mistakes can happen and there’s no guarantee that all the information on your credit record is 100% accurate. That’s why it’s often worth obtaining a copy and checking for inaccuracies.

You can ask for these to be corrected and also submit an explanation detailing why it’s wrong, plus any evidence. The credit reference agency must act within 28 days of your request and mark your file as ‘disputed’ during their investigations.

Can you re-apply if you've been refused car finance in the past?

There’s no reason why you cannot apply with other lenders if you’ve previously been rejected for car finance. If you’ve spotted mistakes on your credit reference file and had these corrected, subsequent applications could be successful. However, in these circumstances, experts recommend you wait 3-6 months before applying for vehicle finance again.

Will being turned down for car finance negatively affect my credit score?

Mainstream lenders may behave differently to subprime car finance providers. When you apply for car finance, mainstream lenders will register what’s called a ‘search’ on your credit file. This tells other lenders you’ve already applied for vehicle finance with another lender.

Usually, if your file shows three or more recent searches, non subprime lending providers will view this as a warning sign. After all, it could indicate you’ve already taken out a number of credit agreements and might be at risk of overstretching your finances. Alternatively, it could mean you’ve been refused car credit already, alerting them to a potential issue. In some cases, it can also be an indication of attempted fraud.

For these reasons, lenders will always treat a credit file that has multiple searches with caution, and may be inclined to refuse car finance.

At Clearway, we don’t register a search when you initially apply. Instead, we conduct what’s called a ‘soft’ search, leaving no footprint on your credit file. Only when we’re as confident as we can be that you won’t be refused car credit will we submit a formal search, so applying with us won’t negatively impact you. Apply today.