Requiring a credit referral despite NO CREDIT HISTORY.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely furious with O2 today. Went to cancel and pay off my existing contract and begin a new one with a new phone (partly due to being sick of BlackBerry and all its problems and also to do with requirements for a new job) and was then told I had been denied! Apparently I had to have a credit referral, which is ridiculous as I have literally no credit history? I have a debit card, have never owned a credit card, and in my 7+ years of being a loyal O2 customer I've never missed a payment!

Has this ever happened to anyone else before? I did as I was told and emailed them and then was informed via automated email I might have to wait ten working days before getting a response! I've seen previous threads relating to this and it says about being on the electoral roll at your current address, which I am as I voted in the last election from my current address. I can't think of a single reason why this has happened to me and am seriously considering just cancelling my contract and taking a new one out elsewhere.

[gemz4the1]

Hello @Anonymous and welcome to the community.

@perksie is right - no credit history is treated basically the same as a poor credit history as lenders do know have assurance that you can make payments.  You make be the most reliable person ever when it comes to bills, but without building up a credit history, you will face problems gertting phone contracts, credit cards, mortgages, etc.

I know it must be vert frustrating for you and I hope that you don't have to wait 10 days for a response from them.

Please update us when you have an answer 

[Cleoriff]

Hi @gemz4the1  Siriusbingers post was actually from May 2013.

I was actually responding to a post from @Anonymous posted yesterday 15th November

[Anonymous]

Hi @Anonymous ,

I think there's a little misunderstanding here. Ok, so from the beginning : credit referrals is the name of the department that deals with credit checks, what happened to u is the outcome of ur credit checked was referred,instead of automatically approved. Based on what u said the lack of credit history may have done that, which doest mean you cant be approved. Someone said It's better to have bad credit than no credit but no, that's not the case,because if u did have bad credit u would have been declined.

They will look at your case individually and give you options, so nothing is lost. Hope this helps

[Cleoriff]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hi @Anonymous ,

I think there's a little misunderstanding here. Ok, so from the beginning : credit referrals is the name of the department that deals with credit checks, what happened to u is the outcome of ur credit checked was referred,instead of automatically approved. Based on what u said the lack of credit history may have done that, which doest mean you cant be approved. Someone said It's better to have bad credit than no credit but no, that's not the case,because if u did have bad credit u would have been declined.

They will look at your case individually and give you options, so nothing is lost. Hope this helps

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It certainly does help to know the policy @Anonymous  However my reply was based on something that made headline news last week about a potential client being refused a contract as they had no credit history at all. Apparently the phone company involved said (quite rightly) that nowadays a credit check is used as a benchmark to see if you are reliable to maintain a 2 year repayment plan. If they have nothing to refer to then a contract may well be refused... (It isnt always, but has been happening)

[Cleoriff]

EDIT For clarification...my response on this thread yesterday was made in reference to new post . (post 9.)

The initial thread started in May 2013. Someone new posted yesterday 15/11...:smileywink:

[Anonymous]

I got your point in a way,because if you don't have a credit history it's like u don't exist, so it's more suspicious than a bad credit history.

But there are several things that are taken into account,like the op said, register to vote,having a landline also helps, length of time at current address,number of addresses,etc...there's loads, I'm sure if you do a google search there will be a list somewhere, but then there's different agencies like equifax,experian,etc...oh...It's all very burocratic! Have I bored you yet?!

[MI5]

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@Anonymous wrote:

It's all very burocratic! Have I bored you yet?!

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Yes, but thanks for sharing 

[Anonymous]

mission acomplished

[Cleoriff]

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@Anonymous wrote:

mission acomplished

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Just about to take the matchsticks from my eyes :smileywink