I recently signed up for a Barclaycard, was accepted and was given the product I asked for which was this Flexi-Rate Platinum card. The limit I was initially given was £4000.00. Some three weeks later the amount was abruptly reduced to £900.00 and a letter was sent out saying that the matter was "non-negotiable" for the next six months. The reason being that all new customers were subject to these new lending rules and I was not unduly being singled out; a lot of customers are aparently getting their limits reduced.

Anyway, what with various email questioning this decision, I got through to some credit account manager and lo and behold my limit was increased to £3000.00 which I was really pleased about. It would appear that Barclaycard do in fact listen when you persevere.

I digress. Whilst speaking to this manager I mentioned to him that I have inserted three "Notices of Correction" on my credit file with Equifax to explain to potential lenders the reasons why I had "not so great" credit. To my shock I was told that Barclaycard and other lenders don't actually get to see this information, they only see a note to say that the Notice of Correction has been added to the file. They then assume that since I had added this information myself, this must mean that I had something dreadfully wrong with my credit worthiness and thus they marked "you down" and refuse you various products.

I explained that I thought the reverse would be true and that it would be a good thing to explain to lenders about my previous financial history and to let them know that I was in-touch with how my accounts are run; it should also show them that I am a good credit risk.

It just goes to show that some lenders see a Notice of Correction as being a flag which would indicate that you are likely to be a problem borrower.

The only thing I can suggest is that before making an application with a potential creditor, you should contact their credit department and ask them how they view Notices of Correction.