I have a bad history on the credit front with a lot of unpaid debts over the years, all my fault and something I am starting to try and work on. I cannot get a credit card with anyone at all not even Capital One or Vanquish and have spent the past 10 years with (I am 28) nothing but a basic bank account, no bank would let me have a current account and the only credit I have had was off provident and Welcome Finance.I am on £13,000 a year and live with parents so not exactly a lot going for me to try and get credit.

I decided to try one last time for a proper Current Account and applied for a premier Direct account with A&L and to my surprise I was accepted and now have a debit card and a cheque book. I am now going to make sure i sort myself out and will always be grateful to this bank for helping me.

An interesting thing to mention is that my very first ever bank account was with the A&L when I worked there at 16 and was given an account with an overdraft, this was my first bad debt and also what got me started on the slippery slope, and here they are 12 years later helping me out again.

I am thoroughly ashamed of the mess i have got myself in but thought I would post it incase people have not tried A&L, I must admit they would have been near to last on my list of places that would offer me an account.

Things must be bad if vanguish turn you down, alliance & leicester is better by far and you've been given another chance to improve your credit try not to mess it up.

Hey Chippy,

Thanks for the post.

Just one quick question how low was your credit score.An above or below will be great.

Thanks

Pure Vibes

I havn't had a credit report done for years, no point really.

lets just say if it was out of a 1000 i would be lucky to scrape 150.

Mine is really really bad but thankfully A&L have thrown me a lifeline and I am going to make sure I improve my rating from now on.

Thanks Chippy

Did you apply online or go into a branch?

Also do you think that because you have previously been an employee of A&L that you may have been accepted?

I am only asking as, if I do apply and I am decline this is just another credit check done for nothing

Pure Vibes (Chip)

I applied online, to be honest I do everything I online, i wouldn't go into a branch because I expect to get turned down for everything and It is embarrassing. I used to work for A&L as part of a placement because I did a NVQ through their training Centre. So i will never have gone on their records as an employee as such. Also it was about 12 years ago so i doubt they'd keep records that far anyway.

I was really surprised to be excepted, I have had a basic account with Halix for 9 years now and had my wages paid in every month, not got an overdraft so nothing bad against me with them , yet they still won't accept me for a current account.

Chippy,

You have been a great help.

I am just about apply - can you confirm if you have or had anny ccjs in the last 6 years.

thanks

I'm not sure to be honest, I used to just bin anything that looked like a debt letter, very stupid of me I know.

Thanks.

I will apply shortly i will update guys on progress

Pure Vibes

I earn £45k and have no debts but they turned me down and put two searches on my Experian report.

I've been with the A+L for 6 years + and hold two accounts with them, both in credit, and despite this they were unable to help me with a loan to consolidate my debts despite my debts being less than £20k, my salary coming in at £26.5k, and the total monthly payments less than I was currently paying. Creditscore 780 out of 1000, and only so low because of several searches over the past few months. Despite this they still continue to try to sell me a mortgage (which they turned me down for several years ago) and a consolidation loan (which they turned me down for several months ago) each time I walk in through their doors.

I shall never use them again!

Hey Chippy,

Did you have any ccj's

This will also have a big impact on your credit rating

please reply back

cheers

Im a bit confused because I have just had a look at the A&L website and looked at the current accounts and you cant open up one with bad credit so interested to know if this persons credit was actually bad then because they would of said no. Only reason im saying is because I have a CCJ and got my hopes up that A&L might help but there is no point me trying to apply as I have bad credit from 4 years ago and CCJ is on file for another 3 years.

I've been turned down by A&L time and time again - I've found them to be one of the worse banks for giving accounts to people with low credit scores - and I do have a Vanquis credit card and earn 50k+ - I ended up getting basic accounts from Barclays, Lloyds, HSBC and I have to say the best I've found so far is Lloyds as they give you a visa debit card which the others don't..

Hi- just thought i'd say me and my husband wanted a joint bank account and our credit history went downhill when my husband couldnt work for a few weeks and we lost income last year.. took us a while to get back on track with making payments etc (missed and late payments mostly) and i have to say we are still stuggling quite abit with the rising costs of everything!!! so we still have the odd late payment and things but anyway we applied for a premier account and we opened one in January. The only thing i will say about them is even though we pay approx £2000-£2500 a month in i asked for a £100 overdraft last week as we were a bit short before payday and they turned it down.. it just bugs me that you ask them for abit of help here and there and they dont help! but then chage us £25.00 for a returned DD. they are always sending us stuff through the post about loans etc. which bugs me too!!